96 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



With the elimination of dangerous chemicals and "dopes" of many kinds, the 

 milk supplies are of a higher and better grade, and the producer and consumer 

 are proportionately benefitted by the improvement which was so difficult of 

 realization, and only realized after many repulses. 



HOUSEWIVES SHOULD CLEAN MILK BOTTLES. 



As the average housewife knows, when milk is once dried in a bottle, jar 

 or other receptacle, it requires a great deal of labor to remove it. Possessing 

 a special interest in pure, clean and wholesome milk, she can, therefore, assist 

 the local dairyman in maintaining a supply of milk of an improved quality 

 by cleaning all such utensils immediately after they are emptied, and before 

 they are returned to the owner. If the dairyman does not properly wash and 

 clean the cans and pails, milk from the previous milking will adhere to such 

 receptacles, and containing as it does, myriads of bacteria which multiply at 

 an alarming rate when combined with other or new milk, it is not difficult to 

 conjecture the evil that must follow such a combination of active agencies. 



This matter should be impressed upon the minds of milk consumers, although 

 it is perhaps only too generally accepted and believed that the milk-man 

 should alone be held accountable to the public for the absolute cleanliness and 

 purity of the milk delivered and sold by him. As ordinary dairy utensils con- 

 tain depressions and grooves, it is well to keep supplied with a suitable brush 

 to clean such utensils, rather than depend solely upon a cloth, which at its 

 best, may not be too clean. Unless a brush is used, the places not covered 

 during the cleaning process become veritable breeding places for bacteria. 

 After washing, scalding and brushing such utensils, they should be exposed 

 to the sunlij;ht, as the direct rays of the sun are fatal to bacteriological 

 growth. The sun-bath costs nothing but a little extra labor, but its value can- 

 not be over-estimated. 



COW TESTING ASSOCIATIONS. 



In a number of states, the dairymen and others interested have organized 

 what are known as "cow testing associations." Such general tests gave sur- 

 prising results. In many instances, they resulted in the weeding out of herds 

 of cows that were unprofitable because of the low percentage of butter-fat 

 derived from their milk, or because of the small quantity of milk which they 

 produced even under good care and feeding. 



Many years ago a series of experiments conducted in Pennsylvania under the 

 auspices of the State Board of Agriculture proved very conclusively by the 

 actual results obtained during such experiments, that the average farmer 

 owned one or more of these unprofitable cows, and that the owner became 

 poorer with each succeeding day that the herd was kept intact. 



The testing system is comparatively inexpensive, and it is reasonably certain 

 that if once inaugurated in Pennsylvania, it would not soon be abandoned. 

 The usual plan in vogue is to test the milk for a specified period, usually a 

 week or longer, and at the end of the testing period, calculations are made 

 as to the cost of the feed, value of the milk produced, etc., all with scientific 

 accuracy. Canada is possibly in advance in this movement, and the expense 

 is borne by the government, just the same as expenses are paid for the pro- 

 motion of all agricultural interests of the Dominion. "Cow test associations" 

 are a necessity in Pennsylvania, but earnest and active personal work of dairy 

 enthusiasts will be necessary to start the good work. 



MANUFACTURING DAIRY PRODUCTS ON FARM UNPROFITABLE. 



The practical experiments made upon the farms of Pennsylvania, taken as a 

 whole, show that it is undoubtedly the best business policy on the great ma- 

 jority of farms, to send the milk or cream to sjime special central plant to be 

 manufactured into butter, and that in only a comparatively few instances is it 

 really economical to manufacture the customary dairy products on the farm. 



Of course, where a dairying district has the advantage of good, near-by 

 markets for the whole milk, and where the farmer or dairyman can guarantee 

 clean, pure and wholesome milk, the city market may be found to be the most 

 remunerative. Customers can be found in any of the large cities and towns 

 who will buy and handle an extra quality of milk, at a fair price; but quality 

 and excellence are of prime importance to command the best rates. 



Conditions throughout the State have changed very materially during the 

 past decade, and as a result, a comparatively small amount of "country-but- 

 ter" or so-called "country roll butter" is being made and marketed. In its 

 place, the city consumer now buys dairy or creamery butter of a quality far 

 superior to the old style butter, which too often was an abominable, stale 

 mixture, made only to sell to some poor, unsophisticated patron, hundreds of 

 miles distant from the farm on which it was produced by a careless and in- 

 different butter-inaker. 



It is the policy of the Dairy and Food Bureau to assist farmers and dairymen 

 in every possible and practicable way, but it could never afford to endorse the 

 manufacture of inferior and unwholesome dairy products of any description. 



