90 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



Flavor is given the most points on the score cards for the 

 reason that it is considered most important. Unpalatable milk or 

 cream is practically of no value as an article of food ; on the other 

 hand if these products contain a low percentage of fat or an ex- 

 cessive number of bacteria and still have a good flavor they must 

 be utilized and in fact a good deal of milk and cream of this 

 character is used. Hence it is apparent that flavor is of first im- 

 portance. This is also recognized in butter and cheese where 

 flavor is often given 45 points out of 100. Natural milk possesses 

 little taste or odor, if well supplied with fat it may be described 

 as rich, pleasant with no undesirable after taste. Slight contami- 

 nation can often be detected more readily by the sense of smell 

 than by the taste. Heating the milk in a closed flask to a temper- 

 ature of 90 or 100 degrees assists in bringing out foreign flavors 

 and makes them more perceptible. 40 points should be given for 

 perfect flavor and deductions made for off flavors according to 

 the judgment of the party making the test. 



Chemical Qualities. 



This refers to its chemical composition from the standpoint 

 of its commercial value and includes the per cent of fat and solids 

 no fat. Fortunately these two things are quite easily determined. 

 It is important the market milk shall be of good average composi- 

 tion, further than this the consumer is but little interested. In 

 case of milk for butter and cheese, however, its value for the pro- 

 duction of these products is of great importance. If milk for 

 household purposes contains 4 per cent fat and 9 per cent solids 

 not fat it seems fair to consider it perfect. While this standard 

 is a little higher than the state standards for milk, it gives a little 

 encouragement to the dairyman who is making an effort to pro- 

 duce milk containing 4 per cent fat or better. I would deduct 

 one point for every one-tenth per cent below 4 per cent and if 

 it fell below the state standard it would not be legal milk, hence 

 not entitled to any score. 



I might add here, however, that we have no scientific proof 

 that milk containing 4 per cent fat is healthier or of more value 

 from the food standpoint than milk containing 3.5 per cent of 



