SECRETARY'S REPORT. 51 



for the institution. They could buy. But it is not for the 

 interest of the State to buy when the farms can raise it cheaper. 

 I think they can. If it is profitable for any farmer to raise milk, 

 it must be for the State, ^vhich owns these farms, as it can not 

 only furnish the milk, but has an abundance of economical labor 

 to work the farm. If it is for the interest of the State to own 

 farms, it is also for its interest to raise the milk for these public 

 institutions. If they are to do that, they can hardly be expected 

 to experiment to find out which breed is best. Everybody 

 knows which is best for their purpose. They want to raise 

 milk, for the children to consume. They are not butter-making 

 establishments. With few exceptions, they make but little 

 butter, and that perhaps for the family of the superintendent. 

 The main object is the production of milk. 



I am as strenuous as Mr. Stedman or any one else can be for a 

 proper series of properly conducted experiments. I think indi- 

 viduals can conduct such experiments better than State alms- 

 houses. If it were suggested to them that it was an experiment 

 that they were to try, it seems to me there would be an objection 

 on the face of it, as they must exert their energies in a different 

 direction. 



Before I sit down I ought to state that I did not offer these 

 Resolutions because I was at all strenuous that they should be 

 adopted in the particular form in which they were presented, 

 but simply that the subject might be brought before the Board. 



Mr. Stedman. — How can these institutions ascertain which 

 kind of milk is best for the institutions? If they raise Jerseys, 

 perhaps if they make the milk one-half or one-third water, it 

 might be as well as to raise Ayrshire stock. 



Mr. Flint. — Enterprising breeders have been devoting atten- 

 tion to this subject for fifty years. It seems to me they must 

 have arrived at some conclusions that are worth something. 

 And if there is one thing better established than another, I 

 suppose it is that which relates to the qualities and character- 

 istics of the different kinds of stock. It seems to me they are 

 well known. 



With regard to the experiment of Mr. Thompson I will not 

 make any suggestion. But Mr. Thompson would not say that 

 the experiment which he has made, extending over only a few 

 months, and with less than half a dozen animals, constitutes an 



