OVERRUN 401 



stand that the top layer in the cans or in other cream con- 

 tainers, is usually richer in butterfat than any other portion of 

 the contents. If the sample is simply taken from the top, it 

 cannot help containing a higher per cent of fat than the re- 

 mainder of the cream, and tests made from such samples are 

 bound to be too high and the overrun low. 



In the testing 1 of the milk or cream it should be definitely 

 ascertained that the glassware used is correct, that the cream 

 test balance has the necessary sensibility and is in satisfactory 

 operating condition, and that the weighing, testing and reading 

 is done with care and according to standard methods. 



Cream route and cream station shortages of butterfat are 

 most always due to improper and careless sampling, causing the 

 individual samples to be richer in butterfat than the cream 

 from which they are taken. Whether this be due to mere care- 

 lessness on the part of the operator, or willful deception, makes 

 little difference. Creameries who fail to systematically check 

 up the work of their routes and stations, and to hold their 

 operators to account for their delinquencies, are doomed to a 

 disastrously low overrun. 



Buying cream on the weights and tests of the independent 

 buyer is a practice fundamentally wrong. The independent 

 buyer is largely interested in selling to the creamery the great- 

 est amount of butterfat possible. Therein lies his livelihood" 

 and his profit. He cannot afford to sell more butterfat than he 

 gets paid for and he is usually looking out for that. Unless he 

 masters a strength of character far above the average of his 

 profession, he may yield to temptation to the detriment of the 

 overrun of the creamery that accepts his weights and tests. The 

 creamery cannot afford to buy butterfat on any basis other than 

 that of its own weights and tests. 



High tests and low overrun are likely to occur also in 

 creameries that hold their samples for several days before test- 

 ing. This is especially the case when the samples are kept in 

 loosely sealed jars, or in a warm room, or both. In this case 

 the incorrectly high tests are due to evaporation of part of the- 

 moisture in the cream sample, increasing the per cent of fat and 

 causing a low overrun. It is advisable to test all cream samples 

 on the day they are taken or received. All samples should be 



