No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 4S7 



is perched ou the leiitel of many of the creameries operating in thib 

 State, and it makes no dillerence whether the loss be brought about 

 through negligence or carelessness, or with malice aforethought upon 

 the part of the creamery emploj^ees or owners, the loss to the dairy- 

 man is just the same, and the reason why the check is short, if it is 

 short of what it should be, means nothing to him. Three-tenths of 

 a point off the correct test to the ordinary farmer takes the greatest 

 part of his profit, and five-tenths takes it all, and as I understand it, 

 it is extremely easy under the system of today, to lose his profit in 

 just this way. 



These conditions are so evident to any one who chooses to investi- 

 gate from the standpoint of the producer, that in several states 

 steps have been taken to overcome these wrongs, and official examina- 

 ers are provided for by law, and it is made the duty of such official to 

 visit frequently at unexpected times, every creamery in his district, 

 to take samples of the acid used and of milk from dairymen, and to 

 make tests under varying conditions, so that as nearly fair and just 

 conclusions can be reached as may be possible. 



Why should this not be done in Pennsylvania? What is the bene- 

 fit to anyone in keeping clean stables, with cattle up to the standard 

 every time, only to be robbed later on by the middleman? It seems 

 to me this is a matter well worthy of serious consideration, and that 

 some plan through which these wrongs may be corrected should be 

 conceived and put in operation as quickly as possible. To my mind, 

 the farmer alone is the man to do this, men who understand existing 

 conditions and what is necessary to correct those conditions. The 

 profitable work of ''farming" farmers has grown to be quite an indus- 

 try, and if this task is entrusted to men other than practical men in 

 this line of work, there is no telling what the result may be. Have 

 you ever considered that of the many laws upon our statutes today 

 supposedly conceived by farmers and passed at their instance and in 

 their interests, there are but few that in reality help the farmer as 

 much as they help the other fellow, and not one that even pretends to 

 protect the dairyman. Farmers, as a class, are not perhaps, because 

 of their secluded life, as fully in touch with and as wise to all worldly 

 ways, as are some others. Some farmers I will admit are fairly well 

 halter-broken in this direction, and have earned the method of selling 

 a horse "that will stand without hitching," but the majority need 

 and deserve to be told the truth and the whole truth every time; they 

 deserve to have thrown around them every protection accorded other 

 men. Let the Legislative Committee of this organization think this 

 matter over. 



WEATHER OBSERVATIONS 



By PROF. W. G. OWENS 



We seldom realize that we are living at the bottom of a great ocean 

 of air. How high it is, that is how deep this ocean is, no one knows. 

 Various methods have been used to measure its depths but the best 

 leaves large chance for conjecture. The length of twilight has been 

 used as the basis for this calculation, on the supposition that twi- 



