APPENDIX B 



SOME PROBLEMS ARISING OUT OF THE MARKETING OF MILK ON A 

 BUTTERFAT BASIS 



The Butterfat Content as a Basis for the Sale of Whole Milk 



Since 1892, when the Babcock tester was invented, the 

 butter-fat content of milk has gradually come to be recognized 

 as the most important single factor to be considered in establish- 

 ing the grade of milk. While butterfat content is not the only 

 index of value, it is an index which cannot, in fairness, be neg- 

 lected. There are at least three distinct reasons why milk should 

 be bought on the basis of butterfat content: 



1. The food value — in heat or energy units — differs widely 

 in milks of different fat contents, and varies directly, though not 

 in the same proportion, as the fat content varies. 



2. It costs more to produce milk high in fat than it does to 

 produce low-testing milk. 



3. Actual market values on an open competitive market are 

 always higher for high-testing milk than for milk with a low 

 test. 



In practice, however, the purchase of milk on the basis of 

 butterfat content is attended with difficulties which have re- 

 tarded its adoption in many communities, so that even to-day 

 in such places milk is bought without reference to fat content, 

 so long as it complies with legal requirements. The principal 

 difficulties with the adoption of the butterfat content as a basis 

 for the marketing of milk have been: (i) On the part of the 

 producer, a lack of knowledge as to how the test was made and 

 uncertainty — often well-founded — as to the accuracy of the 

 tests; (2) on the part of the dealer, the added expense of making 

 the test, and the trouble in satisfying producers as to the cor- 



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