1801.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 33 



of fact, a cow that gives a large yield of milk does not give 

 phenomenally rich milk. I might illustrate. We have a 

 pretty good chance to study this question. We have four 

 breeds, and four cows of each breed. Now, the cow that 

 gives the largest amount of milk gives milk that would not 

 pass if subjected to the test in New Hampshire or Massa- 

 chusetts. On the other hand, the cow that gives six and 

 one-half per cent of fat is the cow that gives the smallest 

 quantity of milk. Her milk costs $1.35 per hundred pounds, 

 and the cow that gives the large quantity of milk produces 

 it at a cost of about $0.08 per hundred. The two things, 

 quantity and quality, must be taken into consideration. All 

 the twenty-quart cows do not come up to the standard. I 

 think a twenty-quart cow that will come up to the standard 

 is a pretty hard thing to get. I think the milk laws will 

 have to be modified in the next ten years. 



Mr. Dyer. I want to inquire about the tests that the 

 professor has mentioned. Does he recommend Babcock's as 

 the most practical one for the average farmer to use? 



Professor Whitcher. I do not know as I would recom- 

 mend that as the best. I think I would recommend Beim- 

 ling's. It has been recommended by Professor Cooke of the 

 Vermont Experiment Station. The advantage is that much 

 less time is required to make a test. I have never seen 

 the machine myself, but Professor Cooke's recommendation 

 leads me to think it is a ijood thins;. 



Mr. Dyer. Is there any practicable way of testing our 

 cows without the use of those things which you speak 

 of? 



Professor Whitcher. The one I speak of is really as 

 simple as anything that has any accuracy at all. Of course 

 there is the old cream test, which I don't believe any one 

 seriously believes to be of any use. There is also the churn 

 test. It is not a scientific test, but it is a good commercial 

 one. If it takes twenty pounds of the milk of one cow to 

 make a pound of butter, and it takes twenty-five or twenty- 

 six pounds of another cow's milk to make a pound, you have 

 the relative value of the milk of those two cow t s ; but it is 

 not a very accurate matter, because the butter will contain a 

 greater or less amount of water. I think Beimling's and 



