VARIATIONS IN FAT OF MILK SERVED TO 

 CUSTOMERS IN DIPPING FROM CANS. 



The following extract recently appeared editorially in a leading 

 dairy paper : 



"It is our opinion — decided — that peddling milk in a city, 

 either by dipping the amount for each customer, from the top of 

 the carrying can, or drawing it from the bottom through a faucet, 

 should both be prohibited by law — with pains and penalties just 

 as stringent as those that now legally apply to a deliverer of milk 

 to a factory that has in it less than three per cent. fat. Why ? 

 Because cream mounts to the surface of a bod} T of milk with far 

 more alacrity than many suppose, and is dipped off to the first 

 few customers served ; they get more than their share of cream 

 and the last served get skimmed milk, no matter how godly may 

 be the intentions, or how vigorous the efforts of the distributor. . 

 . . . When we were in the milk testing business, we tried it for 

 one milk deliverer, and found there was just about half as much 

 fat in the last drawn quart as in the first dipped off. ' ' 



To determine just how much variation there is in the fat of 

 milk served to the different patrons of a route by dipping, a 

 member of the station staff accompanied a milkman as he went 

 upon his route, and as the milk was about to be served to various 

 patrons took samples for analysis. The milk was the mixed 

 milk of a herd of native and grade cows. The dipper, such as is 

 ordinarily used by milkmen, was provided with a long handle so 

 that it rested on the bottom of the can when not in use. The 

 milk was not stirred except by the motion of the wagon and the 

 raising of the dipper. 



The following twelve samples were taken, and yielded to analy- 

 sis the following percentages of fat, the figures representing the 

 average of parallel determinations : 



