164 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [P. D. 4. 



price, so to speak, of the fat and skim. It is fair, and will go 

 to place the price of fat in cream and milk somewhat above its 

 value for butter making. Then the price of skim will be made 

 such as to attain the desired rate for milk of the test which you 

 are selling, or rather, which you are trying to bring out by blend- 

 ing the various grades which come from your producers. In 

 another paper to-day I have vented my spleen over the useless 

 law which compels us to go about blending or standardizing in 

 the awkward, unscientific way we are obviously obliged to do. 

 When the prices have been established per pound of fat and 

 per hundredweight of combined skim and fat, any one can 

 make out our price list for any desired per cents of cream, 

 milk and skim or buttermilk so that all grades will be of con- 

 sistent prices. Any one can have our price list by applying 

 for it. Before leaving this important part of my subject I 

 want to call attention to certain things that must be taken 

 seriously as substitutes for fresh cream, milk and skim milk. 

 When cream is short at certain seasons and in the hot spells 

 of summer, the ice-cream maker gets on nicely with "Homo," 

 — a product of sweet butter (unsalted) and skim milk, put 

 together by a homogenizing machine. If skim milk is short, 

 one-half skim may be used and the rest made up with skim 

 powder and water; or, indeed, the product may be made 

 wholly from sweet butter, skim milk powder and water. Jn 

 fact, this product is so smooth and satisfactory that some ice- 

 cream men prefer it to use all the time, even when straight 

 cream is plenty. Fresh milk is in competition with condensed 

 milk. Fresh skim milk has for a competitor condensed skim 

 milk and skim milk powder. Some bakers prefer the powder 

 on even prices. With these conditions in view the New Eng- 

 land producer may well be careful not to go too far in his 

 demands. 



The second division of the milkman's duty — financing and 

 conducting operations from the producer to the consumer, — 

 affords plenty of watchful working and exercise for prudence 

 and judgment. 



As evidence that this service is performed in good faith at 

 minimum cost, the distributor should not hesitate to publish 

 the cost and selling prices and the classified operating and 



