The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-09-14
WARNS AGAINST
The PROMOTERS
PROF. c. L. MARTIN IN AN IN
TERvIEW WITH THE FORUM
GIVES WARNING TO THE PEo-
PIE or THE STATE TO LOOK
OUT FOR CREAMERY MAN.


In an interview with a representa-
tive, Of The Forum, Prof. @. L. Martin
Of the agricultural college in speaking
Of the dairy industry Of the state
cautioned the people to beware Of the
man who is around promoting the
creamery. He said:
Anyone who takes chances on the
other fellows game must expect to
lose is saying that many people in
the northwest might do well to think
about during the next few months.
Indeed good many have played the
creamery promoters game and have
nothing left but vacant building and
a new experience.
The promoter is like the bee that
gets the honey. He does not stay
around the hive but is out among the
farmers. He arrives in a community.
He stays short time, buzZes around
the country, gathers in all he can and
passes on to new fields leaving little
but the sting. What is he? Plainly
an unattached middleman. Where
does he operate? Between the farmer
and the farmers business. Why does
he come? Simply for the money.
Why does he go? Because his meth
DDS will not sand he test Of honest
business dealings. His game is to
sell shares for a proposed creamery
from 500 to $50 each and takes the
farmers notes with the understanding
that they will not be binding until
all the shares are sold. When from
$4,000 to $4,000 is subscribed, the
ovo l., \ A..
farmers and the notes discounted at
the bank
often men who do not own cows
are induced to invest in the creamery
as a matter of enterprise without
taking enough interest to investigate.
This is the first step toward failure,
for the very first essential for a. sue
cessful creamery is a sufficient num-
Der of cows. With the kind of cows
found in North Dakota especially no
creamery organization could hope to
succeed without ait least 400 cows
within a radius of five or six miles
from the creamery. have numerous
letters to the effect that promoters
have built creameries where there were
not over eighteen or twenty patrons
and only 100 to 100 cows were to be
found. It Is needless to add that such
creameries failed after few months
operation.
Another thing, the promoter will
turn the creamery over to the patrons
without proper organization nor even
sufficient interest to stick by it till
they acquire a working knowledge of
the business.
Again many buildings are built not
adapted for creamery purposes at all,
often leaving out of consideration
many details as icehouse, water sup
ply and drainage which are absolute
necessities for successful operation.
pensive and unnecessary machinery
then the plant turned over to the
farmers for from $500 to $4,000 more
than it is actually worth
Successful creamery operation de-
ponds upon a few fundamental prin-
ciples and unless these are strictly
adhered to, the business will surely
fail The thing to do is for a COM
munity to call a meeting of the farm
ers to investigate the conditions. In
wife to the meeting some disinterested
dairymen from the department of ag-
riculture, state dairy commission or
the agricultural college who is fami-
liar with creamery organization. In
this way every detail may be made
clear and a thorough understanding
had so no one will rush blindly into
a business Of which they know little.
Right now the promoter is playing his
game and in many places over the
state is a trail of vacant creameries
as standing monuments to his sue
cessful profit"