No. 4.] REPORT OF DAIRY BUREAU. 301 



upon the premises or while in the possession or under the 

 control of the producer by an inspector of milk or by the 

 agents of the Dairy Bureau or State Board of Health, or 

 collector of samples duly authorized by such inspector, and 

 a sealed sample of the same given to the producer." 



This was enacted in the expectation that it would in some 

 way save innocent farmers from any hardship growing out 

 of the enforcement of the milk laws. It has not accom- 

 plished any such purpose, but has hindered the prosecution 

 of those who have sold adulterated milk. 



Chapter 264, Acts of 1896, section 1, says : " No person 

 shall sell or offer for sale or exchange, in hermetically sealed 

 cans, any condensed milk or condensed skim-milk, unless in 

 cans which are distinctly labelled with the name of the per- 

 son or company manufacturing said condensed milk or skim- 

 milk, the brand under which it is made, and the contents of 

 the can." 



The Bureau has been asked during the year to pass u[)on 

 the meaning of the word " contents," in the last line. The 

 popular opinion prevailed that it required either the weight 

 or the analysis of the contents. The question was re- 

 ferred to the Attorney-General, who held that the word 

 refers back to the words "condensed milk or condensed 

 skim-milk," in the second, fourth and tifth lines, and that 

 the law would be complied with if the can should be labelled 

 " condensed milk," or "condensed skim-milk," as the case 

 might be. This seems to take out of the law what seems 

 to be its spirit. 



Ohio has a law which requires that the proportion of milk 

 solids contained in condensed milk shall be in amount the 

 equivalent of 12 per cent of solids, in crude milk, and of 

 such solids 25 per cent shall be fat. Condensed milk cannot 

 be sold in that State unless the same is made from unadulter- 

 ated and wholesome milk from which the cream has not been 

 removed. 



In view of the great variation in the quality of condensed 

 milk, and its increasing use, similar legislation may be 

 needed in this State. 



The sale of cream is increasing. Maine is the principal 

 source of the cream in the markets of Boston and other 



