June 12, 1903.J 



SCIENCE. 



933 



each, will serve further to encourage sub- 

 division of larger areas in the east and 

 south and tend to make the small farm and 

 home a general rule throughout the entire 

 country. 



Under wise administration, arid America 

 has a glorious future. With her countless 

 small farms and rural homes, communities 

 where people live in the open air, till the 

 soil with their hands and yet enjoy the 

 privileges and advantages of the city, she 

 will prove the sheet anchor of the republic 

 in any time of national peril, while from 

 her will radiate eastward the same idea of 

 the division of the large into small farms 

 and the utilization of the stream and the 

 pond in making certain and increasing an 

 oftentimes unreliable crop. 



An Inquiry Into the Composition of 

 Creamery Emitter: Major Henet E. 

 Alvoed, chief of Dairy Division, Depart- 

 ment of Agrieiilture. 

 The value of butter depends upon the 

 fat it contains, and although there are 

 necessarily other constituents, and they 

 have value, they should not be in excess. 

 This is especially true of the water content. 

 Purchasers do not wish to buy water by 

 the pound at butter prices. The product 

 of creameries, or the factory system, is the 

 leading grade of butter in the markets. 

 Creamery butter has been alleged ordi- 

 narily to carry too much water. There 

 has been no reliable basis for such asser- 

 tions, and it has seemed desirable to ascer- 

 tain the facts. 



During the year 1902, the U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture (Dairy Division) has 

 had opportunity for examining 730 differ- 

 ent packages of butter, representing the 

 product of 400 different creameries, located 

 in eighteen states. The butter was made 

 in May, June, August and September. 

 Moisture determinations were made on 802 



samples. The range of water content was 

 found to be from 7.20 per cent, to 17.62 

 per cent., and the general average was 

 11.78 per cent. There were but three re- 

 sults below 8 per cent, and only eight above 

 16 per cent. Seven eighths of the 802 

 samples were between 10 and 14 per cent., 

 and more than half between 11 and 13 per 

 cent. 



Making all reasonable allowance for 

 error, it seems safe to state that American 

 creamery butter, during the months named, 

 has an average water content not exceeding 

 twelve (12) per cent. 



Education for Farmers: Professor Willet 

 M. Hays, Minnesota Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station. 



The states are gaining charge more and 

 more of education. By unifying the 

 primary and graded schools, the city high 

 schools, and the universities and colleges 

 into an articulated system, education has 

 been greatly promoted. But the current 

 in this system is away from the farm, and 

 a parallel system is suggested in which the 

 student must go against the current to leave 

 the farm. The suggested system includes 

 the consolidated rural school, with free 

 transportation of pupils, serving an area 

 three to five miles square ; the agricultural 

 high school, serving ten or more counties; 

 and the agricultural college, serving the 

 entire state. The consolidated rural school 

 supplies superior primary education ; could 

 include some studies of rural industries; 

 and a small demonstration farm and garden 

 could be added to the equipment. By ex- 

 tending the course in the consolidated 

 rural school to include the freshman and 

 sophomore high-school studies, the pupils 

 are longer under the parental roof ; and the 

 expense of non-resident study in the agri- 

 cultiu'al high school is reduced to the junior 

 and senior years, Avhich study may be made 

 largely technical. The civic and economic, 



