The Ronan pioneer. [volume] (Ronan, Mont.) 1910-1970, 1913-06-20

We have been interested ir
dalrylng for more than third
of a century. During those years
we have made the production OF
dairy products the leading fea-
ture, to y greater or less extent,
OF our farm practice. We have
marketed our output in various
ways and with varying degrees
OF satisfaction. In our early
dairy experience we were a mem
Der OF a cooperative cheese
making company, and delivered
our whole milk to the door of it's
factory. A committee of it's
patrons hired a cheese maker
and other needed help and had
general oversight over the work.
1t sold the cheese and divided the
net proceeds among those who
had furnished the milk in the
proportion to the amount of milk
each had turned in. OF course.
at that time there was no means
OF testing the milk for quality
and the thinnest milk got as
much credit per pound as the
richest. We could have our pro-
portlonate share of whey, if we
desired it for hog feed. but we
soon convinced ourselves that it
was of very little value, and so
we ceased to claim it. The de-
livery of the milk to the factory,
two miles away, each morning,
cut into the days labor to an ex-
tent which was not desirable.
We next tried the making of
butter in the home. We began
selling to the grocers in the near
by village, but later worked into
the plan of furnishing private
customers. This gave us as good
financial returns as the cheese
making plan, and left us the
sweet skinned milk to feed to
hogs and calves. 1t also put us
on our mcttle to produce an eX-
ira fine article of food such as
the private customer rightfully
demanded. lis disadvantages
consisted in giving the housewife
q largely added burden in the
making of the butter, and the
half days time required each
week in the marketing of the
product. While we received an
added price which was enough
to pay for the delivery service
ordinarily, yet there were times
when the taking of the team and
man from the fields was a sac
lifce which we did not feel like
making.
Then we sold the whole milk
to the distributors, to be used in
the homes in the adjoining vii
lage. The reasons for making
this change were largely that it
relieved the housewife of bur
den, and a larger gross income
was received. But here we
again met the disadvantage of
having no skim milk to feed, and
OF being required to deliver the
milk to the village a mile away
every morning, and during the
hot months, twice each day.
Our next change was to the
selling Oh cream 10 go To the city
100 miles distant. The cream
was to be sold on a test at a
stipulated price per pound of
butter fat. And the price was
to vary, as did that made by the
E)gin board. The buyer takes
the cream at our milk house
every day, except during the
winter months. when it goes
each alternate day. We are re-
Quired to do nothing after separ-
alton except to SO care for it as
TO keep it sweet until called for.
OF course, the buyers require
that the stables where the COWS
are MIXED be kept in a cleanly
and sanitary condition and that
the milk be separated and the
cream kept in a milk house"
which is entirely separate and
apart from any building used for
other purposes and situated at a
reasonable distance from contain
mating influences. An inspector
from the city makes periodical
visits to the farm to see that