224 ADMINISTRATIVE SECTION 



magistrates fail to convict. One local inspector interested in 

 farmers' questions seemed to have on his file a list of articles 

 saying how difficult it was to keep up a good standard of 

 milk, and those articles were printed periodically, especially 

 when a conviction had been obtained by a local authority. 

 He thought they really wanted an authoritative inquiry into 

 the condition of milk throughout the country to be made by 

 responsible persons whose opinions would bear weight with 

 the public and with magistrates to a greater extent than the 

 statements that were collected and published by the farmers' 

 associations. One of the best known analysts in London 

 found as his experience that as soon as the statement that 

 they might reasonably look for 3 per cent, of fat in milk was 

 published the percentage of milk fat fell immediately to the 

 average in the county for which he was analyst. In his (Dr. 

 Mostyn's) own district they got an excellent fat percentage 

 4 per cent., 4^ per cent., and even more regularly, and 

 yet when they got the fat down to perhaps 2.\ per cent., and 

 found that a few days afterwards the same cows gave them 

 4 per cent., that was explained away by the advocates of the 

 milk dealer to the satisfaction of the magistrates. He thought 

 such a state of affairs was very unsatisfactory they wanted 

 something that would convince the magistrates that the 

 statements the analysts made were trustworthy. He might 

 say that frequently after the failure of a prosecution on 

 technical grounds or through prejudice he had had extracts 

 from various papers sent to him pointing out how hard it 

 was that farmers should be treated in that way. If those 

 statements were true they would like to have them proved, 

 in order that they might not be unjust to the farmers. 

 Until they had some authoritative Government statement on 

 this matter he felt they would never solve this problem, and 

 he was sure that was one of the most important matters in 

 dealing with the production of a good quality milk in the 

 towns. They were well aware that the skilful farmer without 

 actually adding water to his milk could lower the standard, 

 and they wanted some means of preventing the adulteration 

 of the milk actually in the cow. 



Mrs. WARE (dairy farmer of the United States) said she 

 was a member of the American Agricultural Commission 

 which had been prosecuting its inquiries lately in the United 

 Kingdom, and although she knew she had no right to speak 

 at the Conference, she felt she must ask their indulgence for 

 a moment or two. She was very deeply interested in the 

 whole matter under discussion, and they would understand 

 that when she told them she was a dairy farmer herself. 

 She was a dairy farmer outside Boston, Mass., and the 



