THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: APRIL 4. 1009.
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COW AND CREAM
EARN BIG MONEY
Development of Creamery Industry in
Nebraska ia Recent Years
is Remarkable.""
OMAHA GREATEST BUTTER MART
Uniformly High and Eren Quality is
Reason for Leadership.
DEMAND OFTEN EXCEEDS SUPPLY
Glimpse at Early History of the In
dustry by Pioneers.
VIEWS OF RUSHTON AND HARDING
nniiM of Ik Statistic
Nebraska High Iosllo as
Dairy ta Synopsis
of HeratDeclaloa.
rr received at the Burlington and the
Wehnter street depots.
It mimt not be overlooked, either, that
thousands of ton of Ice cream are mado
from the iluld richness of the Nr-hrask.i
cow. No arcount Is taken of this food
for the god In computing mouey totula
herein. Th Ice cream Industry Involves
big story In Itself.
rollfllfd Milk Indemtry.
At Waterloo, Neb., the Waterloo Cream
ery company has a factory which turns out
tot) ration of condensed milk per day when
running- at capacity. Thia condensed milk
adjunct of the Waterloo Creamery com
pany Is steadily growing In output and
reputation, and promises to be within a
vary few years one of the big noises In
that branch of the business, which Is yet
a new thing In this section. This company
did a business of HoO.ono last year. While
It Is one of the comparatively email com
panies. It deals with 1.2H0 farmers and ha
alxty employes, representing a total of 23)
people dependent on the payroll. These fig
urea will give an Idea of the very great
Importance of the aeven establishments lo
cated In Omaha:
Division of production of the seven
Omaha creameries muy he roughly made as
follows: Falrmount and Farmers' Co-Oper-atlve
companies, 5,0on,00o pounds each, more
or less; David Cole Creamery company.
and Klrschbraun Sons. S.aM.ono pounds
I.... oitmhi Cold Storaae
Statistics of dairy Industry la Mn .oooono rounds or better: Waterloo
Xamber oiwic ow i SZTZ Zi:' ' Aimi.
nary 1, 1909, gevernxnen. mm, wr- i creamery wmc j. -
Sanitary Ulry company, w.wf pounun.
These figures are. of course, approximate.
As to the field of distribution, one en
thusiast says: "The world Is our field."
The Omaha product goe wherever high
class butter Is In demand from the Atlantic
to the Pacific, fo New Orleans, to Alaska,
and to the Mexican line.
"In the space of a few years the busi
ness of butter-making has been changed
from a cross-roads Industry to an Import
ant commercial enterprise."
Charlea Harding, president of the Farm
ers Co-Operatlve Creamery company, thus
epitomizes the progress of butter-making In
Nebraska. He further assorts: "Nowhere
In the United States has the scienuite
manufacture of butter been carried to
the point that It has In Omaha."
Demand Often Kxceeds ".apply.
The quality of Omaha butter Is uniform,
as to color, salt and texture, all the year
round; and those who handle It and con
sume It agree that It Is the most satisfac
tory grade of butter produced anywhere
In this country. The demand Is often
greater than tho supply. On a recent day
Mr. Harding had on his desk orders lor
two carloads which he coultl not fill.
Going outside of Omaha,, the dairy busi
ness In Nebraska has had probably the
of
Ann
Yalue of same, at aa aver price
$31. ea7,807,00.
Srumber of creanserle ia JTeeraska, eea
trallsed, 131 co-operative, 30.
Output of creamery butter 10, esti
mated, 40,000,000 poinds.
Vftla nf a&m. SIO-OOO.OOO.
raroantaee of same manufactured ia
oentralise creameries, to.
JTuraber of ' farm la STebraaka eon
trtbntlng more or les . to prodaotloa
or creamery tnnir, iw.uuu.
Tain of skim milk for feeding, 3,760,.
000.
Statistic of creamery Industry la Omaoai
Number of creameries, 7.
Investment la cam. $1,000,000.
Butter manufactured in 10$. about
la.000,000 pound,
alue of name, $4,600,000.
number of farmer contributing: or am,
30,000.
