Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1912-07-11
Suggestions for
Creamery Organization.
BY G. L. MARTIN, Professor
of Dairying, North Dakota
Agricultural College.
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80
There are two ways of forming
creamery organizations. One way is
to have it done by creamery promoters
persons interested from their own
standpoint, and the other way is to
co it yourself. The best way is to call
g meeting of farmers and business
men in the locality where such an or
ganization is desired. Arrange to have
attend some disinterested dairyman
from the department of agriculture,
state dairy commission, or the Agri-
cultural College who is thoroughly
familiar with every detail of the bust
ness, willing to cooperate freely and
to familiarize every one with the de-
tails of the business.
1t is we'll to select temporary officers
and have committees appointed to can
vass for COWS and shares, building and
equipment, and plans for organization.
After the various committees have re-
ported favorably and it is desired to
effect a permanent organization, Sc
cure from the secretary of state blanks
and information necessary to form the
company. The effectiveness of organl-
zation depends a great deal upon the
number of persons interested in the
matter. For that reason it is advisa-
BILE to secure as many shareholders as
possible. 1t is urged that a limit of
four be put upon the number of shares
which may be held by any one person,
thus insuring a wider distribution Of
interests.
The first requisite for a creamery
is a sufficient number of COWS. With
the kind found in the Northwest 10
creamery can hope to succeed without
at least 400 COWS within a radius Of
five miles from the creamery. This is
the very point that the creamery pro-
moter" will overlook and a large per-
centage of the "closed creameries"
over the country have been built by
the promoter and failed from lack Of
COWS and too large an investments:
The cost of building, equipping and
operating a creamery will depend
upon the organization, the amount Of
| equipment and the volume of business.
A building sufficient to handle the
product of 400 COWS if put up by the
company ought to cost not over $1,000,
If built by the promoter often costs
$4,000.
Tho morhinnru rnr1lir01 IN pr0nnr1v
equip such a creamery will depend
largely upon the volume of business.
1t is much better to begin with only
what is actually necessary, then later
install such machinery as needed. In
many of the promoters creameries
can be found expensive new machin-
cry that has been cast aside because
there is no use for it. The first cost
of starting a creamery is large enough
at the best and to have a lot of use
less machinery cast aside is a need
less expense.
1t is always advisable to install new
machinery which will cost close to a
thousand dollars for the loss in eff
cheney of second hand equipment often
will more than offset the additional
cost Of new.
The details and cost of operating a
creamery would necessarily be deter
mined by those interested in the com
pany.
The volume of business would have
to be large enough to pay operating
expenses and return a fair margin of
profit, otherwise the company neces-
sarily would be short lived. Detailed
information may be had upon request
from the dairy department of the Agri-
cultural College.