262 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



ducers as a rule desirous of obeying the laws of our Com- 

 monwealth, and have thus far found no difficulty in procur- 

 ing the desired result without resorting to the extreme of 

 prosecution. 



Some persons think that a small amount of water can be 

 added to milk without detection. This we believe to be a 

 mistake. The moment a man begins to add even a small 

 amount of water to milk, be becomes an object of suspicion 

 to the chemist who makes the analysis. It is an unwise 

 and dangerous thing to do, and the quicker such notion is 

 driven out of the heads of those who produce and handle 

 milk, the better, A man can hardly make a greater mis- 

 take than to add water to the milk with any assurance of 

 not being detected sooner or later. This is a fact well 

 recognized by those who enforce the laws. The man who 

 starts on a down grade goes lower and lower with each ad- 

 vancing step. If it is a matter of adding water to milk, 

 some day he will get caught. 



In looking over the lists of defendants as prosecuted by 

 the Dairy Bureau for various offences during the last six 

 years, it is gratifying to note that out of the 570 different 

 defendants only lY have repeated, or had to be brought into 

 court a second time. 



In the educational work 22 meetings have been addressed 

 by the members of the Bureau and its general agent. In- 

 vestigations have been made concerning milk as produced 

 on Massachusetts farms. Farmers have been urged to co- 

 operate; to raise more grain; to use more reasonable care 

 in the production and handling of milk, etc. Consumers 

 have been urged to their part in properly caring for milk 

 after it has been delivered ; to use more milk ; and not to 

 object to a reasonable price for the good, clean article, rec- 

 og-nizing that such milk cannot be produced at a low price. 



A now " Manual of Dairy Laws of Massachusetts," with 

 annotations and a digest of Supreme Court decisions, has 

 been prepared by the general agent. 



Two years ago we suggested the desirability of a Massa- 

 chusetts Dairymen's Association, combining all the dairy 