Average price of liutter fat la Kebraska,
108, $3.17 oeata a pound.
Increase of Omaha creamery business
lno 1900, ai$ per cent.
In l!no the creamery butter produced in
Nebraska aggregated 11,400,000 pounds, with
a value of 2,000,000.
In, 1908 the production of creamery butter
in tho state amounted to 45,000,000 pounds,
with a value of 110,000,000.
J. H. Rushton makes the estimated total
value of the milk and cream sold from the
farm of Nebraska In 1908 between 115,000,
000 and $20,000,000. This represent cash rev
enue of greater or less volume to a very
large proportion of the farmer of this
state, and to a great many mora In the n,ve pUBne1 out for business in every dl
There are seven centralised creameries In
Omaha, and during the year 1908 they
manufactured 18,000,000 pounds of butter,
with a market value of 14.500,000.
Figured down to a going basis, the In
ns calves could not possibly be raided on
the stuff. Falling to raise calves, dairying
rs a farm resource was drad. It should
be said, however, that the whole- milk plan
still works wc-ll enough In thickly settled
dairying sections In Illinois, Wisconsin and
Minnesota, but only in such territory. Uvea
there it Is gradually giving wsy to the
hand separator system. The latter has"
economy for Its great merit, saving the
farmer the hauling cf the milk, which was
a continual task In summer time, as get
ting the milk to the station while sweet
was the one great point. Mixing of the
skim milk Is found to be a source of
spreading bovine tuberculosis, as has lately
been proven by Investigators of sgrlcul
tural colleges, who have Issued warnings
against the plan.
Not all of the cream produced In Ne
braska goes to the creameries of the state,
Denver, Kansas City, Topeka and Bioux
City taking a great deal from the producer
In their Immediate neighborhoods. On th
other hand, Nebraska creameries draw from
parts of Kansas and Iowa quite heavily.
The number of dairymen and farmers look
ing to Omaha for cream checks every week
Is 30.000, as closely as can be estimated.
It r a me of a oted Case.
So great has become this business of
cream gathering and shipping that trains
devoted to it almost exclusively are run
on some seetinns of the roads, notably on
the "high line" of the Burlington. It was
this development beyond the dreams of
early years that brought about the recent
strenuously fought suit by which the cen
tralized creameries sought to secure a re
duction In. the rates for hauling cream. The
plaintiff of record were Beatrice Cream
ery company et al.. Fairmont Creamery
company et at. and Bl-ie Valley Creamery
company ct al. The railroad companies di
rectly represented by counsel were the 1111-
nols Central. Chicago & Eastern Illinois,
Chicago & Alton, Chicago Great Western,
Chicago, Burlington ft Quincy, the North
western and the Rock Island. The Taclflc
Express company was also represented, and
the Wisconsin Dairy Manufacturers and
Producers' association et al., intervenors,
having barking, largely, of the local or
country creameries.
After exhaustive hearings, the case was
submitted to the Interstate Commerce com
mission on December 1 last. On January
of this year the commission handed down
a decision, accompanied by a lengthy opin
ion In which the whole history of the busi
ness Is traversed.
The commission held that, upon the facts
disclosed in the record, the existing rates
were excessive and defendants wore or
dered to establish new rates, which the
centralized creamery men say are too high.
The commission established a rate of 20
cents for ten-gallon cans for all distances
moat rapid growth In the last ten years of up to and including twenty-five miles. "Be-
nv nl are In the United States. This I
due largely to the energy and vigor with
which the men engaged In the Industry
rectlon.
A a result Omaha Is today the greatest
butter-making center in the world beyond
ny doubt.
Mr. Harding Is, by the wsy, the grand
dad creamery man of the state. Twenty-
vestment represented by the seven Omaha eight year ago he was running one of
butter factories easily tops $1,000,000,
The average price paid for butter fat In
Nebraska during 1907 was 23.9 cents a
pound, being 4.08 cents less than the New
York price. During 1908 the average price
paid in Nebraska was 23.17 cents a pound,
being but 3.81 cents less than the average
New Tork price
If growth denote health, the creamery
Industry In thl state, and the underlying
business of dairying, has been enjoying
health of high degree since 1900, for It
growth in the period ending with last year
has amounted to (18 per cent. If the same
ratio la continued for the next ten year
the creamery output of the state will
amount to 100.000.000 pounds annually, with
an approximate value of $25,000.000..
