172 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



A table is given sliowing for different separators the distribution of 

 material in the bowl, weight, speed of the bowl, etc., and these data 

 are commented upon. 



Inspection of glass-ware used by creameries and butter fac- 

 tories to determine the value of cream and milk, J. M. Bartlett 

 [Maine Sta. Bui. 26, 3d ser., pp. 4). — The Maine State legislature of 1895 

 passed a law entitled "An act for the protection of dairymen," which 

 required that "every individual or corporation buying milk or cream 

 or apportioning its value on the basis of fat content shall have all the 

 bottles and pipettes tested for accuracy, which are used in determining 

 the percentage of fat, and each of these bottles and pipettes shall bear 

 a mark showing that it has been so tested." It is made the duty of the 

 director of the station to test the apparatus, the actual expense being 

 borne by the persons for whom it is done. 



"Any person operating the Babcock or other tests for determining the fat in milk 

 or cream which is to be purchased or its value apportioned, must possess a certifi- 

 cate of competency for such work. This certificate is to be issued by the Superin- 

 tendent of the State College Dairy School in accordance with such rules and 

 regulations as he may devise. 



"No one is allowed to use at any creamery, butter factory, cheese factory, or con- 

 densed-milk factory where milk or cream is bought or its value apportioned, or to 

 have in his possession, with intent to use, any sulphuric acid of less than 1.82 

 specific gravity." 



The bulletin describes the method of testing the apparatus, and 

 gives a list of the persons .who have sent apparatus for testing. The 

 bottles and pipettes are tested by means of mercury. Those found 

 correct are marked " O. K." 



"Only about one-half of the creameries of the State have sent their glassware to 

 us. ... In all, 1,498 cream bottles, 210 milk bottles, and 96 pipettes were received 

 prior to January 1. Thirty-nine of the cream bottles were found to be more inaccurate 

 than the prescribed limit, 0.3 per cent, and were consequently thrown out. Twenty- 

 four of the number, however, were found in 2 small lots, which evidently came from 

 Bome unreliable manufacturer, as the error found was greater in those, in some cases 

 over 0.5 per cent, than in any other lots. Of the 210 milk bottles all were correct, 

 excepting 33 of one lot of 60. The errors in these bottles varied from 0.3 to 1 per cent. 



♦'The glassware as a whole, however, has been very satisfactory, and the new 

 goods received from the manufacturers since the above act went into force have 

 been exceptionally accurate, showing that the law has had the desired efi"ect. No 

 intentional fraud has been detected, the discrepancies discovered evidently being 

 due to errors in graduating. " 



Report of the permanent Danish butter exhibitions, F. Friis 



(^Copenhagen, January, 1896, pp. 24). — The report gives a list of 593 

 creameries or private dairies which exhibited their butter jDroduct dur- 

 ing 1895, the creameries being arranged in classes according to the 

 quality of the butter scored. The main results of more general interest 

 refer to the summaries given of the average water content of the butter 

 exhibited, and of the adoption of pasteurization in Danish creameries. 

 In only 5 out of 593 creameries (0.8 per cent) did the butter exhibited 

 during the year have an average water content of over IG per cent, 

 the highest average being 16.51 per cent. These 5 creameries were all 



