No. 4.] UNITED STATES DAIRYING. 151 



substitute in its simplest form, is a delicate instrument, 

 which should be used only by a competent operator. Hun- 

 dreds of these testers arc in the hands of incompetents, and 

 the patience of patrons under the injustice and many errors 

 that occur is really surprising. The fat test is, after all, a 

 sort of modified or simplified chemical analysis, and it re- 

 quires a degree of the knowledge of principles, materials 

 and processes, and of the skill and accuracy of manipulation, 

 which belong to lalioratory methods. There can be no 

 ol)jection to any one using a Babcock test, self-taught, for 

 testing his own cows or dairy operations at home ; the prob- 

 able errors will not vitiate his results or defeat his main 

 object. But I believe every man w^ho uses a tester as the 

 basis for commercial settlements should be proved compe- 

 tent by an examination, and should hold a regular permit 

 or license, like a druggist's clerk. A law in the State of 

 iMaine compels all such operators or testers to be examined 

 and certified at the dairy school of the State college. This 

 is an entirely reasonable requirement, and deserves to be 

 adopted in other States. A creamery which is not cer- 

 tain of having an expert tester is quite as likely to go right 

 on the old plan of equal " spaces " or weights. 



In this same connection it may be remarked that much of 

 the glassware furnished with the cheap patterns of the Bab- 

 cock tester is very unreliable, and is liable to give wrong 

 readings, like the cheap thermometer. Considerable money 

 transactions depend upon the accuracy of these little glass 

 bottles and measures. They should be subject to inspection 

 by a law, like other weights and measures used in trade. 

 Every such piece of glassware should be examined, tested 

 for accuracy and certified to before used at a creamery for 

 settlement. An Iowa law requires this work to be done by 

 the State Dairy Commissioner, and in Maine a similar law is 

 executed by the State Experiment Station. These are also 

 good examples to be followed. 



Second. — It is believed that much can be done to advance 

 the general condition of dairying and the returns to pro- 

 ducers by improving the quality and giving greater variety 

 to the products of the dairy. 



Improvement in quality must come from the direct in- 