Butter Fat I Ready Money,
Flutter fat. the basis of the creamery
Industry as an Integral factor of the com
mercial world. Is (ash. This means that,
while the farmer turns his crop but on;
In a year, the butter fat producer turns
his output from twenty-four to fifty time
a j ear. He gets in on the compound Inter
est table with both feet, a tremendous
consideration from the dollars and cents
standpoint.
Laying aside for the moment the fer
tility of the soil that is conserved by dairy
Ing, take the skim milk Item. This by
product of buttermaktng Is worth 30 cents
a hundred, at a fair valuation. On the
basis of present production, the skim milk
represents a value of $3,750,000 for feeding
to the calve and pigs, the, tribe of which
is very numerous In Nebraska,
The creamery Induatry In this state Is
necessarily done on a thin margin of profit.
Competition Is keen, and only the vast
volume of business transacted make It
possible for th creameries of Omaha to
maintain the position they have attained
as . makers of the very highest grade of
butter known to the Vnitt-d States. This
pre-eminent holding of quality, year In and
year out, commands a price, based on da
mend, which enables the financiers of th
fawn-eyed cow to stick consistently to the
"thin margin" spoken of abov. Here la
the elemental secret of their great suocess,
J. H. Rushton, president of the Fairmont
Creamery company. Is a nestor of the clan
of dairy cow men, and he Is, further, an
encyclopedia of th vital thing that are
tangled up with thl business of far-flung
ramifications. He lays:
Cow a RtTtss Producer.
"There are seven sources of revenue from
the cow. First, the butter fat; second, the
whole milk that feeds the calf for a cer
tain tur.e after birth; third, the butter made
for family use; fourth, the calf; fifth, the
kim milk for calves and pigs; sixth, the
manurlal element, liquid and solid, thou
sand of pound; seventh, the value for
best after her day of usefulness as a milker
Is done
And Mr. Rushton asks, with eyes reflect
ing a fine conviction, "What other crop
under the sun compares with th cow
crop?" There Is none, of course,
Back of the figure quoted above, and
back of Rushton' seven separate elements
of profit, we have to keep In mind all the
local household ueea to wbtch dairy prod- I making.
the pioneer butter factories of Nebraska
at Schuyler. There were only two others,
one at Fremont, run by J. Dickson Avery,
nd one at Columbus, run by a man whose
name Is now forgotten. Ten years ago,
through th efforts of Harding, the pres
ent so-called centralized creamery Indus
try had its Inception In Omaha. He waa
the first man to advertise In farm paper
of general circulation offering a price for
butter fat from hand separated cream,
based on the New York market.
Harding's advertisements had two im
mediate effects. Because of the price of
fered, much higher than the farmers had
ever been able to secure under any other
system In this part of the country, ship
ments of cream increased enormously, and
a demand was created for hand separators
whereby thoussnds were sold all over the
state of Nebraska. The Omaha market
was at once opened to all farmers In the
state and the distance from which ship
ments came was limited only by the rate
of transportation. Regardless almost of
the location of the producer, Omaha be
came a market where a remunerative price
could be secured for butter fat. It has
so remained to this day, and the business
has grown by leaps and bounds. Other
creameries In th state followed Hard
ing' lead a quickly a they realised the
good thing that had been opened to them
and they began at once to. push the sale
of hand separators.
Bitter Opposition Overcome.
Large butter dealers offered bitter op
position to the system at the outset be
cause heretofore the small creamery had
consigned Its output to some commission
bouse and had been, compelled to accept
such price as the commission merchant
saw fit to return. Now, however, the but
ter dealer found It necessary, if they
wanted to handle any of the centralized
creamery butter, to buy It outright at a
price satisfactory to the creamery man.
Right here wa where the cross roads
method was cut out, commercial stability
was established and the present stupend
ous development began.
