62 Vermont Agbicultubax Repoet. 



It will be found that different varieties require different treat- 

 ment. Some like fig. i grow upright. In this case most of the prun- 

 ing must be done from the center. Fig. 2 is a Burbank plum. Note 

 the peculiar sprawling habit of growth ; here most of the pruning 

 must be done on the outside. Fig. 3 presents an ideal top to 

 select from. In each illustration the season's growth is from 

 where the person's hand is placed in the top. 



BENEFITS OF THE BABCOCK TEST. 



BY S. C. THOMPSON, DAIRY INSTRUCTOR OF MAINE;. 



Sept. 16, 1905. 



Since the advent of the Babcock Test, great changes have 

 taken place in the dairy work of this country, and very largely 

 for the better, though like almost everything in this world, it 

 has its draw-backs, nevertheless everybody who is interested in 

 the keeping of cows, is interested or should be, in this test and 

 its manipulation. 



People are interested to a certain extent, yet in a majority 

 of instances their interest ceases before they have become familiar 

 enough with its workings to have one in their own dairy room 

 and to see to it that it is in operation. Like many of us they are 

 anxious to know what somebody will tell them but don't make 

 an effort to find out for themselves,, which in this case is stopping 

 short of the reward, for there are today too many people who do 

 not believe in its accuracy simply because they have heard their 

 neighbor say so or else have guessed of its inaccuracy from the 

 fact that their returns from the factory are not as great as they 

 think they ought to be or else their test is lower than for the month 

 previous, which to them is positive evidence that the dift'erence 

 is due to the inaccurate work of the test or its operator, but in 

 either event if the person has a personal knowledge of the test 

 and has used it as he ought, he can soon find for himself that 

 these variations are there. So far as accuracy is concerned, it 

 has been shown over and over again that it is as accurate as any 

 chemical test and more accurate than any previous test for de- 

 termining the amount of butter fat in milk but if people are still 

 skeptical, let them make several tests themselves of the same 

 sample, then they will see by their uniform results that varia- 



