210 MANUAL OF MILK PRODUCTS 



capital invested in this plant will certainly amount to quite a 

 large item per quart on all the milk sold. Another plant re- 

 ports a daily selling of 30 quarts, and another of only 120 

 quarts. 



The average production of milk per cow in certified dairies 

 shows that many unprofitable animals are probably being kept, 

 and a thorough system of record keeping should be inaugurated 

 in order to weed out the low producers. One dairy reports 

 that the average test of the milk is 6 per cent fat, and it is 

 hard to see how such milk can be profitably sold in competition 

 with 4 per cent milk. In order to improve the herds from year 

 to year calves should be raised from the best producing cows. 

 Here again is another item of added expense on the certified 

 dairy, as the raising of calves is an expensive proposition, 

 especially where milk valued at from 15 to 20 cents a quart is 

 used. If calves are not raised and cows are bought from the 

 outside, there is little chance of bettering the herd. 



On most certified farms a higher class of labor is utilized 

 than on the ordinary dairy farm. Many college graduates are 

 employed as foremen, managers, or bacteriologists, and such 

 men usually command higher salaries. 



Markets for certified milk at the present time are not devel- 

 oped sufficiently. Several of the certified dairies reporting that 

 the production of this product was unprofitable intimated that 

 if more milk could be sold and the plant operated at a greater 

 capacity a profit might be realized. The general public so 

 far has very little idea as to what certified milk really is, and 

 an educational campaign might well be carried on by the 

 producers. In addition to this, lax methods on some farms 

 have necessitated a high price for certified milk, and this has 

 cut down the consumption considerably. 



There seems to be little uniformity regarding the distribution 

 of certified milk. Some of the methods now in vogue seem to be 

 to the disadvantage of the producer. Of the producers re- 



