276 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[July, 
now add that of C. W. Mills, of Floyd Co., 
Ga., who in answer to an inquiry says : “I 
have frequently raised from two to three tons 
of clover hay to the acre, on good, rich river 
bottom lands, well prepared. I now have a 
plot with about 20 per cent of Orchard-grass, 
that I think will make two and a half tons 
to the acre at the first cutting. It is beauti¬ 
ful to look at.”—There seems to be little 
doubt that on any good wheat land away 
from the coast, profitable crops of clover may 
be grown in nearly every southern State, and 
the ability to raise clover means a vast deal 
else. On the lighter soils the Cow-pea must 
take the place of clover, but on all lands 
where clover will grow, its perennial roots 
give it a great advantage over any other plant. 
Needed Dairy Reforms. 
BT THE 1ION. X. A. WILLARD, LITTLE FALLS, N. T. 
How to promote improvement in the flavor 
and quality of genuine dairy goods, is a ques¬ 
tion which is now being pressed upon the at¬ 
tention of dairymen, and which can not be 
put aside with impunity. Poor butter and 
poor cheese can no longer be placed upon the 
markets of the world at a price that will 
remunerate the producer. They leave no 
margin to the dairyman—not even a bare 
subsistence. The extensive introduction of 
spurious butter and butter adulterations—the 
substitution of lard for cream in cheese-mak¬ 
ing, together with other processes for im¬ 
proving “skim-cheese,” rendering it mellow 
and palatable, have made serious inroads 
upon all the lower grade products of the 
dairy ; they will continue to grow in favor 
and to be preferred by certain consumers 
whenever these spurious goods prove to be 
better or more palatable than the genuine ar¬ 
ticle. Laws have been passed in New York 
and in other States, regulating the sale of 
oleomargarine and other spurious dairy prod¬ 
ucts, and it was quite proper that the makers 
and venders of these goods should be com¬ 
pelled to brand them for what they are. But 
this will not prevent their manufacture or 
consumption so long as it shall be proved 
they are not unwholesome. They will now 
be placed upon the markets on their merits, 
and if they are more palatable and show more 
quality than inferior grades of the genuine 
products of the dairy, they will be preferred 
and go into consumption. As an instance of 
this truth the immense sales of artificial but¬ 
ter in the English markets may be cited, 
where it is often taken by the consumer at a 
higher price than genuine butter of second 
class. It is without doubt unfortunate for 
the dairy industry of the country that inven¬ 
tion has so developed and perfected these sub¬ 
stitutes as to make them formidable com¬ 
petitors of genuine dairy products; but dairy¬ 
men should no longer refuse to accept the 
situation, nor expect to get relief by ridicul¬ 
ing and denouncing the spurious goods. They 
must meet the enemy with something more 
substantial than mere words—they must offer 
in competition dairy products of the finest 
flavor and of supreme excellence—products 
that have some keeping qualities by which 
buyers, in holding, may have good assurance 
against loss on account of quick deterioration 
and decay. In other words, fine fancy but¬ 
ter and cheese have now become of impera¬ 
tive necessity to the dairyman who desires to 
stand by the integrity of his product, and not 
be pushed aside and overwhelmed in the 
wake of spurious goods. 
In this march of improvement the dairy¬ 
men must not look wholly to the manufac¬ 
turer, nor expect that the work can be ac¬ 
complished by new discoveries and Utopian 
processes in the milk vats ; for the main work 
rests with those who produce and deliver the 
milk to the factories. We have now an army 
of skilled workers—men who are striving to 
excel and who spare no efforts to manufac¬ 
ture an unexceptionable article. They ma¬ 
nipulate the milk coming to their hands after 
the best methods. They are quick to see and 
adopt improvements, and yet they fail to 
achieve the highest results, because their 
labors are expended upon bad material. Their 
patrons often can not be induced to bring 
them good sound milk. In almost every com¬ 
munity of dairymen there will be found 
some who are addicted to shocking practices 
of uncleanliness; cow-beating, dog-driving, 
compelling herds to slake thirst in foul wa¬ 
ters ; adding the milk from sick cows or from 
gargetty udders. All these things and others 
of a similar character are from time to time 
occurring, and one cow’s milk often taints a 
whole vat of good milk. It is this condition 
of things that causes the cheese-maker trouble, 
and the more so since he can not always trace 
the bad milk to its source. It is safe to say 
that a large share of the “off-flavored ” and 
quick-decaying cheese of America comes from 
this cause. Of course it is liable to come from 
careless manufacture, bad rennet, lack of 
salting, and filth about factories; but in all 
these cases the cause is easily traced and the 
remedy readily applied. But the former be¬ 
long to the class of unknown causes, or causes 
difficult to be traced and corrected under the 
present system of management. 
