DEPARTMENT REPORTS 31 



left the college fully competent to make butter under conditions obtaining 

 in the home dairy. After the close of the course, many applications for 

 men to manage creameries and cheese factories were received. These 

 places we could not of course fill, because the students had not been 

 accustomed to steam machinery. 



I very strongly recommend, therefore, that in the special course in dairy 

 husbandry next season, provision be made for instruction in factory work, 

 both in cheese and butter making. Notwithstanding the unfortunate 

 experience of many Michigan communities with butter and cheese facto- 

 ries, it is evident from the history of other states, as well as of certain parts 

 of Michigan, that progress in the dairy is the accompaniment of the 

 establishment of butter and cheese factories. As long as the butter is 

 largely made in private families, just so long will the State not be a 

 leader in dairy matters. A uniform product can not be expected from 

 such a system of manufacture. It seems the plain duty of the College 

 to aid in the change of method of manufacture by educating men com- 

 petent to manage factories successfully. A separate building suitable to 

 this special purpose is urgently needed, but in its default the present 

 rooms might be enlarged and used until a better equipment is forth- 

 coming. 



The instruction given the special students in both the dairy and live 

 stock courses, in the chemistry, botany and veterinary departments, was 

 most eminently satisfactory, and contributed very largely to the value 

 of the courses to the young men attending. 



In the special course in live stock husbandry the emphasis was laid 

 on stock judging and the management of flocks and herds. By lectures, 

 and work in the barn, the students were made familiar with many of 

 the details of the successful breeding, feeding and management of cattle^ 

 sheep and swine. 



COLLEGE HERD. 



The tuberculin test was first applied to the animals of the herd in 

 March, 1896, and again in August of the same year. All animals reacting 

 were at once removed from the barns and kept entirely isolated from the 

 cattle barns and their occupants. The barns were then thoroughly dis- 

 infected, under the supervision of the veterinai'j' department. Notwith- 

 standing these precautions, however, the application of the test in Aprils 

 1897, revealed the presence of tuberculosis in several of the best animals 

 in the herd, including the famous cows Belle Sarcastic and College Pogis. 



Excluding the tuberculous animals, now kept isolated for experimental 

 purposes, there is upon the farm at the date of this report 40 head of 

 thoroughbred animals, distributed among the different breeds as fol- 

 lows: Shorthorns, 8; Galloway, 1; Red Polled, 2; Holsteins, 14; Jerseys, 

 8; Brown Swiss, 4; Grades, 3. 



The herd of swine includes 13 Duroc Jersevs, 17 Poland Chinas and 

 9 Chester Whites. 



The flock of sheep is composed of 57 Shropshires, 10 Hampshires, 6 

 Oxfordshires, 7 Horned Dorsets, 3 Cotswolds, 1 Leicester, 4 American 

 Merinos, 2 National Merinos, 1 Dickinson Merino, 1 Southdown and 3 

 cross-bred lambs. 



