FORTY-FIRST ANNUAL CONVENTION 317 



CARE OF CREAM ON THE FARM. 



By C. W. Fryhofer, Bureau of Animal Industry, U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. 



Certain nation-wide changes that have taken place in recent 

 years in the rapid development and advancement of the dairy 

 industry have unfortunately affected adversely the general 

 quality of American butter. That the quahty of butter in this 

 country today is below the average quality that was maintained 

 before the days of the hand-separator is a recognized fact. This 

 lowering of the quality of butter is due to the greatly increased 

 proportion of poor cream that is made into butter. One of the 

 problems that confront the dairy and creamery industry today 

 is to bring up again the quality of cream accepted at the cream- 

 eries of this country for the purpose of butter making. This 

 problem of better cream is just as vital and far reaching in its 

 results, to the dairy industry of Vermont, as it is to that of any 

 other dairy state. While the lowering of the quality of our butter 

 has been coincident with the introduction and general use of the 

 hand-separator, that fact does not give us any grounds for saying 

 that the cause of the poor cream is the use of the hand-separator. 

 It is the misuse of the hand-separator and the careless and im- 

 proper handling of the cream on the farm that are the principal 

 causes of poor cream and butter in Vermont as well as in every 

 other dairy state. 



Creamery interests in the principal butter-producing states 

 are uniting their forces for a concerted movement, to strike at 

 the root of the evil and ''better cream" is the 'Svatch word." 

 Upon the full co-operation of the individual dairyman depends 

 the success of this forward movement for better cream and but- 

 ter. 



Considering its size Vermont produces more creamery butter 

 than any other state and Vermont dairymen must be in the front 



