The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1909-01-27
ADVISES AIDING
SMALL CREAMER|ES
H0ARO'S DAIRYMAA POINTS WAY
The CeBraiizer Inimical TO Best
Interest of the
Farmer.
a wise old farmer once said:


fakes. to injure the farmer. depend
very largely for their success uron
making the farmer help the thing
along
This centralizer creamery business
reminds us of that remark. saws
Hoard's Dairyman. Where there is
the competition of the local creamery
they will pay more than the cream
is worth TO get the farmers to leave
the creamery and ship cream to them.
Then when they have broken the
creamery down and the farmer is at
their mercy they make lis the loss.
The trouble is. they find enough
farmers who are not loyal to their
own institutions, who are easily led
OF to make the words of the old
farmer quoted above true.
recent report of the dairy divis-
ion of the United States department
of agriculture on this centralzer
business shows up the truth of what
we are saying. Read what the re-
port says. and see if our contention
is not true. Here it is in part;
The Investigations show that the
cooperative and local creameries
yield the largest returns to the farm
err for his butterfat. The centralizers,
where they have gained a monopoly.
pay as little as the farmer will ac-
cept. Report for July, 1907, shows
that in Kansas and Nebraska. where
the monopoly appears to be complete.
the farmers received only lie to Sc
a pound for their buttcrfat. while in
northern Iowa, Minnesota. Wiscon-
sin and Illinois, where the co-opera-
tive creameries have the field, the
prices were from 25c to 2Gc."
Now, had the farmers who were
patrons of those Kansas and Ne
braska creameries stayed Loyalty by
their own institutions. they would not
be in this situation today. They were
made use of to complete the work of
their own undoing. And there are
farmers in Iowa, Minnesota and
Wisconsin, situated near prosperous
creameries, receiving all their cream
actually is worth, who are leading
themselves at this time to break
hn
prosperous interest right where it
is in Kansas and Nebraska, The
government report further says:
"Competition having been de-
stroyed and monopoly secured, the
prices paid to the farmers were low
cred. The large concerns. operat-
ing over a great territory. with here
and there competitor that they
wished to put out of business, could
in one locality raise the price paid
above that possible to pay with
profit and at other places decrease
the price so little as not to be appar-
ent and more than offset the loss.
This ability to destroy competition
without in1icting self-injury has
been used effectively in many local
tiles.
THE system of killing the small
creameries has been carried on to the
fullest extent in southern Iowa,
Missouri. Kansas and Nebraska.
Taking Kansas as an illustration t
Is found that the number of cream
cries declined from 1873 in 1900 10
ca in 1905, while in Minnesota in
the same period there was an in
crease from 5S2 to 9S5.
There can be no doubt that the
tendency of the centralizing system
is bad for the farmer and the pub
lie. The effect is to exact high
prices from the consumer and to pay
low prices to the farmer, the profits
going to the large operators who
control the situation. The small
local creameries should be encour-
aged"
1t would seem as if almost any
farmer ought to get smart enough ito
look ahead to where such a policy
would land and not lend himself tn
the destruction of his own final
good. 1t cannot be for the best in
|, terest of the farmer to have his but
ter manufactured in big cities whore
he has no influence whatever in Sc
curing square deal. Farmers must
stand together for their mutual pro-
lection. And now we have big
oleomargarine concerns buying up
centralizers and farmers turning IN
to destroy their own liberty and pro-
lection, by sending them cream. II
was the influence of the local cream
cry that made possible the passage
of the national oleomargarine law.
If the oleo men ever break down
a.