DAIRY SCHOOLS AND DAIRY PRODUCTS. 239 



centrifugal force. A strong steel bowl is made to rotate by hand- 

 power or steam, at a speed of five to eight thousand revolutions 

 per minute ; by this means the heavier portion of the milk, the 

 skim milk, is separated from the lighter portion, the cream, and 

 both are collected in separate vessels. 



The work in the creamery room includes the handling and 

 care of the cream previous to churning, the churning, and the 

 working and packing of the butter. In the cheese room, where 

 there are eight milk vats, each of a capacity of three hundred 

 pounds, thirty-two students may work at the same time ; the vari- 

 ous steps in cheese-making, from the proper handling of the milk 

 to the curing of the cheese, are here learned. 



A most important part of the instruction is the milk testing, 

 which is taught in the laboratory. Farmers' boys, who previously 

 to their entering the school knew nothing whatever about the dif- 

 ferent components of milk, here learn to determine the percentage 

 of fat in milk, skim milk, buttermilk, whey, and cream, with 

 almost as great accuracy as any experienced chemist, and cer- 

 tainly as satisfactorily for all practical purposes. This has been 

 made possible by the introduction of the Babcock test for the 

 determination of fat in milk, a method invented nearly four years 

 ago by Dr. S. M. Babcock, chief chemist to the Wisconsin Experi- 

 ment Station. The method has won for its originator a world- 

 wide reputation and the gratitude of progressive dairy farmers in 

 this and other countries. The test, which was given to the public 

 without any restriction of patent, is extremely simple, and may 

 be made on a farm or in a creamery or cheese factory as well as 

 in a chemical laboratory, everywhere with equal correctness and 

 facility. In the dairy school the percentage of fat in milk is 

 determined by Babcock's test, and by a combination of the test 

 and the lactometer (a simple apparatus to determine the specific 

 gravity of milk or its weight in relation to water), adulteration 

 of the milk, and the extent of the same may be detected. 



The course of the dairy school lasts three months viz., Janu- 

 ary to March, inclusive. The expenses of the school while in 

 operation are very heavy ; the milk bill alone thus amounts to 

 eighty dollars a day during this time. In addition to this course, 

 dairy certificates are issued to such graduates of the school as 

 have shown proficiency in the operation of a creamery or a cheese 

 factory for one or more seasons ; candidates for such certificates 

 must send in reports of their work once a month to the dean 

 of the college; their factories are further inspected by an in- 

 structor of the school, to ascertain whether or not the candi- 

 date may be granted a certificate, and thereby given the recom- 

 mendation of the State Dairy School as a successful butter or 

 cheese maker. 



