CHAPTER III. 



Standardization of Milk and Cream and Butter Fat 

 Values. 



(a) Standardization of milk and cream. 



43. Correct standardization of milk and cream is 



without doubt a very important factor in the suc- 

 cessful handling of these products. The butter fat — 

 the least variable constituent of milk — is the most 

 valuable, hence the necessity of knowing accurately 

 the per cent of butter fat contained in milk and 

 cream. 



ilany instances are known of milk being sold con- 

 taining much more butter fat than the price received 

 for it would warrant without sustaining losses. On 

 the other hand, without testing or standardizing 

 milk, it is sometimes sold containing less butter fat 

 than the legal standard. When the butter fat con- 

 tent is too low the consumer is the loser, and the sale 

 of such milk is illegal; when the butter fat content 

 is too high, the dealer is the loser. 



AVhere the milk is bought for a certain considera- 

 tion per hundred pounds, or by the fat content, 

 based upon the Babcock test, and part of it is sold in 

 the form of cream, the necessity of knowing the ex- 

 act fat content is important. In many instances this 

 milk is run through a separator with the machine so 

 adjusted as to skim about the desired per cent of fat. 

 Even with the milk uniformly heated, the speed reg- 

 ular, and the same rate of inflow, a great variation 

 in the fat content of cream will be noticed. Even 



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