The Sauk Centre herald., 1909-12-16
HOME CREAMERY FOR THE library
Importance Of Preserving it for
Farmers
CENTRAlIzERS OPPOSE
Prohibitionists Getting In Line to
Oppose Party Movement
for County Option
St. Paul Special to The Herald, Dec. Is

The cooperative and other local
creameries have locked horns with the
centralizers before the railroad and
warehouse commission. The centra-
lizers want a lower rate on cream and
milk, especially for long hauls. The
country creameries resist the demand,
seeing in it only the evidences OF a
design on the part of the centralizers
to attack the sources of their supplies.
Ordinarily it would appear to the ad-
vantage of producers to have as low a
rate as possible on their products.
This can hardly be said to be the case,
however, where shipments of milk and
cream are concerned. There seems to
be no doubt that, speaking of the
dairy interests as whole, their ad-
vantage lies in local control of the
manufacture of dairy products. If
through low rate on milk and cream
competition is set upwhich deprives
the local creamery of the supplies
needed to do a profitable business and
it is compelled to suspend operations,
thus making dairymen dependent alb
soiutely on the centralizers for a mar
ket, all experience indicates that the
sacrifice of their independence will
prove loosing game in the long run.
Much damage has already been done
to the dairy interests of Minnesota
through the competition of the CEN
tralizer plants. Gilt-edge butter can
only be made from pure milk and
cream. 1t is well known that centra-
lizers do not insist that the milk and
cream shipped to them shall be in
perfect condition. Country creamer-
les which have to meet this kind of
competition are, therefore, compelled
to lower their standards. They are
not in position to insist that dairy
men take the necessary precautions
to keep their milk pure and free from
taint where patrons can otherwise
dispose of tainted milk. The result
is the inevitable acceptance by local
creameries of inferior milk or cream;
to do that consequent sacrifice in
the quality of butter must be made.
When this is the case to any large ex-
tent the reputation of Minnesota but
ter is sure to suffer. The effect is to
lower the price which Minnesota but
ter can command merely by reason of
a Minnesota brand.
Butter from Minnesota should be
as staple as butter from Denmark.
In the European market all that need
be known of butter is that it is
DAMS h. That means that it is the
best the market affords. Minnesota
butter will have that reputation
until the dairymen control its manu-
facture. They can never hope to con-
troll it so long as they are willing to
sacrifice the interest of the local
creamery to the centralizer. The
dairy industry is the one growing agri-
cultural industry of this state. 1t
will continue to prosper and grow in
proportion as the farmers keep it
within their control and refuse to
prevent its monopolization by centra-
lizer combinations.
In the hearing before the railroad
ard warehouse commission the dairy
men and cooperative creameries are
represented by +. T. Young. The
state dairy department is interesting
itself on their behalf. So are the
dairymen and creamerymen's associa-
tions. The organizations which re-
present the dairying and buttermak-
ing interests are all opposed to the
lower rates asked for by the centra-
lizers. They have studied the situa-
tion. They know the effectof centra.
lizer competition is to lower, the grade
OF milk and cream produced on the
farms and that spells disaster to the
cooperative and independent cream
cry. 1t is their conviction that for a
temporary advantage in price the
farmers cannot afford to sacrifice the
control of an industry upon which
their welfare so largely depends.
They have studied this question in all
its phases, and that they should be
unanimous in the decision they hare
reached indicates clearly that in the
long run It, win not pay to sacrifice a
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