No. 4.] REPORT OF THE DAIRY BUREAU. 147 



is now in the office of the State Board of Agriculture. The 

 result of the 1915 clean milk contest is published under separate 

 cover. 



Mr. Lombard, agent of the Dairy Bureau, attended the 

 meeting of the International Association of Dairy and Milk 

 Inspectors at Washington, District of Columbia, where he read 

 a paper on "The Clean Milk Contest of Massachusetts." This 

 paper was well received, and Mr. Lombard was elected first 

 vice-president of the association. 



Dairy Cows. 



There were assessed in Massachusetts on April 1, 1915, 

 145,016 cows. On April 1, 1914, there were assessed 147,209 

 cows. This shows a decline in twelve months of 2,183 cows. 

 There were killed in the meantime on account of foot-and- 

 mouth disease 2,109 cattle, a very large proportion of which 

 were milch cows. This showing indicates that the actual decline 

 in dairy cows, irrespective of the slaughter on account of foot- 

 and-mouth disease, was very small. 



The 1915 assessment of dairy cows in Maine, New Hamp- 

 shire and Vermont showed a considerable increase over the 

 assessment of 1914, which is fully accounted for by the fact 

 that shipments of cattle from those States were held up on 

 account of quarantine regulations imposed in consequence of 

 the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. 



Condensed Milk. 



Figures furnished by the Boston Chamber of Commerce con- 

 cerning the amount of condensed milk handled in Boston in 

 1915 show an increase of 4,561 barrels and a decrease of 23,129 

 cases over 1914. Full data concerning this report indicate, on 

 the whole, an increase in the consumption of these products. 

 (See table on page 153.) 



Oleomargarine. 



The number of oleomargarine licenses in force in the State in 

 November, 1914, was 818. The exact number of licenses in 

 1915 is not at this date available from the office of the Collector 



