No. 7. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. «2» 



cutting distributor is still patronized and still holds on to his busi- 

 ness. So I say that while some dairymen should be denounced for 

 the methods they pursue, at the same time a demand should be created 

 for better milk on the part of the consumer, and I am convinced that 

 such a demand would be readily supplied. It is true that some pro- 

 gress is being made along this line, for which some credit .should be 

 given to the producer and dealer, some to laws and regulations, but 

 very little to the consumer. He is the stumbling block in the work 

 of improvement, and it will be necessary first to educate him, before 

 any very rapid progress can be made. Just as long as the consumer 

 demands cheap milk, just so long he is encouraging uncleanliness, 

 the keeping of diseased cows, the watering of milk and the use of 

 preservatives. 



Not Altogether a Question of Higher Price. 



The fact should not be overlooked that the vital question financially 

 is not so much securing a better price as it is cheaper production. 

 To illustrate : In one county in your neighboring state that was in- 

 vestigated, it was found that more than half of the farmers were 

 getting less than 3,500 pounds of milk a year from their cows, and 

 more than half received, less than a dollar for every dollar they spent 

 in food. We need to look at things more and more from a business 

 standpoint. Is it to be wondered at that these men receive only 

 beggarly returns from their cows when only one dairyman out of ten 

 read any paper devoted especially to his life work ? 



Our Ideals are Changing. 



With higher ideals of food products and better knowledge of bac- 

 teria and sanitation, our view point is constantly changing. What 

 was considered clean milk five years ago is not considered clean milk 

 at all to-day. The commercial value of milk and cream has, until 

 recently, been rated entirely on the basis of the fat and solids they 

 contained ; but now we are going a ste]) farther and giving attention 

 to the preparation of market milk as distinct from production and a 

 standard is required not onh'^ for its chemical composition, but for 

 dirt, bacteria, pus cells, temperature, freedom from disease-germs, 

 etc. In other words, cleanliness is considered a commercial quality 

 and we are depending more and more upon the laboratory to assist 

 in regulating the quality of the milk supi)ly. This is as it should be. 

 We have never given attention enough to this matter. 



Incentive to Produce Better Milk. 



I saw this statement in a recent dairy paper — "No encouragement 

 is offered the sanitary dairyman except that branch known as 'certi- 

 fied milk' where extremes of expense have often made the product 

 prohibitive." I cannot entirely agree with this for there is beginning 

 to be a decided trend toward better prices for better milk. For ex- 

 ample: One large milk company in a certain state notified the farmers 

 that 10 per cent, per can would be paid over and above the market 

 price to all dairies scoring more than 75 per cent, by the dairy in- 

 spector and to all dairies whose premises scored less than 60 per cent., 

 a reduction would be made; and further that no milk would be ac- 

 cepted from farmers whose premises scored less than 50 per cent. 