The old plan, followed at Fremont,
Schuyler and Columbus, was to furnish the
farmer with what wer known a deep
sitting can In which to place the milk.
These can were provided with glass
gauges In the side and were submerged In
water. Cream was paid for by the Inch,
or gauge, and was gathered by wagons sent
to the farmer's door by the creameries,
This plan looks good on paper, but during
th ten or fifteen year it was In operation
tne farmer round n wa not getting -i
remunerative price for hi butter fat. The
expenre of conducting the business was
very heavy, and the loss to the farmer
came from the fact that he was unable to
get more than about three-fourths of the
butter fat out of his milk by tho process.
Thus h waa Ipft mighty small pay for his
work and trouble. Realization of these
drawbacks made Harding's opportunity.
Besides this, the quality of butter pro
duced in these old-time creameries so-
called for want of a better name was as
uncertain as the weather. It, In fact,
depended on the weather, a pasteurizers
and starters were unknown. Hence there
was no such thing aa scientific butter-
ucta are put on the 125.000 er mora farm
of thl state. The cow Is, for instance, the
great seconder of the Klnkald act. In
the so-calked "sand "bUX" country, after tb
settler has moved onto hi mll-quar
farm, his first reeourc a a cash producer
Is his cows, so much so that It is now th
rule for the Klnkalder to provide them
selves with row certainly aa with
horses. Bteer. even, are a secondary con-
Promoter Soaked Farmers.
Promoters, sent out usually by creamery
supply houses, were Instrumental in start
ing a great many creameries. Organizing
local stock companies, men were placed in
charge of the p'.ant who had no practical
knowledge or experience. These factories
were often, almost generally, located re
gardless of the cow population. They were
failures, and It I safe to say that almost
tideration with th wis beginner on th I every town In Nebraska which existed at
section homestead. A milker Is ready that tlm has bad a creamery of this kind
money any hour of the day when her I They still hav th memcry thereof, heavily
product Is taken to town, and she carries I charged with regret
many a family with .flying color through I Later cam the power separator and the
tho first toilsome year. I "whole milk" p'an, by which the sweet
The battalion of cans ranged on th I milk was brcught to sum central point to
milk platform of tb big elation hr in I be separated and the skim milk returned
Omaha r hut reprentattv cr th I to the farm. Dairying being a side issue,
mailer companies and regiment of can I this plan was foredoomed to failure, us It
that are aaai-inbled every day on country I had been In other localities. Expense of
station platforms. During 1T there was I bringing the large volume of milk to a
lecelved t the I'nlon depot In Omaha over central point waa encrmous and the plan
340.000 cans of cream, and during 1J there ao time-killer of top-notch caliber. By
.a me Into the same station over rsna (he time th skim milk was returned tu
f BUtwr material. Many thousand more I th farm it was fit only to feed to the I
yond twenty-five miles," says the comnils
slon, "we think the rate should increase 1
cent for each five miles, up to and Includ
ing fifty miles. For the next fifty miles it
should Increase 1 cent for every ten miles,
and 1 cent for every fifteen miles there
after." Rates Made by Commission.
Th commission thinks the effort should
be made to transport all cream In the
larger can. It therefore establishes "rates
for five-gallon can which are approxi
mately seven-tenths of the rate charged
for the ten-gallon can, and for the eight
gallon can rates which' are approximately
nine-tenths of the rate established for
ten-gallon cans."
In the course of the discussion and opin
ion th commission give the centrallzer
a clean bill os conducting a legitimate In
dustry In a legitimate manner. Holding
that "the trouble comes in the borderland
(between where the local creamery and the
centrallzers, one or the other; clearly hold
the advantage), of which there Is much,"
the opinion continues:
"The general situation must be kept
clearly in mind. The local creamery can
only exist profitably when It can manu
facture 100,000 pounds and upward of butter
annually. Today farmers will not
haul milk more than six or seven miles to
the local creamery. Crenm can be trans
ported by wagon profitably somewhat
longer distances, but It may be generally
stated that the local creamery can only
operate profitably where sufficient milk Is
produced within a radius of half a dozen
mile to manufacture lno.ooo pound of but
ter per annum. Now, there are vast areas
in the territory covered by this complaint,
producing at the present time milk from
which thousands of pounds of butter are
annually made, In which the local cream
ery, under the above test, could not exist.
for the reason the cow population Is not
sufficiently dense to produce the necessary
quantity of milk within, the prescribed area,
In all this territory the centrallzer affords
to the farmer the oi ly means of disposing
of his cream.
