FORTY-FIRST ANNUAL CONVENTIOiN 93 



pounds of butter fat per year is an unprofitable animal and that 

 the sooner he gets rid of her the better it will be for his pocket- 

 book, his good nature and his happiness. When he is shown 

 also that a slight increase or decrease in feed resulting in the 

 same or a slightly better result, but making a few cents differ- 

 ence in the cost, if he is in the business for all there is in it he 

 will change his feeding methods. 



But when you attempt to make him see that he should pro- 

 duce cleaner milk, you are at once confronted with a far more 

 difficult undertaking. The benefit of proper sanitary conditions 

 in milk production can not be demonstrated in so direct a way. 

 He can not see so readily that the returns from his dairy busi- 

 ness increase in proportion to the standard of sanitation set up 

 by him. This difficulty in many cases is augmented by the lack 

 of inclination and irresponsive attitude of the average consumer 

 toward milk of a high standard of purity. Too often the con- 

 sumer regards milk simply as a household necessity, or as a 

 mere beverage which is to be bought as cheaply as possible. 

 While he is ever ready to cry for better milk, he is not always 

 ready to pay the proper price that the improved product is well 

 worth. 



His tendency is to pay too high a price for poor milk and 

 too low a price for good milk. The same principle holds true 

 with many of the creameries and condenseries, they know that 

 a good product can not be made from a poor batch of milk or 

 cream, but still very few grade the milk or cream and pay for it 

 on the basis of its quality. The butter fat basis for payment at 

 creameries has long been established; it has not yet been estab- 

 lished as a basis of payment for market milk. No one will 

 argue that such a basis is other than fair to all concerned, and 

 just why milk men do not demand such a payment is a question. 

 If improvement in quality is the aim of the dairy industry, then 

 a payment based upon qualit}^ as well as upon the butter fat con- 

 tent of milk and cream must be established. 



There may be discouraging factors, such as inexperienced 

 inspectors, incompetent officials and lack of proper demand for 

 an improved product, but notwithstanding these facts, quality 



