VERMONT DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. Ill 



ing the quality of milk dropped correspondingly. When the 

 weather got back to ordinary comfortable summer heat the 

 quality of milk rose to its average. This does not interfere 

 with the statement recently made that the mixed milk of a 

 herd will vary very little from day to day, for that statement 

 presupposes conditions under which the animals do not suffer 

 from the stress of temperature, either heat or cold. The qual- 

 ity of milk may change with the season if it so happens that 

 the herd has a great proportion of cows that are drying up 

 at one season and of new milch cows at another. Barring 

 the points above made, if the milk is of less than average 

 quality in total solids, the fault is with the animal, and noth- 

 ing can be done to raise the quality of milk of such a herd but 

 a change of animals. In a herd however, it may be that a 

 few giving large quantities of milk of less than standard qual- 

 ity may be very useful if there are others giving milk of 

 higher quality, as the mixture will average to be about right. 

 The Walker-Gordon company sell milk in Boston under a 

 guarantee of four per cent, of fat. Their herd, however, is 

 not a collection of choice thoroughbred animals, but a picked 

 up herd of grades of all kinds, some strains of blood furnish- 

 ing richness and others quantity. In this way they have a 

 herd producing a maximum amount of milk and have no trou- 

 ble whatever in keeping the quality up to the guarantee. If 

 the daily tests show a tendency of quantity to decrease and 

 quality to increase the judicious swapping of a few animals 

 will correct this tendency. The same is true if the tendency 

 sets the other way. 



Some of the current literature of the day has been devoted 

 to discussing what is the greatest event of the century. 

 While different things have been mentioned and their claims 

 to this prominence been argued with great force, it seems to 

 me that nothing can be mentioned which can take precedence 

 over the discovery of the principle of bacteriology. This has 

 robbed surgery of its terrors, has put such diseases as diphtheria 

 andt yphoid fever under control, curtailed dread consumption to 

 a great extent, and has been of great influence in many indus- 

 tries of the world. It has transformed the whole basis of the 

 manufacturing of beer and butter, and been of great service in 

 other ways. In short, it has reduced sickness and suffering, 

 it has enhanced economy, and increased the comforts and lux- 

 uries of the human race. It has been of immense importance 

 in the sale milk business. We have learned that milk is a 

 medium in which contagious diseases may be spread, and con- 

 sequently have been enabled to increase its healthfulness by 

 taking precautions which this advance in science has placed 

 before us. We have been able by this knowledge of bacteriol- 



