204 THE BUSINESS OF DAIRYING 



Lack of uniformity in the composition of milk. 

 Many dairymen make the mistake of selling milk 

 varying greatly in quality from day to day. They 

 do not seem to appreciate the fact that consumers 

 desire and look for a uniform amount of cream, and 

 when they do not find it they accuse the dairyman 

 of some crooked work, which may be simply poor 

 business methods in handling the milk. Many cus- 

 tomers change their milkman for no other reason 

 than this, and he is left to wonder why his business 

 does not increase. To illustrate : I had an oppor- 

 tunity to study the variation in the butter fat con- 

 tent in the milk actually delivered to consumers by 

 five retail dealers in a certain city for a period of 

 13 weeks, the results of which are shown graphi- 

 cally in the accompanying illustration. 



WHAT PRODUCT IS MOST PROFITABLE 

 FOR THE DAIRY FARMER? 



It is often a problem with the farmer what prod- 

 uct he can best afford to sell. That is, will it be 

 more profitable to sell whole milk or can he better 

 afford to sell cream or butter? This, of course, will 

 depend largely upon the price that each product can 

 command. Even with the prices before the dairy- 

 man, it is not always easy for him to decide which 

 product will pay him best, as there is some differ- 

 ence in the freight or express charges on the differ- 

 ent products, and in case cream is sold, the skim 

 milk is left for feeding purposes, and where butter 

 is sold, the buttermilk has a value for feeding; at 



