TWENTIETH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART VI 501 



tanks upon patron's farms, it was discovered that he was receiving a 

 salary considerably laigher than the average. 



That the work of the various organizations having to do with the 

 betterment of dairy conditions in the state is beginning to bring results 

 is shown by the fact that not only is the average production of the dairy 

 cows in Iowa being increased but that the average number of cows per 

 creamery patron has also increased. 



In past reports I have repeatedly stated my belief that southern Iowa 

 offered a great field for dairying. I still hold to this belief. This year 

 we are planning to continue work in this part of the state with increased 

 activity and, with the assistance of the Iowa State Dairy Association, 

 will hold a number of meetings and demonstrations in an attempt to 

 widen Iowa's dairy field. The fact that the past year has been a very 

 profitable one for the creameries of northern Iowa, will greatly simplify 

 this work, and I believe that next spring and summer will see the 

 awakening of the southern counties to the possibilities of dairying. Need- 

 less to state, the success of this movement will be a tremendous thing 

 for Iowa for with dairying on the same plane in southern Iowa as it is in 

 northern Iowa, the return to the state will mean something over $300,- 

 000,000 per year — a sum which will well make Iowa's famous corn crop a 

 jealous rival. 



MARKET MILK 



No material change in our system of inspection of market milk has 

 been made during the past year. A method outlined by Dr. O. P. Thomp- 

 son, State Dairy Inspector, has remained in vogue, and local milk in- 

 spectors have continued to handle the work in their respective towns under 

 his direction. Samples have been sent from the various cities from time 

 to time to our laboratory for bacteriological analysis. Despite the fact 

 that market milk prices are high when compared to prices existing a 

 few years ago, there has been comparatively little complaint. The 

 educational campaigns conducted by this department and various dairy 

 organizations have awakened people to the value of milk as a food and 

 its low cost, when compared to many other food stuffs commonly 

 appearing upon our tables. That the profits derived from milk production 

 are not large was recently brought out by the careful compilation of a 

 large amount of data by Prof. Erf, of Ohio. His figures show that on the 

 average farm it costs $4.33 to produce 100 lbs. of milk and that the 

 selling price is $4.66, leaving a profit of 33 cents per hundred pounds. 

 It is extremely difficult to make any exact statement as to milk production 

 costs, and the figures given do not apply, of course, to all cities, but the 

 percentage of profit will, I think, be found fairly accurate. 



Other data regarding market milk prices, which may prove of Interest, 

 will be found in another part of this report dealing with an investigation 

 of living costs. 



Considerable interest in milk as an indispensable article of diet was 

 aroused in Des Moines as an outcome of the recent Dairy Products 

 Campaign. The matter of increasing the amount of milk in the diet of 

 school children was taken up by the Women's Committee of the Council 



