424 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Mr. Stephenson : "We have threshed out this question of testing 

 cream quite thoroughly, now we come down to whole-milk. I pre- 

 sume you are or have been confronted with this problem. You 

 have a patron whose test one month may be 3.6 and maybe next 

 month 2.4. I remember the first time I tested at Lamont. I had 

 eleven patrons that tested below 3.5. It was during the time that 

 Mr. Kieffer was assistant dairy commissioner, and I called him up. 

 I didn't care to assume all the responsibility of paying eleven pa- 

 trons for a test that ran below 3.5. Mr. Kieffer made another test 

 of the same samples. Every man that ran low with me ran low 

 with him, and I have had a warm spot in my heart for Mr. Kieffer 

 ever since. He said my test was correct. ' ' Pay these men exactly 

 for what they test and remember I stand back of you," said Mr. 

 Kieffer, and I did. He said to those patrons, "You know why your 

 test is low. ' ' They did know and the next time I tested they all came 

 right up where they belonged and have been there, with the ex- 

 ception of one man, from that day to this and it has been six years. 

 Now there is sometimes what we term "monkeying" with the test. 

 I remember of talking with one man who operated a creamery him- 

 self for a number of years. He said there was no way of running a 

 creamery successfully without you give and take. He meant that 

 if you have a man who tests low and another high even them up. 

 I don't agree with him. Gentlemen, I give my patrons to under- 

 stand that if they test 6 per cent they get it and if they test 2 per 

 cent they get it. Of course, the patrons are not always to blame. "We 

 as buttermakers must be careful in taking the composite samples 

 and take proper care of them until the test is made. Be careful 

 and accurate in your testing, then when you have made it stay by 

 it. They will threaten you, but there is only one thing to do and 

 that is to deal with your patrons on a fair and square basis and 

 stick to it. 



Prof. Mortenson : I believe Mr. Fowler is right in his statement 

 that he can get an accurate composite test from his cream. One of 

 the conditions is that the cream be thin. But I do not believe, how- 

 ever, it is the proper system for the creameries to adopt because 

 we have in most places now hand separator cream that is rich and 

 thin. If we are taking composite samples it is quite possible to 

 have a variation as we can't get the same amount of sample from 

 the rich cream as from the thin. "Variations occur in that way. 

 The greatest objection to the composite sample is that you are not 

 getting your daily check. I believe that is important, I know of 



