THE MILK CONTRACTOR 233 



cent, that the milk falls below it. A deduction is also made if the solids-not-fat are 

 less than 8.5 per cent. Milk of less than 2.5 per cent, butterfat content is paid for on 

 a sweet-cream-fat basis. 



13. A certain price is paid per per cent, of butterfat per gallon. 



14. Milk is graded and paid for at 3 to 4 cts. per 0.1 per cent, of butterfat per 100 

 Ib. for grade B milk. Grades are determined by: (1) bacterial content of the milk; (2) 

 sediment test; (3) acidity; (4) flavor and odor; and (5) temperature on arrival in the 

 city. For grade A milk, a premium of 5 cts. per 100 Ib. is added; for grade C milk, a 

 reduction of 5 cts. per 100 Ib. is made from grade B prices. Should a producer 

 furnish grade C milk for 2 successive months the dealer may cancel the contract. 



15. Extra prices are paid farmers for special milks such as that which is tuberculin- 

 tested. 



Methods of purchase which do not take into account the percentage 

 of butterfat in the milk encourage farmers to keep high-producing cows 

 that give milk of low butterfat content. In general, it is poor policy not 

 to pay on the quality basis. Clean milk and rich milk costs more to 

 produce than thin milk or dirty milk; therefore, a method of payment 

 should be adopted that will adequately reward the producer of superior 

 milk. No single system can be recommended for universal use, because 

 the character of the trade varies and should decide the method of purchas- 

 ing. Premium for barn scores, for bacterial counts, etc., and the grading 

 of milk are most likely to prevail in dairy districts supplying a well-regu- 

 lated city milk trade. Probably, it would be good for the dairy business 

 if all milk were purchased by the 100 Ib., for the dealers would then weigh 

 the milk they buy, and so would pay only for that they actually 

 receive; which would cut down their losses from short measure resulting 

 from battered cans, etc. 



The dairy division of the Bureau of Animal Industry found that of 

 87 plants in four Eastern cities, six bought all the milk by weight, 21 

 part by weight and part by measure and 60 entirely by measure. How- 

 ever, as it was the larger dealers who in most cases bought by weight 

 the amount of milk bought on this basis was greater than the figures 

 indicate. Tests at one of the plants that was buying by measure of 

 55 10-gal. cans showed that the net weight of milk varied from 80 to 

 86^4 Ib.; the average being 83J4 Ib. or 2^ Ib. less than the accepted 

 weight of 10 gal. of milk. The average net weight of milk in this dealer's 

 quart bottles was 2.115 Ib. which means that he was getting but 39.36 qt. 

 of milk on an average from his 40-qt. cans or he was running a loss of 

 1.6 per cent, per can. Loss also occurs from the fact that much of the 

 milk that is bought by measure is afterward cooled and contracts in 

 volume in the process. Experiments show that in cooling milk from 70 

 to 50F. the shrinkage is at least 0.2 per cent. Moreover if milk were 

 sold by the pound dairymen would think in terms of weight instead of 

 bulk, which would tend to encourage them to weigh the milk each cow 

 produced. Or stated briefly, the use of the pound as the unit of 

 bargaining tends toward exactness and elimination of waste. 



