34 THE BUTTER INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES [258 



Commissioner of Iowa in 1905 urged creameries and butter- 

 makers to give this subject special attention, pointing out 

 that a difference of only 5 per cent in the " overrun " 

 would amount to more than $110 a month for the average 

 creamery in Iowa. 1 The Iowa State College had made ex- 

 periments showing that the " overrun " could be increased 

 to 25 per cent. This would reduce the percentage of fat in 

 butter to about 80 per cent, which was 2 per cent lower 

 than the legal standard for butter in many of the states. 2 

 It would also bring the butter within the meaning of adul- 

 terated butter under the federal law, because the amount of 

 water that normal butter may contain according to a regu- 

 lation made by the Internal Revenue Commissioner under 

 the act of May 9th, 1902, is 16 per cent. In Michigan the 

 office of the Dairy and Food Commissioner endeavored, as 

 related at the State's dairy convention, to secure an "over- 

 run " of 16% per cent for the creameries. 3 



Eager to< increase the profits of butter-making, many 

 creameries increased the " overrun " to the extent that 

 more than 16 per cent of water was included. This led to 

 prosecutions, because the product was sold as ordinary 

 butter while according to the federal law it is classified as 

 adulterated butter upon which a tax of 10 cents a pound 

 must be paid and a special annual tax by the manufacturers 

 and dealers selling the product. The Internal Revenue 

 Commissioner finds it difficult to enforce the law, and says 

 it costs more to enforce it than is received as revenue. He 

 urgently recommends revision of this law, therefore, on the 

 ground that it is unsatisfactory from both an administra- 



1 Annual Report of the State Dairy Commissioner of Iowa for 1905, 

 p. 12. 



2 Vide, legal standards for dairy products, Agricultural Yearbook for 

 I9I3- 



3 Report of Michigan Dairy Association for 1906, p. 335. 



