No. 4.] REPORT OF DAIRY BUREAU. 291 



States, according to the Secretary of Agriculture, for the 

 year ending June 30, 1906, was 53,795,321 pounds, as com- 

 pared with 60,164,783 pounds for 1905, — a decrease of 

 6,369,462 pounds. 



Butter. 



The production of a strictly high-class butter, simple as it 

 seems, is an extremely difficult problem, requiring knowl- 

 edge, care, skill and perseverance. One man thinks he 

 makes as good butter as another ; but when two or more 

 makes are compared, the difference becomes manifest. In 

 examining butters of various exhibits at dairy conventions, 

 fairs, etc., the writer has been struck with the fact that even 

 where all are good, perhaps scoring above 90 per cent, not 

 more than one in ten will go over 95 per cent. There can 

 be little doubt that there is much yet to be learned, or, if 

 not learned, to be put in practice, by the dairymen and but- 

 ter makers. More attention must be given to the care of 

 cream ; possibly a local inspection of the dairies, such as is 

 made where milk is produced for market, will become neces- 

 sary, — not, however, if every patron learns how to care for 

 his milk and cream, and then puts his knowledge in practice. 

 This is not offered in a spirit of criticism, but is rather a hint 

 as to what is necessary to make gilt-edged butter. 



The butter market for the year has been in some respects 

 unique. It will be noted, by reference to the appended 

 tables, that an unusually large stock was carried over in 

 Boston from last year, and that this was followed by an in- 

 crease the first five months, after which there was a falling 

 off in the supply from the corresponding months of the pre- 

 vious year. This, occurring in the face of an increased 

 demand, caused an advance in price during the summer, 

 which has continually increased up to the close of the year, 

 at which time butter is selling at a higher price than any 

 corresponding period for many years. The average is practi- 

 cally the same, however, as in 1905, when the price was at 

 its maximum height in the early part of the year. 



The following table shows the average quotation for the 

 best fresh creamery butter in a strictly wholesale way in 

 the Boston market for the last eight years : — 



