University of South Carolina Libraries
The Tripolium? Milk Depot and Milk Wagon* Owned by 100 Farmeri, Co-Operative Farm Products Marketing How It Is Done in Europe and May Be Done in America to the Profit of Both Farmer and Consumer By MATTHEW 8. DUDGEON. l'?M. V\<-Biern N<'*v|pHptr Union ) GETTING GOOD MILK INTO THE CITY. Copenhagen. Don mark ? Would It not bo a rollnf to you If you knew whore you could get abflolutely good milk, and cream, and butter; if your milk and cream were guaranteed to be rich, and pure, and fresh; if you could buy a brand of butter which wan alway? up to standard, always had the bailie flavor, and the game amount of moisture In It, wiih never over Halted or under Halted, and wan always abso lutely free from taint of age. M6st of uh In America get good butter and good milk at times. All of uh get bad butter und milk at least occasion ally Over In Denmark there Ih an entire nation which is united In a common purpose of producing good milk and butter.- Its success is due to team work; the cow docs her part. the. Farmer does his part, the cream ery docs its part, the delivery man does 1)Ih. and the government itnclf takes a hand In the procoHH. Not very long ago there wns a complaint from Kn gland that the quality, of Danish butter was falling off It was treated ? n Denmark as If the national honor j had been attacked and every reason < able complaint was attended to at once ' by the united action of sill concerned." It was not. a local question, but a na- i t tonal one. Primarily Danish butter' and milk is good because the Danish farmer is selentiOo in his methods. Mut the milk after It. leaves the farm j In dealt with by the distributive agen cles In a way no less etUclent, and scl entitle and businesslike. This is where the Danes surpass the Ameri cans, and' with the result both con sumer and producer in Denmark have occasion to be satisfied Why American Milk Is High to the Consumer and Low to the Farmer. Dr Thomas N'ixou Carver, now di rector of the government bureau of rural organization, who at out* time made a thorough investigation of the prices of farm products, says In his book fin t ho "Principles of Rural Eco nomics" that the milk for which the dealer in Worcester receives 2 ?%, e per quart sold for eight cents in nearby Hoaton. Milkmen drove all over the' city to deliver a few gallons of milk Ho r? ceived and probably earned two cents per quart for doing- this If a route were arranged (as they are In (Copenhagen for example), so that one man could deliviH on one street con-' Scent iveiy from house to house mak tni; it unnecessary for any other de livery man to follow him up or dupli cafe his delivery route, the work could probably be done for one-half cent per quart, certainly for one rent per quart Another reason for the high ctpht cent price \\as that the farmer sold the milk to a contractor, (the con tractor seems to have been a specula tor), who took out a profit of 2\c i>er quart raising the price at least two cents higher than it otherwise would have been The account stands thus: F&rmfr'n i>r it ?? Is . Transportation < nst Contractor's profit in Milkman's wajji's !,?? . . At it As 1 1 Is Should He ? 'flits (.'ruts W to J S ,0\l T ot nl <?'-? t.. GvS Copenhagen's Milk Supply. Uprc in Copenhagen there in a bet ter method employed Tito farmer gets more money, tho city man pets more money, the city man gets more milk and the milk Ib bettor. This 1b being accomplished through a co-oper ative arrangement which could be duplicated in Boston. Chicago or Kan kakee. It Is no experiment. The company has been operating succeaa fully for twelve yearn, and It has been clearly demonstrated that it la possi ble to do the business in thia way. There is hothlng mysterious or secret about It. This cooperative association ta 4 simple, business-like organization of dairy farmers, harked by good bus iness men operating on sound, scienti fic and business principles. There Is delivered every morning to local pri vate consumers In Copenhagen 35,000 bottles of the best milk in tho world at a price less than six and a half cents per quart; some of this milk cornea forty miles, but it la handled so well that three cents pays all ex penses and profits between the farm er and the consumrr. For the name nervlce performed In a Iohb eunltary way taking a longer period of time, involving more waste and more con tamination tho Most on coiiHumer paya live and one-half cents. Here 1b a Having in coat of distribution of two and one-fourth cents per quart. If thiH could be aaved to the