REPORT OF STATE DAIRY INSTRUCTOR. 



To the Hon. IV. T. Guptill, Commissioner of Agriculture: 



The report of your Dairy Instructor for the year 1916 is 

 hereby respectfully submitted. 



A continued study of the conditions under which the dairy 

 products of Maine are produced and sold has been made with 

 the hope of thereby enabling the dairymen to secure a larger 

 net financial return from their herds. After a careful investi- 

 gation I believe that over one-half of the dairy products of 

 Maine are produced at a loss. The price received is not com- 

 mensurate with either the cost of production or the intrinsic 

 value of milk as compared with other foods. The use of oleo- 

 margarine largely governs the price of dairy products and I 

 shall be greatly interested in the report of the committee ap- 

 pointed at the last Dairy Conference to ascertain the State 

 institutions that use this substitute for butter. 



The dairymen justly feel that the institutions they help to 

 support should not assist in keeping the prices of dairy pro- 

 ducts down by the use of any substitute for the product of 

 their herds. The cows in Maine have steadily diminished for 

 the last decade, and they will only come back when there is a 

 living profit in the business. 



The dairymen buy their supplies and sell their products to 

 firms that are well organized for their mutual protection and 

 yet the dairymen themselves have never felt the need of or- 

 ganization. I sincerely hope that the dairymen of Maine will 

 investigate the movement in New England for higher prices 

 for a higher grade of dairy products and render such assistance 

 as they feel is needed for the improvement of the dairy inter- 

 ests of the state. 



I have visited during the year over 200 dairymen at their 

 homes and, without exception, they have been anxious to gain 

 information and willing to profit by any suggestion I was able to 

 make. They were advised, as last year, to keep better cows 



