634 ANNUAL. REPORT OF THE Off. L oc. 



of affairs i>s wise legislation. ''Knowledge is power" says Luther 

 Burbank, but it requires to be combined with wisdom to be useful." 

 We see no reason why the qualities which cream must possess before 

 it may be manufactured into butter, may not be defined by law and 

 why such a la'w should not be enforced. We further see no reason why 

 a practicable method of rewarding skill and honesty cannot be worked 

 out to the satisfaction of all. 



Incompetent Buttermakers. 



The cause of these is to be found in the fact that it is frequently 

 considered unnecessary to possess any special brain power, or extra 

 skill to make butter — "why any woman can make butter!" Thus does 

 the "lord of creation" easily dismiss the whole question and at the 

 same time cat&t a slur upon the brains and skill of womankind. In 

 01 der to obtain effective improvement in the class of men who make 

 butter, we are of opinion that only competent, trained men, who 

 possess certificates of ability from some institution of recognized 

 standing, ought to be allowed to make butter. It would be w'ise 

 also to have these revocable, if in the judgment tof a competent 

 Board of Examiners, the person holding a certificate should prove 

 unworthy. In this instance we should recommend a combination 

 of education and legislation. 



Defective Marketing. 



This is probably the most difficult part of the whole question to 

 deal with, yet it ought to be the easiest. While it might not be easy 

 to enforce, we should favor standards of temperature and cleanliness 

 in refrigerators, butter cellars, etc., and would advise prohibiting 

 the selling of butter, except for special purposes after it had been 

 made for a certain length of time — say three months. This would 

 mean the branding of the date of manufacture on each and every 

 package of butter. It may not be practicable to do this, but it looks 

 to us as if the dealer, to a large extent, is working off stale goods on 

 the public and that a really fresh article is difficult to obtain. 



Making Fine Butter. 



It is not my intention to go into the details of creamery butter- 

 making which are probably better understood by my hearers, than they 

 are known to me, because T have not an opportunity, except by ob- 

 servation, of becoming acquainted with all the trifles which make 

 perfection, though "perfection is no trifle." 



We shall indicate a few principles only, which are to be observed 

 in making good butter and hope that a discussion of practical points 

 will fill in the gaps. 



1. To make fine butter we must have good raw material in the 

 form of milk or cream. It is a hopeless task to try to make good butter 

 from bad cream. Tonfucius reproved one of his pupils wlio was lazy 

 and inattentive by saying, "Rotten wood cannot be carved." Many a 

 buttermaker is trying to carve his name and fortune out of rotten 

 wood. Stale, thin, tainted cream must be banished from the cream- 

 eries before we shall be able to make much progress in the art of fine 

 buttermaking. 



