No. 4.] REPORT OF DAIRY BUREAU. 249 



opposition to any such reduction, which we believe would 

 be an injury to the consuming public arid also to the better 

 class of producers. An abundance of evidence can be 1 )rought 

 forward to prove that average milk from average cows has 13 

 per cent total solids, so that the statute standard is placed at 

 the average quality of milk, the milk of the distinctive butter 

 breeds of cows ranging over 14 and often as high as 15 per 

 cent. Should any change be deemed advisable, we feel that 

 the one which would be of the most value would be to add 

 a fat standard of 3.75. The study of the composition of 

 milk has been carried to such an extent by experiment sta- 

 tions and others all over the country that it is well known 

 that the amount of solids not flit in milk is quite uniform, 

 the element which shows the most variation beino- the fat. 

 There is also, within limits, quite a constant ratio between 

 the solids not fat, and fat. In a sample of milk containing 

 3 per cent of fat we should look for somewhere in the neigh- 

 borhood of 11 per cent of total solids. With 3.5 per cent 

 of fat we should expeot the total solids to be approximately 

 12 to 12.5 per cent. If milk has 3.75 to 4 per cent of fat, 

 it will be up to the standard or above. The Babcock milk 

 tester gives such an easy way of testing for fit that a statute 

 recognition of the fact that normal 13 per cent milk has 3.75 

 per cent of fat would allow every farmer to test his own milk 

 and keep track of the quality he is sending to the city, with 

 an assurance that the milk is up to the standard. 



Another reason for asking for this change is snven in the 

 following quotation from the report of Dr. Harrington, the 

 Boston milk inspector, which meets the views of this depart- 

 ment : — 



Another fraud which the present law does not reach, but which 

 nevertheless is a serious fraud, has been discovered during the past 

 year. The milk sold by certain dealers has shown a peculiar com- 

 position, inconsistent with that of genuine milk, and yet conform- 

 ing to the statute requirement. While containing the necessary 13 

 per cent of milk solids, a decidedly low percentage of fat, with an 

 abnormally high percentage of solids not fat, were noticed. On 

 investigation, it was learned that a large business was being con- 

 ducted with a New York house which sells condensed skim-milk ob- 

 tained from the New York creameries. This skim-milk, which is in 



