84 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 



oju'raiion of the Babooek lost and the use of the lactometer. In the 

 basciiicnt are the cheese cui'iii^' rooms, cold stoi'a}i;e, lockers, and store 

 room. Over tlie cheese and l>ii(ler-makin<; room are otlices and class- 

 rooms. The buildinji" atl'ords facilities for instruction of large classes 

 in both cheese and butter-making. 



All courses exce]»t in cheese-making and beet sugar ])roduction began 

 January S, and continued six weeks. The attendance was as follows: 



Fruit, 4; cheese, 11; creamery, 24; live stock and dairy husbandry, 

 21; beet sugar, first term, 15; beet sugar, second term, 11). Total, 94. 

 Names repeated, 15. Net total, 70. 



Tlu' courses in creamery and dairy husbandry were under the im- 

 mediate charge of Mr. John Michels, who was assisted by Mr. C. B. 

 ^lartin, of Hanover, and Mr. K, L. Brown, of the Agricultural College. 

 ]\lr. Martin gave special attention to separators and churns, and Mr. 

 Brown devoted himself to the instruction in milk testing by the Bab- 

 cock test and the lactometer, with the lessons as to the composition 

 of milk under various conditions. 



The manufacturers donated the use of a full line of their wares, other- 

 wise the College owns a fairly complete equipment for instruction along 

 dairy lines. The milk was purchased not, as was planned, from parties 

 living near the College, but from Mr. H. A. Smith, Wixom, Michigan. 

 The transportation of the milk this long distance necessarily added 

 very materially to its cost. 



To give thorough instruction in butter-making it is necessary to have 

 the (piantity of milk suflficient to run the large steam separators an hour 

 or more to provide sufficient cream for the combined churn and worker. 



The total quantity of milk used in the creamery course was 65,232 

 pounds and 27,000 pounds for the cheese course. Courses other than 

 those in the dairy work are not expensive. Where the milk can be 

 purchased at a reasonable price, the receipts for products sold ought 

 to pay for the milk, but during this campaign the butter was produced 

 just at the time when it was lowest in the market, and the cheese met 

 with reluctant sale; first, because retailers as well as wholesalers have 

 adopted in Michigan the plan of purchasing cheese in June and July, 

 when it is cheapest, putting it in cold storage for sale in the spring 

 months, and second, because the milk used in the cheese course was 

 at least thirty-six hours old when it reached the College, and was too 

 ripe to make the best quality of cheese. Again, dairy products cannot 

 be sold to good advantage when their manufacture takes place at short 

 intervals during the year. A regular trade cannot be worked up. For 

 these reasons I deem it a matter of considerable importance that the 

 supply of milk to the College be continued during the year. 



The course in fruit culture does not seem to meet with popular ap- 

 proval, as evidenced by the number of students in attendance. The 

 work in that course is intensely practical, and cannot fail to be valuable 

 to anyone connected with fruit growing. 



Notwithstanding the high price of meat, it is apparent to me that 

 the general trend in live stock matters is toward the dairy rather 

 than away from it. While creameries have been unsuccessful in many 

 parts of the State, a rather wide observation leads me to believe that 



