No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 737 



tions, that typhoid and scarlet fever are disseminated through milk, 

 that butter is adulterated with renovated and cotton oil, and that 

 cheese is poor in quality. When we take a broad view of the matter 

 we find that dairy products as a whole were never better than they 

 are to-day. Take*, for instance, the milk supplied to the city of Bos- 

 ton. One of the up-to-date milk contractors recently had the milk 

 from the entire number of farmers (119) furnishing him with milk 

 from a single town, examined for bacteria, and they found only 2^ 

 per cent, below the Boston requirements. This may be taken as a 

 fair illustration of the condition of things in a community of intelli- 

 gent milk producers. 



Again, the mortality of children under five years of age has been 

 reduced from 43.84 per cent, in 1875 to 28.87 in 1904. Both New 

 York and Philadelphia show a similar improvement. There can be 

 no doubt but that this improvement is due in no small degree to the 

 better farm conditions and better laws and health regulations. The 

 result of the recent case in Philadelphia, where two grocers were 

 fined $250 each and sentenced to GO days in the county prison for 

 supplying oleo as a substitute for butter shows the activity of in- 

 spectors to put down fraud. 



The demand for high grade products is increasing. Many of the 

 certified milk producers are unable to keep up with the demand for 

 their products. One party I have in mind, who is selling the milk 

 from 500 cows at the rate of 15 cents per quart told me that the de- 

 mand for their products was so great that they were already pre- 

 paring plans for a barn to accommodate 800 cows. Another made 

 the statement that if he had a million dollars to invest he would put 

 it into the production of certified milk. The demand for milk of 

 high quality that is not sold under a guarantee is no less noticeable. 

 Many have advanced the price with the result that they have not 

 only held their regular customers, but added many new ones. 



PRACTICAL RESULTS OF AN EXPERIMENT. 



A discussion of this matter from the practical side will doubtless 

 be of more interest to dairymen. I wish to give here some of the 

 actual results secured from the dairy herd at the New Jersey Col- 

 lege farm, when in my charge, and the sale of its products in retail 

 trade. The sale of milk was made in competition with other dairy- 

 men, without any other advantage than a good product. The num- 

 ber of milch cows in the herd ranged from 23 to 30 and they were 

 largely grades. The composition of the milk of the different animals 

 ranged from 2.8 to 6.4 in percentage of fat, and averaged 4.3 per 

 cent. The standard of richness for the milk as delivered to con- 

 sumers was fixed at a minimum of 4.0 per cent, fat, as it was found 

 that with care in the arrangement of the animals in the barn, so 

 that the milking might take a certain order, it was possible to fur- 

 nish from day to clay, a product that was practically uniform in com- 

 position. This herd served in carrying out a practical experiment on 

 a large scale, to determine whether uniformity, richness and purity 

 could be practically accomplished, and whether, if these character- 

 istics were possessed by milk delivered to consumers, the result 

 would be a larger consumption at a better price. The experiment be- 

 gan in 1896, and during that year it was only possible to in part 

 47—6—1905 



