Thirty-fourth Annual Convention. ^"^^ 



city. The highest score for bacteria was 20 out of a possible 20 

 points and the lowest score was 18. 



Acidity. 5 points are allowed for acidity or sourness if it 

 does not exceed .2 per cent. All of the samples were found to 

 be perfect in this respect. 



Appearance. The package containing milk should be clean, 

 free from metal parts, and should have no visible foreign matter. 

 If tin tops or other metal parts are permanently attached to the 

 bottles, they are difficult to clean and can hardly be considered 

 sanitary. If dirt is found in the bottom of the bottle such as 

 particles of manure, hair, bedding, etc., it is an indication that 

 the milk is produced under dirty conditions. Boards of Health 

 are now making more of a point of this matter and are imposing 

 fines for dirty milk, as well as adulterated milk. Until recently 

 a man who put a little water in his milk was heavily fined, while 

 the dairyman who had filthy, disease-producing milk, which was 

 infinitely more dangerous to health, went scot free. 3 out of the 

 6 samples scored perfect in this respect. I would like to make it 

 clear, however, that even if the dairyman succeeds in straining 

 out coarse particles that may get into the milk, this does not 

 remedy the trouble entirely, for the reason that the milk has al- 

 ready become contaminated and cannot be cleaned again. Prob- 

 ably nine-tenths of the bacteria have passed into the milk by dis- 

 solving, and the bad flavor is still there even though the coarse 

 particles have been removed by the strainer. Market cream is 

 scored on a basis similar to that of market milk. 



All of the above conditions have been considered in detail 

 in scoring your products and the ratings have been given on the 

 score-cards which you will find with your exhibits. It may be 

 of interest to note that the highest score for milk was 95, the 

 lowest 91, and the average 93^. The highest cream score was 

 94, the lowest 93, and the average 93}4. 



As to lessons from the milk contest, or perhaps I had better 

 say value of milk contests they are helpful to the producer in that 

 they point out to him very clearly the exact conditions of his pro- 

 duct, and show him where he can improve. They present an 

 object lesson which is not easily forgotten. They are of value 

 from an educational standpoint and the dairyman comes to under- 

 stand the importance and significance of improved methods of 

 handling milk — hence a contest may be the means of starting him 