milk consumer in Hoston it would amount to about $10,0110 pay day of $3,650,000 in a year. I low many Uvea would bo aaved by absolutely pure milk at the reduced price no one knowti. A Night Visit. In order to wee the Trifolium milk depot at ita busiest wo planned our trip to reach the establishment at 10 p. in., about the hour when they begin to ill! (help sfc.OOQ bottles of . milk for the morning delivery of the Hueceed ing day. The most striking cliarac jtcteriatlc is the Immaculate clean liness that everywhere prevails. The entire establishment ia absolutely free from dust, and dirt. Not an odor c;uu be detected. The association fur nishes the employes' with working clothes, and itself launders them and maintains ample free bathing facili ties. The employe coming in from the street goes into the dressing room. Hh?'ds the clothes which have been more or less contaminated b>* wear upon the street, takes a bath and as sumes a newly laundered garb Efficient Processes. Kverv process through which tho milk moves from its receipt at tho door until "It goes out in the wagon in the early morhing is an eflielent proc ess both from the standpoint of main taining purity and excellence and from the standpoint of economy of handling After (he milk cans, tor ex ample, are fully emptied, they aro placed upon a drain board. The drip pings from this hoard produce l.oOO pounds of butter per year, which am ply repays the 'slight trouble caused In placing tlu? cans In this position. Every process is practically automatic. Their machines seem to have almost human intelligence. The milk which goes into each bottle la automatically measured and not a' fraction of an ounce more or less than the specified amount is placed in the l>o?tle. The filling of the botiloH, the placing of the stoppers, tho sealing of the stop per, the transportation of the bottles from the machines to the shelves, tho cleansing of tho empty bottles ami cans--all theso proceed automatically. When ready for delivery the milk Is placed on racks in the large milk wagons. Each wagon is accompanied by a driver and six boy who by tho use of carrying racks are enabled to deliver the bottles with ?reat rapidity. Xo driver can go Into another driver's district. There is no duplication of routes The wagon hardly pauses in Us course llere milk delivery is re duced to a science. Over Four- Million Receipts. The yoncern gets out a variety of dairy products. The Iresh sweet milk Is of the grado known generally as certified milk. In addition to this they well a special high grado called ^ mfnnt'n milk " The milk that goea m\) the bottles so labeled must have bean produced during a certain part of The bovlno lactation porlod The rows' must have been excluded from fodders which are Inclined to give taint or unpleasant flavor to the milk. The milk must have certain high per centages of butter fat Tho quality and purity of t\}s grade of milk is most carefully guarded, and It goes out only In sealed bottles or cans to families and hospitals Skimmed milk and butter are also sold. Three different grades of cream are placed upon the market ? the rich ?whipping cream, the medium cream and half cream In addition to this the finest of cream cheese and the highest grades of butter are made and sold. A particular brand of butter milk which has proved popular and profitable is known as Bulgarian Tog hurt This is similar to the product which is said to have made tho Hul garians a race of centenarians. Its valuable qualities ar? due to fermenta tion produced by the bacteria of th? Bacillus Buljrsr'cu? variety It 1* ?aid to bo a digestive aid of great ef? fMltveqeu. Altogether the company tak?? Id annually for its products tho i connlderable -wum of $4,160,000 Prpfita to the Farmer. At the time when t milk 1h dellvj ered to the concern the farmer In paid a litde over two cent# u quart. This in exactly the Hume ptlCi Which others are paid for their mlllt U.v the distributing companies. in cuse of the man nho delivers to one of the joint stock companies this is all thutj the farmer ever receive# for hia milk. The farmer who is a member of this co -operative concern, however, at the end of the half yearly period receivea a dividend which amounta to about one cent per quart. At the yjd of the year there is generally a small additional 'kurplus, so that the farmer has altogether received over three cent a u quart for his milk, almost one cent more a quart than the person selling to the private distributors. Hut 1 1) i k la not all. The farmer ban Invested absolutely no money in