The Ordway new era., 1914-03-27
Dairy Has Opened
NewEra toFar1ners
Farmers in Many Sections
Have Grown Banks Ac-
counts from Cows


talked milk and cows and butter fat
till he was blue In the face without
making the faintest dent In the fro
zen and forbidding reserve of Hick-
ory, N. C., banker. The bank wasn't
lending money on any bovine pros
poets for that region OF the Catawba
valley. Indeed there wasn't Tar
heel rainbow contriver anywhere who
could interest q town fnancier 10 cat
tie production, the products or the
by.products thereof.
But now, how different! Let me
quote the leading banker In Hickory:
"All q farmer need do these days Is to
sprinkle a little milk on his shoes,
walk into the bank and command our
services. We meet him with our hats
in our hands and with our most court
ly salaams."
That may be picturesquely stretch
ing the case little, but there is
more than q nubbin Of truth in the
metaphor. Three years ago the dairy
farmers living round about Hickory
and out in the back country had
about as much use for bank account
as they did for q pure bred Mexican
hairless lspdog. To-day there are few
OF them who have not neat little bal
ances at the bank. who do not pay
cash for their provisions aud drive
past the offices of the town usur-
ers-I presume there ia no town or
village In the world without one
with grins of derisiOn.
And 1t all came about through the
esta ablishmept and building up OF the
Catawba County Cooperative Cream.
cry. organized. financed and carried
on by the farmers Themselves
the creamery sbeGsn operations 10
June, 1910. aud the drst month made
3. 900 pounds Of butter. Sales for that
first month totsled S940. Last Octo-
Der the total sales amounted to more
than $4,000. The Increase has been
gradual, but very steady. and
now there Ia a fine new modern plant
to replace the first crude equipment.
W. J. Shuford. the manager, believes
that the time Is not far distant when
the CO operative organization will be
doing business OF oue-half million
dollars a year. Eggs have been added
to the butter fat and other things
will be added to the eggs, such as
dressed and dry chilled poultry packed
10 fancy cartons. Before the days OF
the creamery the farmers got from
twelve TO twenty cents a pound for
their butter and took that out In
trade at the store. To-day they aver
aye thirty-three cents a pound and
get it 10 cash.
In the beginning there we're not
more than 400 cows involved; now
there are more than 1,5OO. and
every where there is grading OF herds,
road building, the erection OF new
schools and churches, better santa
tion, more comforts and luxuries.
Eventually the company was incor-
porated with $50, 900 capital, $4,000
paid 10. Shares were sold at $40
share to farmers only, and up to the
present time there are only ten shares
held by nOn-farmers.
The new creamery was opened Sep.
tember l. 1918. and Is equipped with
every modern appliance. 1t was built
from plans furnished by the Depart
ment OF Agriculture. There were
thirty FIVE charter organizers: now
there are 24O cream patrons and 400
egg patrons. The creamery began to
handle eggs 10 September, 1910. and
before the leaves were of the trees
24O farmers wives had come to bat
with the hen product.
In the beginning the creamery paid
for the eggs once a month. but this
CONTINUED on page 81