344 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



^riuter, (I cents. Charges to be deducted arc as follows, reckoned per 

 can of 10 gallous : 



Freight, for distances reacliiug tbirty-live miles, 35 cents ; over forty 

 miles, 40 cents; cartage, 3 cents; commission, 10 per cent. Tliis exhibit 

 gives the net prices in summer, for shipments from points distant not 

 more than thirty-five miles from market, at about 3J cents per quart, and 

 for sbipmeiits of greater distance 3 J cents ; net prices in winter, 4^ and 4.> 

 cents. The association insists that there shall be no skimming of the 

 milk, and repeated tests with the lactometer have proved that the re- 

 quirement is well observed. Eetail prices in Washington are 10 cents 

 per quart in summer and 12 cents in winter. 



In 1871 an effort was made to establish a milk business on the 

 line of the Washington and Ohio Eailroad, penetrating the rich pastoral 

 section of Loudoun County, but the enterprise resulted in failure, which 

 is stated to have been caused by inability to secure proper facilities for 

 transportation. 



MANAGEMENT OF ^HLK ON THE FAEM. 



One of the greatest obstacles to success in new enterprises of ship- 

 ment is the difficulty of impressing producers with the absolute neces- 

 sity of perfect cleanliness in milking, and care of milk vessels, and of 

 establishing themselves in accurate methods of cooling. The looser 

 management which may suffice for milk not subjected to transportation 

 will not suffice for milk which is to be carried long distances and made 

 liable to considerable delay before consumption. Shippers who are not 

 careful to inform themselves fully on points of management are often 

 surprised, if not indignant, at having milk returned on their hands as 

 sour which left their hands apparently in good condition, while their 

 neighbors me6t with no such misadventure. Eeturn of milk sometimes 

 occurs through efforts of dealers to relieve themselves of a surplus; on 

 the other hand it is frequently the result of improper management on 

 the farm. And when a producer has once established a reputation as a 

 prompt, skillful dairyman, his account with the dealer generally suffers 

 little deduction for sour milk. Participants in new enterprises should 

 exert themselves to diffuse among all concerned a knowledge of the 

 requisites of the business, since the difficulties arising from ignorance 

 in this respect tend to depreciate prices and imperil the success of the 

 whole undertaking. 



The following minutes of practice will be found suggestive, especially 

 in new regions of shipment : 



An informant at Littleton, Massachusetts, says: Our most reliable 

 dairymen now use tin milking- vessels ; wooden pails are not considered 

 safe in respect to perfect cleanliness. Our milk-cans, 8J quarts in ca- 

 pacity, are stoppered with bungs of maple, or other close-grained wood, 

 these being preferable to tin stoppers on account of the jamming to 

 which the neck of the can is liable in handling by collectors, «S:c. The 

 collector, in returning the cans from the train, throws them out upon 

 the ground without stopping his wagon. The returned cans are very 

 foul, often moldy. They are thoroughly scrubbed by hand inside, 

 using warm water, then are scalded and rinsed, and placed bottom up 

 on a rack out of doors to dry. The wooden stoppers are scraped and 

 boiled ; when they are offensive to the smell, lye is used in the process. 

 At milking-time the milk is strained into the can, which is set into a vat 

 of cold water, the milk stirred from time to time, and brought to the 

 proper temperature for shipment. The evening's milk is left overnighc 



