No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 75 



teration. A careful analysis of the statements relative to the several 

 classes of materials indicates that this statistical method of judg- 

 ment is not entirely warranted. It is believed, on the contrary, that, 

 as has been indicated in the introductory remarks, the conditions of 

 the market show, on the whole, a steady improvement. 



In the following jjortion of this report the several classes of food 

 products examined will be considered separately in detail. 



DAIRY PRODUCTS 



There have been analyzed during the year 1,777 samples of milk as 

 compared with 2,86G examined in the year 1909. 



This year the chemists' findings resulted in prosecutions of which 

 70 were terminated, while in 1909 the number of similar cases termin- 

 ated was 126. The greater number of prosecutions this year have 

 been for the skimming of milk sold for whole milk. About half as 

 many prosecutions were instituted for the addition of water and, out 

 of the entire number of samples examined, but 5 cases were discovered 

 in which preser-vative was added, 4 of them having been found to con- 

 tain formaldehyde and one a boric acid preservative. The condition 

 of the milk sold in Pennsylvania, considered as a whole, shows a very 

 marked improvement with respect to its adulteration, over the condi- 

 tions existing until very recently. 



The milk Act of 1909 sets no chemical or physical standards for 

 milk. In this respect the law of Pennsylvania differs distinctly from 

 the laws of most states and municipalities controlling the sale of this 

 dairy product. The milk law, as it stands, makes legal the sale of milk 

 without respect to its fat richness or its sanitary condition. The fact 

 is recognized that some unadulterated milk is derived from special 

 strains of dairy cattle that produce large volumes of thin milk and 

 also that individual cows, even of those breeds that commonly yield 

 milk high in solids and fats, occasionally yield, during short periods, 

 milk of a quality far below the normal for the individual and the 

 breed. This law as it stands certainly protects the producer from 

 the remotest possibility of being charged with adulteration by 

 skimming or watering. It may be questioned whether, without 

 serious menace to the producer's true interests, a somewhat higher 

 standard than the poorest product from the poorest cow might not be 

 required for the welfare of the consumer. 



In view of the lack of specific chemical or physical standards, con- 

 formity to which is readily determined by the methods of analysis 

 long in vogue, it has become necessary in the examination of samples 

 under the present law to have recourse to quit different analytical 

 methods. Fortunately the optical qualities of milk serum, that is, of 

 the liquid portion of milk after the fat and curd have been removed, 

 are practically uniform for the undiluted milk of all the breeds of 