Centrallser System Necessary
"To strike down the centrallzer would
be to strike down the dairy Interests In
these sections. This territory Includes al
most all the state of Nebraska and Kan
sas, much of Missouri, considerable of
Iowa, and some of Minnesota and South
Dakota. The centrallzer affords to
hundreds of thousands of farmers the only
satisfactory means of disposing of their
milk. A blow at the centrallzer Is a blow
at every farmer who produces butter fat
In thousands of square miles of the terrl
tory covered by this proceeding. It seems
plain that the duty of this commission is
to establish Just and fair transportation
charges Insofar as that can be done, and
allow these rival methods to operate under
those charges. We should not establish
scale cf rates with a view and for the pur
pose of fostering or discouraging either
form of thia Industry."
Since the controversy arose, the Railway
commissions of Nebraska and Wisconsin
have established rates for the carriage of
cream. The Nebraska rate ranges from 16
cent for twenty mile to 88 cent for 800
miles. The Wisconsin rate ranges from 13
cents for twenty miles to 50 cents for 3u0
miles.
One great factor In the remarkable suc
cess of the centrallzer plan is the reduc
tlon In the cost of putting a high-class
butter on the market. When the loca
creamery can draw material enough to
make 100,000 pounds er annum, fixed as
the profitable minimum by the Interstate
Commerce commission, the cost of manu
facturlng will be about i cent a pound.
Some large local or co-operative creameries
have succeeded in reducing this cost to
3 cents, possibly a shade lower. The great
centralized plants turn out their product
at a cost of about 1 cent a pound, so tha
the coat of transportation la offset by the
reduced cost of manufacture. They are
able, too. to command the services of the
highest priced butter makers, working
with the very in test machinery; and here
It should be remarked that certain fixed
charges go on all the time that local
creameries are going through the dull sea
son, whereas the large plants In Omaha
make it a point to keep running at full
capacity every day they possibly can. Their
output Is so great, the units so many, they
can easily afford to manufacture and sell
at a margin of profit not possible to the
local plant with a limited field to dra
from.
It requires ! pounds of cream to mak
thirty pounds of butter. Th centrallzer
gets all the cream and no milk, aa against
the proposition the whole milk creamery I
(CiP(go.iro(gipy (Coinnipaiiniy
Dairy Headquarters for more than 10,000 cream pro
ducers in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas,
Missouri and South Dakota.
Are YOU Witli Us?
!s;y 11
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Mali.' ' frste.
THE increasing demand for our butter in all the markets
of the country forces us to seek constantly new supplies
of cream. We predict good prices for butter fat again
this summer. Everything points that way. No danger of
overproduction. On the contrary, there is much more danger
of a shortage of butter. We are prepared to give you the very
best possible deal.
Ship us your next can of cream, and we will guarantee to
give you satisfaction.
Farmers Co-operative Creamery Company, Omaha
I. . - , iia.iKMi wn-iMii ri- iii-iii---i-ir J ! 1 ii ii
I Hi- : IB
I QUALITY
I 66
I
up against, to Iy iraiieiiuruii"".
seventy pounds of wastage, and return the
can besides.
Hand Separator Great Factor.
The hand separator, in the opinion of
experts, bears th ame relation 10 ma
growth of dairying that team ha borne
to transportation. It revivified, retnvig-
orated and regenerated the whole dubi-
ness. It made possible the delivery of his
butter by the farmer at the least expense.
It enabled him to get the fullest value out
of his skim milk. It opened to him the
choice of the best markets. Instead of
being confined to one. The establishment
of large butter factories as .a result of the
general use of hand separators resulted In
economical manufacturing and tha employ
ment of the highest skill therein, produc
tion of goods of high and uniform quality,
and the reaching out for and conquest of
markets not open to small factories.
