312 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Conway Creamery. — Made about 420,000 pounds butter, and sold 

 about 28,600 pounds which it had to purchase from other sources. Its 

 sales of cream and butter amounted to about f 125,000, and disburse- 

 ments to i)atrous for cream $100,575. 



Egremont Creamery. — Received 735,751 pounds cream, and made 

 157,045 pounds butter. The total receipts were $3G,453.t)l, expenses 

 were $5,853.55, the balance going to the farmers who produced the 

 cream. 



Milk. 



During the year the milk market has been in the main 

 firm in price, with a fair demand and no great amount of 

 surplus. The cold summer caused a marked falling off in 

 the amounts of milk and cream used at summer resorts, and 

 producers dependent upon that kind of a market did not do 

 as good a business as in some years. Later in the year the 

 colder weather, coupled with the outbreak of the foot and 

 mouth disease, caused a material shortening of the supply. 

 The retail price of milk in the various towns and cities of 

 the State varies somewhat, according to local competition, 

 but is within the limits of (3 and 8 cents for ordinary milk. 

 Fancy certified milk, of extra quality, sells at a higher price. 



Some things have come to our knowledge during the year 

 which convince us that a certain class of city peddlers do 

 quite a business in what may be called l)lended milk. 

 They prepare an article which is uniform in composition, 

 and su])stantially up to the standard. During the 12 per 

 cent months they sell milk of about 11.8 per cent solids, 

 and when the standard advances to 13 per cent, by some 

 form of lacteal necromancy their product easily follows the 

 standard. We believe they would have no trouble in fur- 

 nishing a milk of a greater per cent of solids, should the 

 law require it. As reported in another place, we took 232 

 samples of milk during the year, and had r)3 cases in court. 



