DAIRY AVORK AT Till: EXPERIMENT STATIONS.' 



K. W. Allkn, I'h. I)., 

 Ai^si-'itinif liircclor, Office of Experiment Stations. 



Work in dairying and dairy farining- has forined a more or less 

 proniiiuMitpart of the work of several of theexi)eriiiiL'nt stations almost 

 from the beginning. The increasing interest in dairying has led one 

 station after another to take up this line of work, until now it is carried 

 on at about half the stations, being a rather prominent feature in at 

 least ten of tliem. Perlia]is in no otlier line has the work been of 

 greater practical value or reflected more credit on the stations as a 

 wliole. It has I >een instrumental in improving the character of the stock 

 and the (juality of the product, and in making the enterprise more 

 prolitablc. 8ome of the more striking results of station work have l)eeu 

 thera])i(l methods for testing milk, the application of the relative-value 

 plan in paying for milk, simple tests of the acidity of rii)euing cream, 

 a material advancement of practical information along the line of dairy 

 bacteriology, the use of pure cultures in butter making, cleanliness of 

 the stable, and in the handling of milk in relation to the kee])ing of 

 milk and qualities of the butter, sterilizing and pasteurizing of milk, 

 the effect of food on the qualities of the product, the economy of various 

 coarse and concentrated feeding stuffs, more exact knowledge of the 

 processes of cheese making, and the variation in the comi)osition of dairy 

 products in general. The stations have aided in devel()[)ing the dairy 

 industry in many States and in the establishment of cooperative 

 creameries, while in others they have just commenced the work. A 

 large amount of pioneer work has been done, and n)any of the simpler 

 practical jiroblems have been settled. 



While in several cases the work is gradually assuming a more 

 technical ami scieutitic character, in many cases, notably where the 

 work is new, the idea is a[)pare7itly to follow (piite largely what is 

 believed to be the popular demand for severely ])racti(;al work. This 

 we infer from visits to the stations and a study of their pnblislied work. 

 It frequently consists in establishing a dairy herd of considerable 



' This ])aper wiis orii;init]>y prepared for preseiitiitiDn at tlio recent convention of 

 tlie Association of American Agricnltnral Colleges and Experiment Stations, but was 

 crowded off the propframrne by the press of routine business. Inasmucli as it con- 

 tains reasonable criticisms of th<! AV(u-k of our stations in dairyini?, tojjether with 

 pertinent suifj^estions rci;ar(linir tlie further <b!veh)pnu'nt of inve8ti5;::iti()iis iu this 

 line, its publication by the Department is deemed advisable. — Ed 



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