544 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



temperature. It is very important that the producer reduce the tem- 

 perature of the milk as soon as it is drawn or after separation, to a 

 temperature of 50 degrees or lower, and -keep it in a sanitary place. 

 When it is passed on to the wholesaler or retailer it must be kept under 

 the same conditions and the consumer must not disregard these same 

 precautions up to the time the milk or cream is placed on the table. 



It is a very deplorable fact that large quantities of the cream pro- 

 duced in this state have become greatly deteriorated in quality and in 

 some cases almost decomposed, before it reaches the creamery. Such 

 cream cannot be made into first grade butter and sooner or later the 

 producer has to suffer for his negligence in the care of his cream. In 

 view of this fact, the Dairy and Food Department have issued 50,000 

 copies of a bulletin called, "Care of Cream on the Farm" and also 

 15,000 copies of another bulletin called "Care of Milk and Cream in 

 the Home," either of which may be obtained upon request. 



"The Dairy and Food Commission of the state of Iowa will use every 

 means to bring about the grading of cream and paying therefor accord- 

 ing to quality or grade. The best interests of dairying in this state 

 demand that this system be adopted, and the following grades are 

 hereby established: 



"Special Grade Cream is hand separator cream showing not more than 

 .15 per cent acidity, free from bad odors, not over two days old in 

 warm weather and not more than three days old in cold weather and 

 testing 2 5 per cent or above. 



"First G-racle Cream is hand separator cream reasonably sweet, free 

 from bad odors, not over three days old in warm weather and not over 

 four days old in cold weather, and testing 25 per cent or above. 



"Second Grade Cream is cream not reasonably sweet, over three days 

 old in warm weather and over four days old in cold weather, is not of 

 good flavor, hand skimmed and water separated, and testing less than 

 2 5 per cent butter fat." 



WHY TESTS VARY. 



Many things, both separately and collectively, tend to cause varia- 

 tions in milk and cream testing. Those who are not familiar with the 

 Babcock test look upon it with a certain degree of awe, see in it some 

 mysterious contrivance to baffle the producer, while in reality it is a 

 much simpler machine and more easily understood and operated than 

 half the machines used on the modern farms today. Any person of 

 ordinary intelligence can learn to operate the Babcock test in a com- 

 paratively short time. It is more a test of care and accuracy than it 

 is any great understanding of chemical action. It is quite easy for a 

 dishonest man to manipulate the test in different ways, and so much 

 of this has been done in recent years that different states have passed 

 very drastic laws to punish the offender as well as protect the farmer 

 and the honest operator. Today the chances for dishonesty have been 

 reduced to the minimum by the passage of the aforementioned laws 

 and by the installation of many testers on the dairy farms. 



