146 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



account is one mistake which the seller of whole milk frequently 

 makes. Skim milk skilfully fed to pure-bred stock or to laying 

 hens will sometimes net the farmer 3 cents per quart. Now, 

 if the consumption of skim milk could be so increased that the 

 demand therefor would raise the price to a point where the 

 farmer would never have to take less than 3 cents per quart for 

 this portion of his milk at the dairy, a long stride would be 

 taken towards solving the milk problem. Then, too, many 

 farmers who have been in the habit of making summer milk for 

 the manufacture of butter and cheese, when changing to selling 

 market milk, have not counted the cost of making an even 

 production of milk the year around and of reproducing summer 

 conditions in midwinter. These, and many other matters 

 which might be mentioned, go a long way in accounting for the 

 cost of making milk, particularly in a State where the require- 

 ments are so rigid as they are in Massachusetts. 



People often wonder why it is that it costs more to produce 

 milk in Massachusetts than in some other sections of the 

 country. It costs more to make milk in some sections of 

 Massachusetts than it does in other sections of the same 

 State. The reasons are to some extent the same in both 

 instances. Soil, moisture conditions, small fields, stony fields, 

 small herds, etc., are all important factors in this question. 



In educational work the chairman of the Bureau delivered 

 six lectures, the general agent twenty-five, and Mr. Lombard 

 two. These lectures were all upon subjects relating to 

 dairying. The Bureau has made several inspection trips 

 covering creameries, milk plants, important dairy farms, etc., 

 within the State. The general agent, besides making a trip to 

 New York State to see how milk was handled there, made a 

 special trip to northern Vermont and Canada, studying the 

 conditions in those localities. 



The general agent has made a new revision of the dairy laws 

 of Massachusetts, with a Superior Court digest thereon, which 

 has been published, and has prepared a new edition of 

 "Breeders and Owners of Pure-bred Dairy Cattle in Massa- 

 chusetts," which is now in the hands of the State printers. 

 Leaflet B on milk has been rewritten and published. A new 

 map of the milk supply of New England has been prepared and 



