324 



herds the range of variation approximates 30 per cent in three cases, 40 

 per cent in four cases, and 60 per cent in three cases. 



As to the expcdieucy and justice of buying milk " by test" some strong arguments 

 were found. The business of a small creamery for one day is taken as an illustration. 

 Twelve hundred pounds of milk were received on an average per day from twenty- 

 four dairymen, the price i^aid making the value of one day's raw material about 

 |14.40. On the old system of sale by the pound, each dairyman would ou an average 

 receive 60 cents for his milk. By comparing the price paid with the relative richness 

 in butter, it was found that some dairymen were underpaid 20 cents, receiving 60 

 cents for 80 cents' worth of milk, and that certain others were overpaid by as much 

 as 14 cents. In both extremes the error was 20 per cent of the value of the milk. 

 The average underpaid was 8 cents, and the average overpaid nearly 5 cents. In 

 other words, the price of the poorer grades averaged 9 per cent above value, and of 

 the better grades 12 per cent below value. In one day's business 72 cents justly due 

 certain dairymen were paid certain others above their due. The purchaser neither 

 gained nor lost directly by this transaction, since, in the long run, supply and 

 demand fix his rates. The money paid for Ihe poorer grades of milk in excess of 

 their worth was taken from the pockets of men who sold better grades of milk, not 

 from the purchaser. 



Comparative tests of the lactocrite and Cochran's milk test with Soxh- 

 let's areometric method of fat extraction are reported. The results 

 with the lactocrite show errors about two thirds as great as where milk 

 is sold without testing, while Cochran's method gave errors only one 

 sixth as great. 



Several articles of food known to be healthful found to 

 contain small quantities of copper, c. l. penny, m. a. (pp. 172- 

 174). — A brief report on the results of analyses of grapes before and 

 after treatment with Bordeaux mixture, and of molasses, oatmeal, flour, 

 beef liver, and New Orleans sirup. The tabulated data show that a 

 small amount of copper was found in every case. Grapes after careful 

 treatment with the Bordeaux mixture, contained very little more copper 

 than before treatment. 



Report of meteorologist, G. A. Harter, M. A. (pp. 174-18S). — 

 Meteorological observations were begun at the station September 20, 

 1888, and a summary of the records from October 1, 1888, to December 

 31, 1889, is given in this report. The plan on which the observations 

 are made is briefly described, and tabular data are given for rain-fall, 

 temperature, and barometric readings, with the dates of thunder and 

 hail storms, frosts, heavy rain-falls, and violent winds. 



Georgia Station, Bulletin No. 8, July, 1890 (pp. 10). 



Potato experiments, G. Speth (pp. 119-124).—" The importance 

 of the potato crop in some parts of the State, especially near the larger 

 cities, or where shipping facilities exist, has induced the station to 

 undertake various experiments in the culture of the j)otato." The season 

 of growth in 1890 was unusually dry and warm, so that the results of 

 the experiments of this year were deemed unsatisfactory. Tabulated 



