Il6 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



participated in the program and by their questions, and other- 

 wise, showed their active interest. As a result of that first 

 contest another has since been held and in this second contest 

 even a greater interest was manifested than in the first. 



Only last month the Chamber of Commerce of Pittsburg, 

 learning of the success in Cleveland, undertook a similar con- 

 test there. As a result some sixty odd samples were exhibited, 

 and between six and seven hundred dairymen came out to the 

 meetings to discuss their business, the business of producing 

 milk and cream for the city of Pittsburg. In a letter which 

 the president of the Chamber of Commerce has since written 

 he said. "The Chamber of Commerce has never in its existence 

 undertaken a work which has been so heartily commended by 

 the people of Pittsburg as has been its work in connection with 

 the milk and cream contest which has just been held." 



The judging or scoring of milk or cream is a study of those 

 products not only from a chemical and bacteriological stand- 

 point, but from the standpoints of flavor and freedom from 

 foreign matter. Certain definite mathematical values are given 

 Flavor, Composition, Bacteria, Acidity, and Appearance of 

 Package and Contents. Each of the foregoing conditions are 

 examined and rated according to their merits and such ratings 

 when added, constitute the score of the milk sample under con- 

 sideration, one hundred points constituting a perfect score. 



FLAVOR. 



(Forty out of one hundred points). 



The palatability of any food is said to have much to do with 

 its usefulness in nourishing the body. This may be due in part 

 to the increased flow of saliva which is stimulated by a particu- 

 larly palatable food. The flavor and odor of milk it may be 

 said are due to that peculiar property which acting on the organs 

 of taste and smell creates in the mind of individuals a degree of 

 satisfaction or disgust. In a way it may be said that the cleaner 

 milk has the better fla,vor. This brings us to a consideration 

 of the conditions commonly aflfecting the flavor of milk and 

 cream, namely — (i) Changes in flavor due to the physical con- 

 dition of one or more cows in the herd. (2) Changes in flavor 

 due to one or more cows in the herd eating strongly flavored 



