VOL. L. NO. 2159. 
NEW YORK, JUNE i3, i89i 
PRICE, FIVE CENTS. 
$2.00 PER YEAR. 
THE VALUE OF MILK. 
How Shall It be Determined? Are Sugar and 
Casein Worth Considering? 
Injustice of “pooling'’ milk; the cheese maker and the 
fat; fat and cas in like gold and silver in relative 
value; the Babcock tester saves the good 
cow; water cows and butter factories. 
1. Does the percentage of fat in milk fix its value equitably 
for buying or “ pooling milk ” at the factory ? In other 
words, will the fat test alone secure justice among 
patrons ? 
2. Does the natural relation between fats and casein in the 
milk vary in different cows, dairies or seasons to such 
an extent that milk cannot be fairly accepted on the 
basis of its “ solids ” ? 
3. Give the percentage of butter fat in milk; is it essential 
that the exact amount of casein should also be known 
to determine the commercial value of the product ? 
What Makes Milk Valuable? 
Milk is a liquid, but its only value lies in the solids float¬ 
ing about in that liquid! These solids are fat—which, 
when separated from the milk 
forms butter—casein—the chief 
component of cheese—milk sugar 
and ash. The composition of milk 
varies with the different breeds, 
and is also affected to a greater or 
less extent by the season, the con¬ 
dition of the cow and the food. 
The Maine Experiment Station 
gives the following table showing A 
the average composition of the sitiM 
milk of three different breeds for 
two years. These figures show / lU 
the average of several different 1111111 ' 
animals. 
Holstelu. Jersey. Ayrshire. /|j 85 »§f§S§ 
2 . I have found it so in buying milk. I prefer to buy on 
the fat basis of 3.7 per cent of fat, and take my chance of 
getting 9.30 per cent of solids not fat, rather than take 13 
per cent of solids and run the risk of getting 3 50 to 3.60 
per cent of fat, as I have in some cases. I always feed 
heavily of nitrogenous articles and our grade cattle milk 
rarely exceeds 13.75 per cent total solids, while the fat is 
4 70 and 4 80 per cent and of a high flavor also. 
3. This question opens up a large area of investigation 
for the practical business man, and it can be answered 
only by such men as my friends, George Abbott of Phil¬ 
adelphia and Dr. Goessman. Mr. Abbott has long refused 
to sell any kind of milk but that from Channel Islands 
cows, either thoroughbred or grade. His thoroughbred 
Jersey and Guernsey milk must test 14 50 per cent of solids; 
this gives him about 5 20 to 5.30 per cent of fat. His B 
milk contains 13 50 per cent of total solids and about 4 25 
to 4 40 per cent of fat. 
Dr. Goessman has long claimed that the volatile fatty 
acids in butters must be governed in a large degree by 
breed and feed, and especially by the latter. When I go 
up to our new creamery in New Hampshire, I come across 
m'Wm 
Bis 
Total solids.. 
. 12.22 
15.24 
12.98 
Ash. 
. . 65 
.75 
.65 
Casein. 
.. 3.10 
4 09 
3.39 
Sugar. 
.5 00 
4.90 
5.27 
Fat.. 
..347 
5 50 
3 67 
These figures are merely given 
to illustrate the points made in MusM 
the following articles. Of course 
the Ayrshire and the Holstein jdF 
gave more milk than the Jersey, Sgap 
and thus produced a greater Wti f 
weight of solids, but these solids frl 
were mixed with more water. ' - f 
The most valuable of all these • ^ U : f \ 
solids is the fat—this is worth / J 8 -- } 
several times as much as the -.•••••. 
casein and sugar put together. ' 
In the system of “ pooling ” milk A . 
it is all lumped together and paid Vi ^ 
for by weight. For example, if a ^ . 
man brought 100 pounds of the 
Jersey milk noted above he would A N 
r eceive the same price that was 
paid for 100 pounds of the Holstein milk. The injustice of 
this will be seen by reflecting that the Jersey milk con¬ 
tained two pounds more butter than the Holstein milk. 
Dr. S. M. Babcock proposes a way to prevent such injustice. 
His milk test—described on another page—is designed to 
show how much fat there is in a given sample of milk. If 
this method of selling is used the weight of milk produced 
by the cow does not count so much as the weight of the 
fat in that milk. But after the 5% pounds of fat in the 
Jersey milk are removed there are still found four pounds 
of casein and five pounds of sugar. What about these ? 
Are they worth considering at all or may they be safely 
ignored so long as the amount of the more valuable fat is 
known ? These are questions of great importance to dairy¬ 
men and we hope they are answered in the following 
articles: 
The Flavor is In the Feed. 
The Rural has struck a very interesting and practical 
question when it inquires about the value of milk. While 
we may all reply with answers which best fit the com¬ 
mercial practice of the day, they by no means solve the 
question of what is the value of a quart of milk whether 
for use as a beverage, for the production of cheese, cream 
or butter. 
