292 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



row, and if you learn some definite rule and stick to that you will have 

 the same result every day. The lack of that knowledge on the part of 

 most of our buttermakers and a good many teachers in the dairy school 

 has shown us that butter varies wonderfully in water content, and con- 

 sequently in fat content and in salt content. The study of moisture and 

 its control in butter is going to enable you to grasp the principles of 

 making butter such as I believe you never have before, and this little 

 test will help you to do that. 



I cannot say just what this will cost you. The glassware manufact- 

 urers ought to make this. This is the only part that is new at all. 

 They ought to be sold at from one to two dollars. The United States gov- 

 ernment has taken out a patent on the apparatus that is new, and by so 

 doing they have protected its use in this country, so that any manufact- 

 urer of glassware can make these tubes for you. No one will have a 

 monopoly on it. As I said, in a few days we will have out a descriptive 

 circular which will be placed in the manufacturers' hands, as well as 

 yours, and will spread this broadcast so that anyone interested in it can 

 use it. This I have described as a test for butter. You can use it for 

 anything on your table at all. You can test the amount of moisture in 

 any food product that you can get into this glass. You can test cheese 

 or any other food product, or any of the feeds that are consumed by the 

 animals in your herd for moisture content. 



Are there any questions that you would like to ask? 



The President : If there are any questions you want to fire 

 them at Prof. Webster now. It strilces me that this is important 

 for the buttermakers of Iowa, and I believe if they could by that 

 little machine incorporate the moisture in butter all the time up 

 to the limit we will not have so much trouble with competition. 

 Another thing I want to say, this little machine has been invented 

 by a man, who, like Dr. Babcock, instead of manufacturing it 

 and making a fortune out of it has given it to the world. 



Prof. Webster: I think there is no question whatever if Mr. 

 Gray wanted to leave the department and patent this invention 

 of his he could make a fortune out of it, because it is going to be 

 used very widely. Mr. Gray is an Iowa boy, was educated at Ames, 

 so it is a home grown product I am trying to introduce. 



Member: Where should the sample be taken from? 



Prop. Webster: If you have your churn standing level so 

 the water will not run up to one end, you will find it uniform 

 throughout the churn. This has been tested a number of times. 

 In taking a sample from the churn do not take just one sample and 

 put it in the bottle, but dig out a little here and a little there all 

 through the churn, and in that way you will have a representa- 

 tive sample Put those samples in an ordinary pint milk bottle 



