40 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



by the lack of inclination and unresponsive attitude of the 

 average consumer towards milk of a high standard of purity. 

 Too often the consumer regards milk simply as a household 

 necessity or as a mere beverage which is to be secured as cheaply 

 as possible. While he is ever ready to complain, he is not 

 always ready to pay the price that an improved or higher stand- 

 ard product is well worth. The consumer's tendency has always 

 been to pay too high a price for poor milk and too low a price 

 for good milk. This same tendency holds true with the cream- 

 eries and condensories. They know that a good product cannot 

 be made from poor lots of milk or cream, but still very few, if 

 any, grade the milk and cream, other than to ascertain whether 

 it is sour or sweet, or pay on the basis of quality attained, with 

 extra reward for high quality. 



The payment for milk on the basis of its butter fat content 

 has long been practiced by the creameries of the state, but the 

 establishment of a payment on the basis of quality of product 

 delivered, as determined by bacteriological examination, has 

 not been done. 



Why farmers and milkmen sell their product to dealers and 

 consumers regardless of its percentage of fat, even, cannot be 

 understood, as thev know that the butter fat is the basis of 

 payment from the creamery. Many times milkmen are found 

 selling a milk rich in butter fat and if their milk was sold on 

 that basis much more profit would result. 



A payment for the milk according to the fat content and 

 bacterial content seems to be fair to the producer and con- 

 sumer alike. When this becomes a practice the housewife can 

 have milk containing a lot of cream if she likes by paying 

 slightly more for the butter fat. The milkman can sell to a 

 creamerv and receive payment for the actual butter fat content 

 in his milk, so it would be only fair to ask an increase for the 

 extra rich product. 



Quality is the present day watchword in all food establish- 

 ments and as milk is most certainly an important food, this 

 watchword should bear a conspicuous part in this industry. 



I have endeavored in my lectures before audiences to keep the 

 foregoing suggestions in mind and to place before the public 

 as much as possible something enHghtening as to the importance 

 of the milk situation. 