1. I know of no other test equally equitable. 
IMPORTED HACKNEY STALLION. Fig. 
such fat tests as these : 4.44 per cent, 5.10 and 5.20 and so 
on. I enjoy tasting the milk as it comes in and the highest 
flavored or best butter-making kinds are as follows : 4.44 
per cent first, 5.10 second and 5.20 third. Some of these 
high test butters are made by the use of cotton-seed at the 
expense of quality. We can make a pound of butter at 
this dairy from less than 20 pounds of milk, while in 
Southboro where the mixed milk of common large grade 
cattle is used, 27 pounds or more are needed. The folks in 
New Hampshire can lead us in cattle, but we can give 
them a few hints on feeding. Some good friends of ours 
in Boston chuckle over the butter they get in New Hamp¬ 
shire in June ; but say they : “ We can’t get it in Novem¬ 
ber.” Why not ? New Hampshire Is a dairy State, and 
some of the best butter in the world is made there. When 
the farmer has learned how to compound feeding stuffs he 
may hope to do at Thanksgiving and Christmas what he 
can easily do in June. 
Perhaps this explains why a Pennsylvania butter maker 
can still send 90 cent butter to New York, Boston and 
Newport from 300 common grade cows; while we, poor 
devils, who have to take the milk as other people make it 
for us, must put up with 50 cents. The R. N.-Y. can as¬ 
sure its readers that the butter makers and the milkmen 
of the future will boss the cow feeding as well as the vat 
and churn. Till they can do this, the farmer will always 
churn in hard times. JAMES chessman. 
Sec. New England Dairymen’s Association. 
From a Cheese Maker’s Standpoint. 
1. If the factory makes butter and returns a certain per¬ 
centage (75 to 80 per cent) of the milk delivered in the 
shapeof skim-milk, I say most emphatically Yes / providf d 
the samples are properly taken and the test and calcula¬ 
tions properly and honestly made. As to cheese factories 
or where no skim-milk is returned, I refer to my reply to 
question three. 
2. While the percentage of casein may vary considerably 
in the milk from individual cows, the variation in milk 
from herds (and even in different seasons) is so small that I 
consider it hardly worth while to take it into account from 
a practical standpoint. On the other hand, the most valu¬ 
able solid, the butter-fat, varies so much, not only In milk 
from individual cows, but also in that from herds, that 
it would not do at all to pay for milk according to its 
total solids. 
3. In case of butter factories where the skim-milk is re¬ 
turned pro rata, this is not essential, but strict justice 
would certainly demand it when 
M A the milk is sold or pooled in a 
_cheese factory. The extra casein 
delivered in 150 pounds of three 
^ per cent milk over and above that 
lu • JroSlvk. in 100 pounds of P er cent milk, 
Ilf la 8urely worttl something ! Even 
M though ignorance causes the ma- 
U jority of farmers to undervalue 
it, it is fair to value these extra 
lljjf | 50 pounds of skim-milk at 12>£ to 
Hr 15 cents. But while I have found 
W the solids In the milk In one fac- 
^ tory to vary from 2 3 per cent up 
to 4.7 per cent, the variation in 
honest milk will not be higher 
than what I have found in a great 
number of factories, that is, from 
3 2 to 4 per cent, and this varia¬ 
tion would undoubtedly be re¬ 
duced somewhat, when all temp¬ 
tation to watering or skimming 
the milk is removed by paying by 
the fat test. In this case, the in¬ 
justice done to the patron who 
delivers the poorest milk to a 
cheese factory where it is paid for 
according to its fat contents, 
would not amount to more than 
six cents per 100 pounds, whereas 
r - T AJ with the present system the in- 
■ *; y>: , ; justice to the patron who brings 
the richest milk is never less than 
20 cents per 100 pounds. For this 
reason I am of the opinion that 
while paying by the fat test is not 
__ fully just at a cheese factory, it 
bt> ’ is so much more just than the 
present pooling system, and it 
would improve the quality and price of our cheese so mu»h 
(provided the makers would give up the skimming down 
to the three per cent system) that I, for my part, recom¬ 
mend it. But if we are to pay by the test, and it is not to 
be a farce, it should be done by a person trained for the 
work and not be left to the maker, who is too busy then, 
and will not be apt to take the time necessary to get a 
true average sample, and that is more than half the test. 
If, therefore, the farmers are willing to pay for justice, 
they may as well take the step right out and pay for the 
solids as well, and this can be done with a good lactometer, 
a Babcock tester and a ready reckoner. As to the factory- 
men pushing the paying-by-test system, we can hardly 
expect that; the price paid for making cheese and also 
butter is low enough without going to this extra ex¬ 
pense, and if they will only get a tester, and now and then 
post the result at the weigh can where the patrons may 
see and compare; if they will only explain the test and 
now and then test an individual cow’s milk for the 
patrons, I think they will have done their full duty and 
may leave the rest to time and the patrons’ common sense 
to create a call for and willingness to pay for justice! The 
cheese maker needs a test for his whey, and the butter 
maker for his skim-milk and butter-milk to do away with 
the “ I guess ’’—the bane of good work. J. H. monrad. 
