DAIRY AND SEED IMPROVEMENT MEETINGS. I93 



Mr. Harris : I am not in a position to discuss this matter 

 only in a one-sided way. I think it is a fair method to buy on 

 the butter-fat basis and also by the hundred weight basis, es- 

 pecially if you want milk or thick cream, and if you are look- 

 ing for water, as has been brought out. I have heard of dairy- 

 men wanting to sell their milk to creameries by the gallon, 

 but it seems to me it must be a very unsatisfactory method. It 

 would be like going back to the inch arrangement, or nearly so. 

 I am sure I have learned a good deal from Brother Bradford's 

 address, but I know our patrons, and I think it is a pretty good 

 idea — when they are satisfied and are having a fair deal — to 

 let well enough alone. As I was saying, if we were looking 

 for thinner cream or more milk, the idea of the per hundred 

 weight would work out nicely, but with a variation in cream 

 of from 18 to 30 per cent it would not be satisfactory ; it would 

 be worth more if we had a market for skim-milk. If the 

 farmer is paid on the butter-fat basis, he is induced to keep his 

 milk on the farm and the skim-milk is a valuable by-product. 

 If all the skim-milk raised in Maine were sent to Massachusetts, 

 I don't know what the next generation of cows would be ; the 

 calves need the skim-milk, and the pigs ought to have it. I 

 feel thai I am incompetent to discuss the matter further. 



Mr. Lowell : The gentleman just said that we need the 

 skim-milk to feed the calves ; that is correct ; I don't think 

 there is anything c}uite equal to milk to make our calves grow, 

 and if we want good sized cattle we want them to grow from 

 the first right along all the time. I would ask the gentleman 

 what he would consider the comparative value between cream, 

 milk and whole milk in feeding calves? 



Mr. Harris : I am not a stock raiser. 



President Tucker: I think that the greatest drawback to 

 the system that Brother Bradford has instituted is that it has a 

 tendency to draw the skim-milk ofif the farm. 



Mr. Bradford: I just want to say in addition to what has 

 been said that as you know, you always have the standing ofifer 

 of sweet, pure. Pasteurized skim-milk at five cents less than 

 the creamery has paid the farmer per hundred for it. In a 

 creamery of a certain concern, the farmer can buy skim-milk, 

 10 gallons at a time, for five cents less than he is paid per 

 hundred weight. 



