TENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART IX 391 



state. So long as the average production per cow is about 140 

 pounds of butter per annum, there is quite evidently great room 

 for improvement and the future looks promising in every respect, 

 and particularly in the direction of improving the dairy cows of 

 the state. In this work the State Dairy Expert will necessarily 

 be a great factor and the State Dairy Association will be charged 

 with great responsibility and will have great opportunity for ad- 

 vancing the interest which it represents. 



Both the central creameries and the local creameries report im- 

 provement in the quality of the cream received, a report which is 

 strengthened by the. reports from the butter markets of the im- 

 provement in the quality of butter received. There is no special 

 or particular reason that can be alleged for this improvement ex- 

 cept that nearly eveiyone has been making efforts for the im.prove- 

 ment of the raw material that comes to our creameries of various 

 kinds, and during this year the effect of those efforts has been suf- 

 ficient in amount to attract attention. The railroads also report a 

 smaller number of cans of cream sufficiently sour and yeasty to 

 boil over in transit. The commissioner, while not at all minimizing 

 the necessity for very great improvement in the quality of milk 

 and cream, does not believe that the quality of milk or cream was 

 ever generally or uniformly objectionable. Too many people give 

 too great weight to occasional situations and find it easier to see 

 the objectionable side of things than that side which is the best 

 and most desirable. In the nature of things this must have been 

 true in the creamery business because the proportion of butter 

 made that is above a moderate score has always been very con- 

 siderable. Nor is the common excuse a good one that says the 

 cream at a creamery cannot be improved because if rejected the 

 patron simply goes elsewhere and no good is effected. A circular 

 letter sent to the local creameries of the state brought 139 answers. 

 Two of the questions were, "Have you been obliged to reject any 

 cream on account of its bad quality?" and "Have you lost aa> 

 patrons because of rejection of their bad and unwholesome cream?" 

 To the first question 103 answered that bad cream had been re- 

 fused at their creameries, of which 45 had lost patrons thereby, 

 but the small amount of cream rejected and the small number of 

 patrons affected is shown by the fact that of the 45 creameries that 

 had lost patrons, one lost 20, another 11, another 7, and mo.st of 

 them but one or two. This seems to indicate that Avhile patrons 

 were lost by the practice the number so lost was negligible in the 



