1908.] Creamery Systems of Payment. 



74i 



became much greater and ran up to over 20 per cent. It 

 appears from this that for the purpose of estimating the per- 

 centage of fat in the milk of individual cows it is not advisable 

 to take the tests less frequently than on one day in each fort- 

 night, and even then the estimated result can only be regarded 

 as approximate. 



The milk-yielding capacity of a cow can be estimated 

 with approximate accuracy by weighing the milk for one day 

 a week or one day a fortnight, and multiplying the result by 

 seven or fourteen. The maximum error which occurred in 

 estimating the milk of twelve cows at the Lancashire County 

 Council Farm from the weight on one day a week or one day a 

 fortnight did not exceed 3 per cent, in any one case. If taken 

 at greater intervals than this the error in some cases rapidly 

 increased and occasionally amounted to from 10 to 19 per cent. 



Where farmers supply milk or cream to a butter factory or 

 creamery, the common practice is to pay for the milk or cream 

 according to the percentage of butter-fat 

 Creamery Systems of which it contains. In New South Wales 

 Payment. a slightly different system has been 



adopted, viz., that of paying in propor- 

 tion to the estimated production of butter, and the Department 

 of Agriculture has issued a " cream chart," prepared by Mr. 

 M. A. O'Callaghan, showing the amount of commercial butter 

 obtainable from any given quantity of cream, testing between 

 20 and 60 per cent, of butter-fat ; for example, 100 lb. of cream 

 containing 20 per cent, of butter-fat is estimated to yield 

 23 -30 lb. of butter ; the same quantity of cream with 40 per 

 cent, butter-fat will yield 48 -30 lb., and the chart gives the 

 calculated result for all quantities at the different percentages. 

 The chart appears to have been largely used for some time, 

 and its practical accuracy under normal conditions seems to 

 be admitted. In one co-operative factory on a total of 33,941 lb. 

 of butter the difference between the actual out-turn and the 

 estimated yield by the chart was only -17 per cent. In another 

 case the result given by the chart was 24,958 lb., while the 

 amount obtained was 24,963 lb. 



Mr. O'Callaghan claims on behalf of this system that the 

 farmer does not sell his cream to a co-operative factory, but 