this cooperative concern. Yet at the end of the 20 yeara the 100 farmers aro In possession of a plant which is prob ably worth $200,000 aud which ban 1 been accumulated out of the profits of the establishment. This is, the prop erty of those who have delivered the milk to the concern, It belongs to them In proportion to the amount of milk which they have dolivered, taking into account, In every case of course, tho quality of the milk an well an the ? quantity. The average farmer has then from hla milk, in addition to the price which he has already received, I made a profit of $2,000 for the 20 yeara. Cheap to the Consumer. On the other hand, the prices paid to the co-operative concern by the pri- ? Yate taker la extremely moderate. For j the ordinary quality of milk, which i corrcHponds to our certified milk, he pays about alx and ohe-third cents ( per quart. For the special milk, the infants' milk and the hospital milk,, which Is of a quality seldom found in ? American cities, the consumer pays! seven cents per quart. Capitalized Without Money. ' Twelve yearn ago when the Trl folium <vas organized, not a dollar wan furnished by. the members. One hundred farmers got together and au-i thorized a few of tlto leadera to bor row $125,000 at the bank" It is to bo remarked in this connection that the , banks of Denmark consider a loan to a ^co-operative association which has j no capital stock and no tangible prop erty as a perfectly good loan. It lias been demonstrated again and again that these associations are planned in such a way that they are worthy of credit. It is considered as safe as any American Industrial bond. In this! case as. in all others, only a few of the leaders signed the note at the! bank, although of course the entire' number who were in the organization; agreed to stand back of those who' borrowed the money. The bank "was ! sale, both because the 100 farmers, represented were responsible finan cially. and because they knew a co operative' concern such as this was to be was a sound business venture. The arrangement with the bank ; was that the money was to be paid ? hack out of t he profits in annual in- i stalliuents running over 20 years.! The rate of interest- was low. The association has been in opera tion 12 years. A larger sum than the original $125,000 has been advanced because the volume of business has been so great that it was necessary to make additional investment. The concern has now $200,000 invested. Nevertheless tho entire indebtedness will be wiped out within the 20 years. Quality First. It is to be noted that thin co-opera tive milk company succeeds, not be cause it is co-operative, but it suc ceeds because it stands,' as do other co-operative concerns, for tho highest possible quality in its product. It strictly enforces rigid rules relative to quality and takes every precau tion to Insure cleanliness and purity. Some of (he requirements which it en forces upon thoso who furnish milk to It are as follows: First, there must be a monthly In spection of tho cows hv the veter inary representing the distributing company; second, all unhealthy or de fective cows must be instantly with drawn; third, any slight sickness be tween monthly visits must be reported to tho company and the milk kept sep arate; fourth, all sanitary directions as to ventilation, cleanliness, etc., must be followed; fifth, milk from cows others than thoso inspected and under control must not bo mixed with the milk furnished to tho company! sixth, milk intended for infants' uso or hospital use must be produced from cows from' which are excluded all feeds and fodders injurious to tho flavor or quality of the milk: seventh, there must be a periodical examina tion for tuberculosis; eighth, the milk must bo cooled in some efficient way as soon as drawn from tho cow, BO that bacteriological growth may bo stopped. Hero, as In other co-opera tive institutions, tho quality 19 evi denced by brands which have come to stand as guarantiee of cleanliness, healthfulness and palatablenes*. Do It In America. Naturally, tho question that pre sented itself to us Americans as wo looked over the plant, was whether or not the procedure could bo dupli cated under American condition? Wo have canvassed the situation fully and can discover no reason why tho entire plan or one parallel to It could not be adopted in any progressive American city Everywhere co-opera tive societies succeed, but succeed because they produce a product that ifl recognized ns of standard quality. Co-operation in Denmark spoils qual ity. Bank