36 BOAliD OF AGKICULTUKE. [Pub. Doc. 



cises more pains, both in the quality and care of his milk, 

 for it is then he sees the importance of having the milk in 

 good condition and of high standard. 



Selling to tiie Contractor or Middleman. 



This method of disposing of milk is the one most largely 

 used in our State : and many of our lars^e contractors have 

 to go into Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine for a large 

 part of theu' milk supply. Many times the farmer thinks he 

 is oppressed by the rigid demands of the contractor in regard 

 to the care of the product, — temperature that the milk must 

 be kept at and delivered to the station, kinds of feed he may 

 and may not use, and many other requirements. The pro- 

 ducers in general think that many of these points are un- 

 necessary and unreasonable, but they are not, — they are 

 absolutely essential to the business ; and if I should com- 

 ment, I should say that they are not as exacting as the cir- 

 cumstances demand. If the producer would stop to think 

 what the milk has to go through : twenty -four hours old 

 before it reaches the contractor, and then it has to be re- 

 cooled and sometimes pasteurized, and held until the next 

 morning, and put out to the trade, — and it is supposed to 

 keep sweet until the next morning. If the milk is properly 

 handled there will be no trouble. It is wise for all farmers 

 who make milk for contractors to carry out their wishes, and 

 have the product come up to the contractor's standard ; then, 

 when the producer asks for a fair price of the contractor, the 

 latter will freely give him his price, if the goods warrant; in 

 other words, make an article that will be of such high quality 

 and kept in such an attractive manner that it will be sought 

 after. 



I want to impress on the farmer that the vital time for 

 milk is at the time it is drawn from the cow and the next 

 thirty minutes after ; everything depends on how it is 

 handled at that time, — whether it will make a good 

 product or a bad. 



