DAIRY FARMING DAIRYING. 



83 



given in the table may, therefore, be considered normal tifjures for Danish l)ntler at 

 the present time. A high refractive index is in general accompanied l)y a low 

 Keichert number, but this does not always hold true in single instances. 



In connection with this (juestion, information was sought as to the relation 

 between the quality of the butter and the content of volatile fatty acids, it having 

 been contended by some food chemists that even if a low content of volatile fatty 

 acids is not necessarily evidence of adulteration, it shows an inferior quality and food 

 value of the butter and this should, therefore, in some manner be subject to penalty. 

 The data brought together in this and earlier reports of the Copenhagen experi- 

 ment station (E. S. R., 12, p. 681) show that the variations found in the content of 

 volatile fatty acids of Danish butter have nothing to do with the purity of the butter, 

 its nutritive value, flavor, or in general, with anything that concerns the quality of 

 the butter. In order to olitain conclusive evidence on this point, all the samples of 

 butter received after April, 1901, scoring lowest and highest, were examined for 

 refractive index and for volatile fatty acids, and the results are tabulated in the 

 report. The scores of butter having the lowest and the highest refractive indexes 

 and Eeichert numbers are also given. The following summary table presents the 

 average data thus compiled. According to the plan of judging butter adopted in 

 the Danish butter exhibits, 15 is a perfect score. 



Rc/<(lion of (pialily of butter, n'fnicti.rc iiidc.c, and rolalUe acids of huttrr /(d. 



The best butter contained more volatile fatty acids than the butter of the poorest 

 grade in 15 cases out of 35, while the opposite was true in 18 cases, the volatile acid 

 content being the same in 2 cases. While the figures in the last two lines of the 

 table might be interpreted to show that a high content of volatile acids was found 

 in case of lower scoring butter, the difference is most likely accidental, since the 

 results for the single exhibits come sometimes one way and sometimes another. The 

 author therefore concludes that there is no correlation between the quality of the 

 butter and the volatile-acid content of the butter fat. — f. w. avoll. 



Denmark's butter exports, 1900-1901, B. Boggild {Tidsstr. Landokon., I'JOl, 

 No. 11, pp. 615-524).— The net exports during the year 1900-1901 were 118,888,375 

 Danish pounds, an increase of nearly 10,000,000 lbs. over those of the preceding 

 year, and the gross exports 165,531,812 lbs. Of this quantity nearly 158,000,000 lbs. 

 was exported to Great Britain. The average price of the butter for the year was 98 

 ore per pound (23.9 cts. j^er pound avoirdupois), about one-sixth of a cent above 

 the average price for 1899-1900. — v. w. woll. 



Testing Babcock milk and cream bottles, C. H. Jones ( Vermont Sta. Rpt. 1901, 

 pp. 222, 223). — The method employed at the station in testing bottles is described. 

 Having determined that the total capacity of the neck is correct by the use of 1 cc. of 

 mercury for each 5 per cent on the scale the author determines if there are any 

 material irregularities in the bore by means of an instrument devised by him which 

 "consists of two brass arms sufficiently long to reach to the zero mark on the bottle 

 scale. These are jiivoted near their center and play easily hack and forth. The 

 upper end of one is securely attached to a circular brass dial, and the end of the 

 other is so connected with a pointer, or hand, on the dial that the slightest move- 

 ment of the lower end of the brass arm causes a greatly increased revolution of the 



