80 THE CONNECTICUT AGEICULTURAL 



Water is the most abundant and a necessary, though of itself 

 a worthless ingredient. It constitutes on the average seven- 

 eighths of the total milk, but varies several per cent, from that 

 mean. The valuable ingredients are included in the 12.5 per cent, 

 more or less of matters which remain in the solid state when 

 the water is evaporated off. 



All these solids are valuable as food. 



Butter'is the fat of milk mixed with some 10 or 15 per cent, of 

 water and 1-2 per cent, of the other solids of the milk, together 

 with 2-5 per cent, of salt added in the making. 



Butter-milk is the water of milk, with most of the casein and 

 suoar and a small amount of fat. 



Cheese is the casein and albumin of milk, with more or less of 

 the fat and other solids and a variable amount of water. 



Whey is mostly the water of milk, with the larger share of the 

 sugar and small portions of the other solids. 



The worth of milk for common use as food depends on the 

 quantity of solids it cootains. It is well established that genuine 

 milk is somewhat variable in composition as respects the propor- 

 tions of water and solids. It is found that differences of breed, 

 characteristics of the individual animals, period of lactation, quan- 

 tity and kind of food, climate or weathei-, state of health and 

 other conditions, which largely affect the quantity or yield of 

 milk, also, though to a much less degree, influence its composi- 

 tion or the proportion of its ingredients. 



Milk is also made to depart from the average composition given 

 above, by willful falsification, either by skimming off part of the 

 cream, by adding water directly to the milk or by both opera- 

 tions together. It is difficult to distinguish by simple inspection 

 or ordinary tests, between rich and poor milk, between genuine 

 and moderately adulterated. On the one hand two samples 

 of milk which appear to be different in richness as judged by the 

 color and the rapidity with which the cream rises, may be essential- 

 ly alike in composition and equally good for cheese-making or for 

 immediate consumption as food. On the other hand, a small 

 amount of watering, and the removal of a part of the cream may 

 escape suspicion and defy detection by the ordinary means. 



It is very important therefore to know what are the natural 

 and ordinary limits of the variations in the composition of milk, 

 and how to distinguish such variations from those which I'esult 

 from intentional watering or skimming. 



