REPORT. 



In making this nineteenth annual report it may not be out 

 of place to summarize somewhat the work of the Bureau since 

 its establishment in 1891. Since 1892, when the first real 

 work was done, 57,939 inspections have been made, an aver- 

 age of 3,218 annually, the average for the last two years be- 

 ing 6,981; 2,488 prosecutions have been made, averaging 132 

 per year; 2,320 convictions have been secured, an average of 

 128 per year. During the past seven years but 17 cases have 

 been lost, or 2.4 per cent of the entire number prosecuted 

 during that period, and only 20 defendants have been found 

 violating any of the dairy laws a second time. A large ma- 

 jority of these prosecutions have been for violation of the 

 oleomargarine laws. Meanwhile, the wholesale butter trade 

 in Boston, according to Chamber of Commerce reports, has 

 increased since 1900 at the rate of 1,850,154 pounds per 

 year. There have been 545 meetings addressed upon dairy 

 subjects, 280 of which have been since 1903. During these 

 years there have been many demonstrations of the use of 

 the Babcock milk tester, and on the points of the dairy 

 cow ; dairy tests have been conducted at fairs ; inspections of 

 creameries have been made; considerable dairy literature 

 has been published, including during the past year an article 

 on milk, its value as a food and its care in the home, pre- 

 pared for translation into the Jewish and Italian languages, to 

 be used among these people in Boston ; also rules for the care 

 of milk in the home, for posting. In all this work the wel- 

 fare of the farmer and honest tradesman, as well as that of 

 the consumer, has been constantly borne in mind. 