All of these things combined have In-
nured largely and steadily to the benefit
of the produceT and the manufacturer
alike. The policy pursued has been broad-
minded, neceasarily, and has stood the test
of wear. Every farmer in the western
country, Nebraska in particular, haa been
given a real and a atable market for his
cream; not a market in one particular
place or to one person or company, but
a choice, to he rreeiy maue anu wuimui
restraint, of any one of the many want
ing hla cream. He could and can, in
short, sell to whom he desires under con
ditions the most advantageous. Net csth
returns, quick and certain, need be hU
only guide in disposing of his butter fat.
As a factor in conserving the fertility
of the soil on which she lives the cow Is
greatest of all. Today she Is quite gen
erally granted this pre-eminent merit, and
In the future this fact ot potent Import
must command the atudlous attention of
the people. The cow as a money maker
and basic element of continuing prosperity
has an established position.
Omaha Motto, III" Quality.
The theory of the Omaha creameries Is:
The more we Improve the quality, the
greater will be the demand. This has been
a winning slogan and as a result the city,
and the state, too, has secured In this In
dustry a source of growth that la nut yet
fully appreciated. As long as people eat
butter, If hsndled along present progres
sive lines, the butter-making Industry will
become and remain permanently one
among the really great elements of Om
alia s development.
Aa Mr. Rushton says: "This Industry
reaches out and touches every home in th
broad land east, west, north and south
Cream Is shipped to Omaha from air- of
Nebraska, a large part of Kansas, Missouri,
Iowa, Dakota, Minnesota, and portions of
Colorado and Wyoming."
Because of thia peculiar drawing power,
there Is no city that occupies a more ad
vantageous position, or derives greater
natural prestige, in having all these thou
sands of people t-unecled with us by these
line of active dally commercial life. Every
other industry in the city that is ths home
of these great money-spreaders and reputation-carriers
Is benefited, directly or In
directly, because of this connection. Every
home outside of Omaha thus tied to us by
direct, lively Interest, continuing through
out the year. Is also benefited by such a
connection with daily opportunity.
In the census of 10 Nebraska was cred
ited with dairy cow in farms and
PURITY
n i
tike
Best
4,000
Dairymen in
Nebraska,
Iowa, Kan
sas, Missouri
and South
Dakota are
oi
the Cream.
We invite
you to join
with us.
tjpTCYIIIg.- Jinx 1 1 n JU..tr5Tnn1Tj
It requires
the product'
of
60 000
Cows
to Fill Our
annual re
quirements tor
Idlewild
Butter
(CdDliCB
Cipoairinioipy (Co.
Tenth and Howard Streets, Omaha, Nebraska
ranges, and 3B.31 'dairy cows in hams and
enclosures, making a total of o38.s." dairy
cows In the state at that time, nine yeara
ago. This ia t.two in excess of the number
returned to tn slate bureau or statistics
by the county assessors of the slate in the
spring of ll. which returns were sup
posed to Include all the dairy cows in the
atate. The discrepancy of over So per
cent between the census enumerators In
1900 and the assessor In l'. Is too great
to b explained on any other theory than
that the asat-iors have slighted their work.
Even the government figures for
which credited Nebraska with 879 'i0 dtiry
cowa, are held by good judges to be below
rather than above the actual dairy cow
population. One great fact substantiating
the claim for a much greater dairy cow
population than ia llnted Is the immense in
crease in the creamery production of but
ter. Unquestionably, there ha b. en a de
crease of butter-making on the farm, but
not lu the extent Indicated by the figures
on creamery butler Increase. Tht there
are more dairy cows than any one has In
cluded in returns ia a well based conclu
sion. A to the amount of butter produced
per cow per year In Nebraska, the con
census of best opinion makes It 2'iu
pounds or belter. Unfortunately, tha
number of cow owner who keep accural
records ia very small, desult th effort
tConkauat a Faga ytygj
i .nuimey tj jsjavig j
