,34 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



formity. As most of the drops in the test occurred in the months which 

 were excessively hot, and the cows known to be very uncomfortable 

 from heat, it may be safe to attribute most of them to that cause. 



Considering that, with a few exceptions, all the cows in the test had 

 calved within two months of the opening, which would bring them from 

 six to eight months in lactation at the close, a natural conclusion 

 from the above data would be, thai with cows calving in spring and stabled 

 through summer, the percent of fat increases as the period of lactation 

 advanced. 



THE COMPOSITE TEST. 



During a part of the time, t lie separate milkings of each of ilie five 

 cows of some breed were tested independently of the composite tes<; for 

 the full week corresponding with the composite week. This was done 

 partly as a check against possible tampering with the composite sam- 

 ples, and partly as- a matter of interest in showing the accuracy of the 

 composite method! of testing. 



As there is likely to be in th s audience a number of patrons as wel", 

 as proprietors of creameries, I thcught it might not be out of place tit 

 show how nicely the two methods proved each other and how indisputa* 

 bly accurate the composite method is, if handled with a reasonable 

 amount of care. 



Each milking was weighed \ihtn brought to the dairy room, at once 

 poured into a "shot-gun can," a sample taken with milk thief into the 

 composite jar, one dipped cut for the lactometer test and a third one taken 

 with the pipette direct into the Babcock bottle. These last mentioned 

 samples were tested every day and the composite sample at the end of 

 the week. 



The sum of all the different amounts of fat obtained by multiplying 

 each milking by its test, should of course equal the product of the total 

 yield of milk for the week and the composite test. Or, on the other hand, 

 the sum of the daily fats divided by the total milk yield should equal the 



