340 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



publislied from time to time in the local newspapers in order that 

 the consumer may knoAv the quality of milk he is purchasing and 

 select as his milk man the dealer with the best quality. 



That the bacterial count of a sample of milk is a just indication 

 of the care and attention under which it is produced and handled 

 is a fact that cannot be disputed. The public appreciates this and 

 the dealer whose published rating is unfavorable is sure to suffer 

 by the loss of patronage. On the other hand, the dealer who puts 

 forth effort to deliver milk which will receive a high rating deserves 

 encouragement and generally gets it, in the form of increased busi- 

 ness. 



This year we conducted a milk scoring contest at the Dairy 

 Cattle Congress. This contest differs from those previously held 

 in that the dairymen whose milk was examined did not know that 

 samples were being taken. Through the agency of the state milk 

 inspectors located in Iowa cities of 10,000 population and over, we 

 sampled the representative dealers in each of sixteen cities. This 

 milk was expressed to the laboratory for examination and displayed 

 together with its score at the Dairy Cattle Congress. This contest 

 showed the relative quality-standing of the cities and in a measure 

 the comparative efficiency of the work of the local inspectors. 



Milk and cream contests in some form have been carried on at 

 many dairy shows since the plan was first put in use at the National 

 Dairy Show at Chicago in 1906. For all of these contests, how- 

 ever, the milk was submitted for the purpose by the dealer or dairy- 

 man. Such method of securing samples is not desirable as the sam- 

 ple submitted is not known to be a representative one of the milk 

 product reaching the consumer. It merely shows what the dealer 

 can do ; not what he is doing, will do or expects to do. 



From the results we have obtained, we believe that milk contests 

 aid greatly in improving the milk supply. The samples of milk 

 are scored and given a rating for bacteria, flavor and odor, visible 

 dirt, fat, solids, solids not fat, acidity and appearance of the bottle 

 and cap. In fact, every feature which the consumer may expect 

 as regards wholesomeness and food value is considered. A copy of 

 scorecard, together with the method used for assignment of score, 

 may be found in our report for the year 1914. 



Local state milk inspectors working under the Dairy Law and 

 directed by this department have examined 14,356 samples of 

 milk and cream secured by them in the course of their regular in- 

 spections. 



