EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VI 341 



see something of the methods which were being followed. We 

 find that there they had begun to standardize the product. When 

 the task was first undertaken it was found that they had a good 

 market in England, but it was a question whether they would be 

 able to produce butter that would satisfy the people over there 

 as they are very critical. 



What we are trying to do now is much along this same line. I 

 called a meeting and recommended that we do this : That we 

 have a grading station in Des Moines and one in Mason City. 

 Mason City is right in the center of the dairy district of Iowa 

 and Des Moines is also centrally located. Then I recommended 

 that we have an expert in each place to grade the butter. In 

 addition to that we should ali get busy in the state of Iowa or- 

 ganizing district associations — say a county or more than a 

 county — get two counties together and have an expert for each 

 three or four hundred pounds of butter that is graded. 



If each expert will see that everything in his territory is stan- 

 dardized and will work together with the other experts then we 

 will be able to get all the goods standardized. Then we will try 

 to work for the co-operation of the butter dealers and of the 

 creameries. It is up to the creameries if they want to take ad- 

 vantage of this grading station. 



Now you may well say, "Can we afford to spend this money?" 

 because it will cost the state about $10,000 a year. It strikes me 

 that with this state manirfacturing, as it does, 100,000,000 pounds 

 of creamery butter a year, it should certainly be able to afford to 

 hire these two men, when Alberta which manufactures but 7,- 

 000,000 pounds a year can conduct two stations, one at Calgary 

 and one at Edmonton with three men at each station. 



In New Zealand they have nine grading stations and one ex- 

 pert, Mr. Wright, in London, and they manufacture about sixty 

 or seventy million pounds of butter as compared with our one 

 hundred million. We can never afford to stay in our position. 

 We should try also to have a committee from the National As- 

 sociation which would look after the creameries throughout the 

 United States. I feel that the department at Washington will be 

 willing. to help. It will possibly take a great many men and in- 

 volve the expenditure of a great deal of money in order to have 

 these products standardized in the way which we have outlined. 

 This is a step which favors all and it is the duty of every creamery 

 to co-operate in this matter. 



