RECEIVING MILK.
Most factories now unload milk by the use of cranes or some other kind
of tipping apparatus. Some of the older factories--there are no very old
ones--continue the use of conductors for transferring the milk to the
weighing-can. This is the easier but the slower way, and necessitates
the use of at least double the number of weighing-cans that are required
by the crane. Besides, in the use of conductors, there is the constant
inconvenience of standing out in the rain, in wet weather, to hold the
conductor, while there is more or less liability to accident from the
backing up or starting of the team. Conductors are mean, even
impossible, things to clean; and their use, when there is a rush of
teams, requires a second man or boy to hold them, while the first does
the weighing and makes the necessary entries on the milk-book. If sixty
to eighty messes are to be received, at least two weighing cans will be
necessary. But by the use of a crane, one weighing-can will do the same
work--always provided it has a faucet of not less than three inches in
diameter, so that the can may be emptied while a team is driving up and
the patron's can is being grappled and elevated ready for tipping. A
large faucet is of equal advantage when conductors are used, and, in
that case, every patron's can should be furnished with at least a
two-inch faucet, to facilitate the transfer of milk to the weighing-can.
The use of the crane is, of course, not entirely free from accident. The
strain on the can, when full, is very great, and it is liable to spring
aleak, unless well made. But cans made with reference to this use are
now furnished with crowning or with patent bottoms, and are so well
hooped and braced that no serious accidents of this kind are likely to
occur. A can-ear, or a rope long in use, may break. There may be
carelessness in hooking on to the can, and the milk may be slopped or
spilled by letting a full can turn over too soon, or by too suddenly
letting the milk dash into the weighing-can. All these operations
require care and experience; but, with proper management, the loss from
accident, during a season, will be very slight--perhaps nothing at all.
Great care should be taken in weighing milk, to not only weigh it right,
but to make the patron feel that his milk is honestly weighed, and that
he is likewise honestly credited on the milk-book. Much suspicion and
hard feeling are liable to spring up, if the man who weighs the milk has
the appearance of being hasty and careless--especially if he should be
ill-natured and disagreeable in his manners. And it may not be out of
place here to remark, that good manners and a spirit of accommodation
are no more out of place in a cheese-factory than anywhere else. Among a
large number of patrons, it would be strange if there were not
disagreeable, ill-mannerly men; but a man who retains his
self-possession and always acts fairly and talks reasonably, will seldom
fail to get along tolerably well and retain the good will of all. It is
the right of the patron to know that his milk is correctly weighed and
credited, and every reasonable facility should be afforded him to
satisfy himself that he is fairly dealt with.
It becomes the duty of one receiving milk to see that it is delivered in
proper condition. Experience, a good eye and a good nose, are all
useful assistants. Even with the use of all these, messes will sometimes
get into the vat that never ought to be there. But when a patron's milk
is found not to be right, it is not necessary to insult or abuse him,
nor to make a general exposure of him. Neither law nor duty requires
this. He should be kindly informed of the fact, told what the matter is
with his milk and what he had better do to remove the evil. If you do
not wish to take the mess, you can express your regrets at his
misfortune, and show him that it would cause great damage, some of which
must necessarily fall on himself. If the mess is objectionable, but will
pass, give him notice that you will be obliged to refuse it in future,
if not in a better condition. When you have done this, more words with
him are unnecessary, and you have all the advantage, for the law and the
community are on your side. But, with a reasonable man, it will not be
necessary to more than call his attention to the fact that his milk is
bad. The cause may be the result of accident or oversight on the part of
his help, and he will at once set himself to work to apply the remedy.
The importance of delivering milk in good condition is more and more
acknowledged every year, and not a few patrons pride themselves on
delivering as good milk as any of their neighbors. It is well to
encourage this feeling by giving every man credit who takes pains with
his milk. Nothing is worse than wholesale denunciation and fault
finding. It only discourages many, creates bad feeling, and makes an
up-hill road a rough one as well. A cheese-maker needs friends, if
anybody does; and if he does not get them among his patrons, he is not
likely to get them at all. In that case, his seven days a week of hard,
thankless toil and care are likely to weigh heavily on body and mind.
The greatest difficulty is usually experienced in old factories, where
the conveniences are not generally up to the more modern mark, and
patrons fell into bad habits before experience had developed a better
knowledge of the requirements of cheese-making. New patrons will submit
to be trained, and a sensible cheese-maker, who knows what he wants, can
generally get them to do almost anything at the opening of a new
factory. In this way, he can discipline them and get them in the habit
of taking good care of their milk. But, in an old factory, where
everything started off badly, the old adage, that "it is hard to learn
old dogs new tricks," is apt to be exemplified. They dislike
innovations, think a new man, who wants to be particular, wishes to put
them to useless trouble, and they are not disposed to gratify him, but
rather to growl at him, and feel that what was good enough for others is
good enough for him. Such conduct is all wrong, and those who are guilty
of it stand in their own light.