Graham guardian., 1908-05-22
Farming News
One Thing the Creamery Should Do

bodo of ignorance. A great many
reameries are such abode. If
ropri,tary, the proprietors are
90 ignorant of many of the things
hey ought to know. If co-opera-
tive, the managers are too ignor-
ant While at the last Iowa
Dairymen's Convention in Des
Moines, a we'll known leader i'll
dalrying in that state said to u.s.:
"In a great many Of our cream
cries the managers and the butter
makers do scarcely any reading
on dairy topics. Consequently,
they are not live, stimulating CEN
ters of dairy thought and progress.
In what condition would the peo-
pie be if the school houses were
the centers of ignorance concern
ing reading, writing aud arith.
metic!"
What the cause of dairying needs
is thorough shaking up of the
creameries and cheese factories
They are not awake to some of
the dangerous conditions of the
day. We spoke last week OF the
effort put forth by the oleomarg-
arine millionaires to get control of
the DAIRY industry just as they
have got control of the meat in
dustry. With the latter, they have
the farmers of the Nation fenced
up and fenced out Of the market
on cattle, hogs and sheep, for
through the aid of the railroads,
they virtually con,rol all the ap-
proaches and the inner workings
of the meat markets.
Through the aid of their enor-
nous capital IN establishing cen
tralizers, they propose to sap and
mine the dairy industry 10 the
same way. If the farmers who
supply the milk were intelligent
enough to the situation, does any
one suppose they could be trapped
in this way? If the creamery
managers and buttermakers were
intelligently alive to the meaning
of all this, would they sit idly by
and see themselves coralled like
cattle?
At the bottom of 1t all lies this
widespread indifference to sound
dairy knowledge, this refusal to
read, study and become "as gods
knowing good from evil" Hoard's
Dairymau might shout itself hoarse
on this or any other danger, but
what good would it do for it or
the rest of the dairy press to warn,
if the men who are the most IN
terested do not see, do not hear?
For what should the creameries
dol Being centers of daily inter
est they ought to unite 10 strong
effort to promote II campaign of
dairy education among the farm
ers who supply them with m'lk
and cream. If the farmer can be
made to see this dairy question in
its right light he will stand like Il
rock aud "as sure foundation ."
He will see that his commercial
aud industrial liberty is at stalk.
He must be made to understand
the importance TO him of the local
creamery; the Importance of his
doing his part of the work, milk
aud cream production, in work
manlike manner. 70 this end he
must read more on dairy questions
He will never be intelligent on
dairy matters until does.
The need of more intelligence is
seen everywhere. The dairy in
terest is suffering at every joint,
because Of the great wastes of
ignorance. There is bat little
study of true economies because
there is too little dairy intell'-
gence. Let us call things by their
right names. The creameries must
stop fighting the farm separator.
They must do what they can To
make the farmer an intelligent
milk aud live stock producer. The
farmer, not the creamery, should
be their first concern. Start the
work of an annual COW census,
among the patrons; show them
what their poor cows are actually
doing for them; show them, by
sharp comparison, the difference
in profit between the good herds
and the poor b srds. They will
not long remain contented with
poor cows and ignorant methods,
under the blaze Of such light.
The creameries must take the in
itiative in this and other matters
of dairy education.
The discontented patron is the
great menace to the local cream.
cry. He is disconten,ed because
he does not know the right way,
the right thingto do. The cream.
cry as rule does nothing to max ,
him intelligent. II the local
creamery continues TO exist, the
farmer must be made more in
telligent dairyman.
II the local creamery ceases to
exist, the farmer will become the
subject of the big meat trust, the
oleomargariue manufacturers, and
bis once fair industry and bis com.