Now what is needed is a reformation in the 
methods of producing and handling milk at 
the farm, and the manner of its delivery at 
the factory. And the most feasible way for 
bringing about this most desirable result, 
it would seem, is to employ Inspectors to 
visit farms from week to week throughout 
the season, noting everything in connection 
with pasturage, water, treatment of stock— 
the milking, cleanliness of dairy utensils, and 
the manner in which milk is treated in the 
can and on its journey to the factory. With 
such supervision, and with rigid rules for the 
exclusion of faulty milk, we may hope to get 
an immediate and permanent improvement 
in the flavor and quality of our dairy prod¬ 
ucts. The present system of throwing this 
work upon the factory manager, or requiring 
him to detect faulty milk as it is delivered at 
the factory, has been proved to be untrust¬ 
worthy. The manager has not the time nor 
opportunity, while receiving milk, to detect 
every shade of its character; he can only 
pronounce upon the worst cases, or when de¬ 
composition has proceeded so far as to indi¬ 
cate beyond question that the milk is rotten 
or unsound. He can not trace the causes, or 
tell all the stages of incipient decomposi¬ 
tion which spoils the milk in the vat, but 
which has not advanced far enough at the 
time of delivery to warrant its rejection. 
And again, he can not reject milk without 
engendering altercations and stirring up bad 
feeling—often causing the patron to with¬ 
draw his support and take his milk to another 
factory. If the trouble occurs with several 
influential patrons having large herds, the 
maker will not go to extremities and endanger 
his situation, but will prefer to take the milk 
as it is and do the best that ho can with it, 
and so his product goes into the market as 
inferior, being classed as “seconds” or 
“thirds.” The manager’s talk and remon¬ 
strances may in some instances cause a ref¬ 
ormation, but in a vast number of cases 
it amounts to nothing. The Inspector, on 
the other hand, is entirely independent, or 
stands as an impartial judge between the 
maker and the patron. He points out the 
causes of faulty milk as he finds them at the 
farm, and the tests of samples at the factory 
confirm his position. He suggests where 
improvements can be made, and thus the 
patron becomes educated and all parties in¬ 
terested in his milk are permanently benefited.* 
This plan has proved a great success wher¬ 
ever adopted. It has raised second class fac¬ 
tories into the first rank, and one season’s 
work of a thorough and competent Inspector 
has been effectual in revolutionizing the 
whole system of milk production and delivery 
over the entire district in charge. The system 
was early adopted by the late Gail Borden, 
who was the first to show how milk could be 
successfully condensed and put upon the 
market as a commercial product, possessing 
all the elements of sound, pure, and whole¬ 
some food. Near the close of his life, when 
he had perfected his inventions and brought 
his condensed milk to the highest standard of 
excellence, he stated to the writer that he 
never could have accomplished this grand re¬ 
sult had he not inaugurated a system of milk 
inspection at the farm. “ My Inspector,” he 
said, “noted every circumstance affecting 
the flavor and soundness of milk on the farm 
—health of the cows, their feed, water—reg¬ 
ularity in milking, cleanliness of stable, and 
utensils. My patrons were instructed not to 
dog or over-heat cows in driving, not to beat 
or frighten them while milking—to separate 
animals in heat from the herd, and keep back 
all milk coming from inflamed or diseased 
udders. In fine, he instructed my patrons in 
all the details for producing clean, sound,, 
wholesome milk, and by constantly testing 
samples of milk at the factory and comparing 
with the reports of my Inspector, I was soon 
enabled to get milk that gave me no trouble 
in condensing, and which was satisfactory to 
the most fastidious palate.” And he remark¬ 
ed that, although he had selected his dairies 
from those who had been engaged in supply¬ 
ing milk for city consumption, yet he still 
found it necessary to educate and reform 
them in many of the details for producing a 
perfectly sound, clean,and good flavored milk. 
There are thousands of factory managers 
all over the country who would be glad to 
co-operate in this movement. Let the patrons 
then of every establishment be called to¬ 
gether, and a mutual plan be inaugurated, by 
which every man’s farm and herd shall be in¬ 
spected from time to time, and every means 
taken to insure the delivery of clean, sound,, 
wholesome milk. We shall then begin to 
see a marked improvement in our dairy prod¬ 
ucts, and with competent makers, freedom 
from filth, and bad odors about the factories,, 
our dairymen may bid defiance to all spuri¬ 
ous goods ; because genuine butter and cheese 
of supreme excellence will always find buy¬ 
ers and consumers who are willing to pay a 
fair price for them in all the dairy markets, 
of the world. 
