360 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



considerable improvement — partly because of legislation, but largely be- 

 cause of the efforts of the creameries themselves and still more for the 

 reason that the shipment of cream long distances has been lessened in 

 this State to a very marked degree. A continued improvement in the 

 character of dairy buildings, machinery and surroundings is noted to a 

 greater degree each year. 



THE WORK OF ASSISTANT DAIRY COMMISSIONERS. 



The work of the assistant dairy commissioners during the past twelve 

 months has been along lines of sanitation, and of investigating the condi- 

 tions in relation to the policies of the various creameries as affecting their 

 profits or losses. Some astonishing things have been discovered in rela- 

 tion to the overrun. One of them is that very few creameries actually 

 know what their overrun is. The books of various creameries show an 

 overrun all the way from nothing at all to 30 per cent, and the butter 

 shows an overrun from 10 to 25 per cent or more. It is quite evident 

 that a difference of 5 per cent in the overrun of the average creamery, 

 whose business is nearly $40,000, amounts to a very considerable sum of 

 money and the efforts of this department have been to insist upon it that 

 the buttermaker and secretary know actually what the overrun is, that 

 it should be as high a figure as is consistent with honesty and safety 

 under the laws and that it should be a real overrun and not an apparent 

 one secured by low testing, or other means not legitimate. The work ' 

 of the assistant commissioners is suggested more at length in the discus- 

 sions following. 



OLEOMARGARINE. 



As suggested in report of last year, manufacturers of oleomargarine 

 are more than ever pushing the sale of the uncolored product on its 

 merits. While there are still innumerable instances where oleomargarine 

 is sold or furnished to the consumer as butter, it is true that a very large 

 number of retail dealers are attempting to sell oleomargarine for what 

 it is, and in strict compliance with the law. The statistics given below 

 show considerable increase in the manufacture of oleomargarine for the 

 year ending June 30, 1907. 



The following table shows the production of oleomargarine in the 

 United States for the last six years. The year ends in each case 

 June 30th: 



1902 128,316,472 



1903 71,804,102 



1904 48,071,480 



1905 49,880,982 



1906 53,146,659 



1907 68,988,630 



The prevailing high price of butter for the last eighteen months has 

 been a great factor in this increase, and the fact must be recognized 

 that when butter retails at from thirty to thirty-five cents a pound the 

 legitimate demand for oleomargarine is necessarily increased. This is 

 particularly evidenced at the present writing (Nov. 1, 1907), by the in- 

 creased number of retail dealers' licenses issued in this State. 



