82 THIRTIETH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE 



than that is of importance. But, as I shall say later on, one 

 should not growl but investigate. 



II. Variation in Tests between Creameries. 



Why should Smith's milk, taken this week to Brozvn's 

 creamery and next week to Robinson's creamery, test differently? 



When we go to bed at night we breathe a prayer in which 

 are to be found the words "Lead us not into temptation." 

 Human nature is so constituted that it often happens that a 

 patron, who takes his milk from Brown's creamery to Robin- 

 son's, is essentially leading the latter into temptation, into 

 which he is apt to fall. He may feel inclined to raise the 

 test, to make it read, or to report its reading, higher than it 

 really is. In my judgment such a test is not a test of the 

 milk, but of human nature; and the milk of human kindness 

 is altogether too apt to be curdled by such a trial, as is the 

 milk of the cow by the sulphuric acid of the Babcock method. 

 Such a comparison has no standing and means nothing. 

 There are better ways whereby one may find out whether 

 Brown's work at the creamery is correct or is not correct. One 

 may help himself or be advised by the experiment station. 



HOW TO CHECK THE CORRECTNESS OF CREAMERY TESTING. 



I believe that a Babcock apparatus should be located in 

 every dairy community in the state of Vermont; and that 

 there should be there, also, some young man or woman capa- 

 ble of running it in a satisfactory manner, whose services 

 could be had by any one in the community at a small consid- 

 eration. I do not advocate that all dairymen own Babcock 

 apparatus. Some farmers are not fitted to run it properly. A 

 Babcock incorrectly run is worse than none at all, since the re- 

 sults are more misleading than instructive. If the test ap- 

 paratus and some man or woman who is careful and, capable 

 of running it are available, one may know, if he wishes to, 

 whether his creamery is doing him justice or not. 



If the community is unwilling to combine in this way, its 

 dairymen may turn to Burlington, where there is an institu- 

 tion which is helpful to hundreds of dairymen in the- state in 

 this very way. It is a common thing for Smith, who doubts 

 whether Brown's test is correctly or honestly made, to take a 

 sample and express it to the experiment station; and then if 

 its test differs from Brown's there is music in the air. • 



Gov. Hoard. How may you know that the sample that Smith 

 sends has not been tampered with? 



Prof. Hills. If Smith is a rogue, if for any reason he is 

 bound to make his creamery wrong, whether or no, it is easy 