Stock For Sale I am offering for sale, within 30 days, live 1 hounaiul ()5,0b0) Dollars worth of stock of the Loan & Savings Bank, of Camden, S. C. L. L. CLYBURN DeKALB. S. C. BANK STOCK WANTED I hereby offer F ive Thous and Five Hundred Dollars ($5,500.00) for the I ive 1 housand Dollars of Loan & Savings Bank Stock, (50 shares) advertised by L. L. Clyburn, that is to say, ten per cent, above par. Henry Savage CAMDEN, S.. C. MONEY TO liOAN. On Improved favniH. Easy terms Apply to B, B. Clarke, Camden, S C. 60. SAM WING LAUNDRY ? - - PHONE91 915J Broad St., Camden, S. C. BREAD # - IS THE STAFF OF LIFE \ ...... ... . That being the case it behoove* you to use * j flour you can depend upon. We have just received a car of those deservedly popular brands, "Presto" and "Morning Star" and we are selling it very reasonable* Corn, Oats and Feed Stuff is are our specialties and it will pay you to see ui. v.. * c ? <. - vKy. *$/? y** vt' ' '* MURCHISON Wholesale Supply Company For SORE HEAD (Chicken Pox) This <lr?u<l dSaense will praoticully rtlin the flock unions quickly checked. Sor * Htid (Chicken P?i) Remedy ?5 at i d SOc i'm a sure euro, FjflKt lire, mites, etc., with u sure weapon. f'ratts. Powdered Lice Killer ?tic and S(te, Is <'n?i)y upplietl ami ru-ver fai!n. IjtefgRt; substitutes; insist on 1'ratts. ? S<tUf*ction Guaranteed or Monfcy Back 2 ftrt I'ralta J60 paye J'oiittru Hook r?>r sale in < 'amnion by Springs Jfc Shannon aii(l,]tlmme Bcon, COLUMBIA LUMBER & MANUFACTURING CO. MILL WORK SASH, DOORS, BLINDS AND LUMBER PLAIN & HUGER STS. Phone 71 COLUMBIA, S. C. Farm Lands For Sale C- - - . - ? - ? ?* * ?. ? . ' + olu acres, more or less, known as the Spencer Plat-.e, situated 12 Miles Southwest of Camden on the Coulter's Ferry Road; 100 acres of open land, two horse farm under cultivation; land lies well; good stream .running water; plenty of wood and good quantity of timber on this tract. Price $10 per acre. / ? Farm of W. F. DeLoache, situate 2 1-2 miles Southeast of Camden containing 270 acres; 150 acres of open land, part of this under' cul tivation; timber and wood enough for place; land producing well; ad joining lands have sold for $80.00 p.er acre; one five room dwelling, ;i good barn and seven tenant houses. _ For sale at $25.00 per aer^. - The Doby Place containing 4 50 acres 2 miles of Blaney; 250 acres open land, a part of this under cultivation; 100 acres pasture Kind under wire; some good open creek land, plenty of wood and some ? timber on the place; good buildings; one overseers house,; 0 tenant houses and two barns. Twentv-five mile creek runs through this pro perty. Price $7,500. Terms: 1-4 cash, balance in three years at the usual rate of interest. 2 <; 1 acres on Town ('reek, four miles south of Camden; Gu acres open land; two tenant houses. Will sell at a bargain. ' Plat of same can be seen nt our office. 127 acres oji Lockhart Road known as tlio Wheat Place; seventy one acres under cultivation ; 3 tenant houses and one dwelling. Price $22.00 per acre. 100 acres three miles from 'Camden botweeen the Kershaw and .Liberty Hill Road; 50 acres under cultivation; one four room dwell ing and barns. Price $25.00 per acre. 75 acres adjoining City Limits, known as Race Track Place bf H. <r. Carrison; one good overseer's house, several tenant houses and barns; improvements first class: lantfs in high state of cultivation. Price Reasonable. 1,900 acres eight miles from Camden, on Charleston Road, on Southern Railway with siding and ware house; ono now over-seer's house, eight tenant houses, 1 large barn, 1 gin house and equipment and 1 cotton house. 1,200 acres swamp land, excellent for cattle or hay culture;; C50 acres upland. 300 acres of the upland being of the finest land in the stato and in tho highest state of cultivation. - Price $21 an acre. Very easy terms. 252 acres of land known as the Creed property, eight miles North of Camden; 2 00 acres open land, some timber and plenty of wood on place; one half mile from good school; one five room dwelling, barns, one store buildihg and ten tenant houses. Prico on application. Terms: one-third cash, balance to suit purchaser. Small farm, property of 11. M. Fincher, one mile East of Camden; one new $1,200 dwelling and barns; land in high state of cultivation 10 acres of this land produced seven 500 weight bales of ccttton and, 144 bushels of corn. Price $3,000. Terrms 1-6 cash, balance at 7 per cent on easy terms. Wo also have listed vsith us a good selection of City property. C. P. DuBose & Company Real Estate City Property Farm Lands