Vol. LVIII. No. 2561 . 
$1 PER YEAR. 
DR. S. M. BABCOCK. 
THE MAN WHO REVOLUTIONIZED DAIRYING. 
The Famous Test; Its History and Success. 
Old Time Dairying 1 .—Fifteen years ago, I was 
engaged for a season in collecting cream for a cream¬ 
ery located in a small city in a western State. The 
milk was set in “shot-gun” cans, each with a gradu¬ 
ated glass gauge near the top ; the farmers were paid 
according to the number of inches of cream. The 
creamery was in a basement under a harness shop. 
This institution flourished for a brief period, and died 
from lack of patronage. Other attempts were made 
in the adjacent region, but failed for lack of confi¬ 
dence. A trip over the same route to-day shows sev¬ 
eral flourishing creameries, each housed in a commo¬ 
dious building. The same is true in nearly every sec¬ 
tion of the State. There are several reasons for this. 
Probably the main reason is the increased facilities 
for transportation and reduced rates from west to 
east. Western farmers, 20 years ago, could have pro¬ 
duced butter and cheese much cheaper than eastern 
dairymen, but freight rates to eastern markets took 
all the profits. The steady and continual drop in the 
price of corn and pork also induced many to take up 
dairy work. However, in spite of cheap rates and 
cheap pork, it is doubtful whether the butter and 
cheese industry would have been so wonderfully de¬ 
veloped if it had not been for the Babcock test. Read¬ 
ers of The R. N.-Y. interested in dairying are more or 
less familiar with the test, but few have had the op¬ 
portunity to meet Dr. Babcock. 
Dr. Babcock’s Picture.— I asked him whether 
he would tell me something of the origin of the test, 
how it came to -be, etc., and he assured me that he 
would. Dr. Babcock is a man of middle age, of me¬ 
dium height, slight build, with a narrow, thin face. 
Dark eyes tell of kindness, candor and good nature. 
Whether in the class-room, laboratory, or in friendly 
conversation, his voice is pitched in a moderate tone, 
and the words flow smoothly and distinctly. His col¬ 
leagues say of him, “ A wonderfully exact man.” His 
pupils say, “We like Dr. Babcock because he comes 
down to our level.” All who know him say, “A kind¬ 
ly, modest man.” Not locked and barred within the 
closet of self, but willing to be approached at all 
times. His main characteristics then are good nature 
and modesty. He must be a patient and persevering 
man or he could not have worked out the simple prin¬ 
ciples of his test. All understand now how the sul¬ 
phuric acid of a certain strength is used to dissolve 
the casein in the milk, and thus leave the fat free to 
be driven to the top, and measured. In talking with 
such a man, of course we first think of causes which 
led up to his success, therefore the first question natur¬ 
ally was: 
History of the Test.— “How did it come about 
that you started on the Babcock test ? ” 
“ There had been, for years, a growing need of such 
a test. A need of something to avoid the pooling of 
milk and cream at creameries and factories. The 
tendency of the pooling system was toward poorer 
milk. It was found that the yield of cheese from a 
pound of milk was continually diminishing. In a 
short time, the entire factory system would surely 
have gone under, and been replaced by farm dairies 
or some other means of disposing of the milk product. 
Up to the time when I first began work on this prob¬ 
lem, all tests that had appeared had to be handled by 
chemists, and were not adapted to factory work. Mr. 
Short, of this Station, had worked out a test, but it 
was too complicated.” 
“ How long ago did you first think of it ? ” 
' I had seen the need of such a test for many years, 
but had done no work on it until about nine years 
a.g -0 ; at that time, soon after the completion of Short’s 
test, Prof. Henry told me that we muBt have some¬ 
thing simpler, and requested me to try my hand at it.” 
“ Did you start on a different line, and finally reach 
the acid idea by trial ? ” 
“ I started with the material at hand, which was 
Short’s test and Soxhlet’s test. From these, step bv 
step, trial by trial, I advanced to the completion of 
the test. I used alkalies as well as acids, and these 
in combination with ether. At first, I thought I could 
not get along without the ether; others had tried 
acid alone, and failed.” 
“ The impression prevails, Doctor, outside of scien¬ 
tific circles, that you arrived at this by mere chance. 
It was not fool luck then ? ” 
“ No, sir ! ” with emphasis, “it was hard work and 
not luck.” 
“ Do you consider the test perfect ? In what way 
can it be improved ? ” 
“ No, I do not consider the test perfect, but consider 
it entirely practical, and I don’t see now how to im¬ 
prove it. The test has now been in existence eight 
Dr. S. M. BABCOCK. Fig. 44. 
years, and has proved generally satisfactory. The 
only improvements that have been made have been in 
the mechanical end, that is, better machinery has been 
devised for operating it. Attempts have been made 
to improve it, but all have come back to the original 
idea. If an improved test should be brought out, it 
would, probably, be an improvement from the me¬ 
chanical end ” 
14 you expect to offer the publican improved test? 
If so, along what lines will the improvement be 
made ? ” 
am n °t now working on milk-testing lines, and 
have no problems in view in that direction. My time 
at present is occupied with other problems connected 
with dairy work.” 
l’iftects ol til© Test. —“ In a general way, how 
has the test changed the business of dairying ?” 
By making the producer, the farmer, more directly 
responsible for the quality of his product. It has im¬ 
proved the quality of the milk brought to creameries 
—not only in per cent of butter fat, but in cleanliness 
and purity as well. This has come about for two rea¬ 
sons : First, the adoption of the test by creameries 
has stopped adulteration. The temptation to adul¬ 
terate is, probably, as great as ever, but no farmer 
with common sense will pay for hauling water to the 
creamery when he knows that he will receive nothing 
for it. Second, the farmer has secured better cows, 
and given them better care ; with improved care, the 
quality of the milk has improved. Further, the test 
has made it possible for the farmer to test his indi¬ 
vidual cows, and by that means to weed out unprofit¬ 
able ones. In many cases the students in our short 
course have raised the per cent of butter fat in their 
herds very appreciably by using the test.” 
Test by Milk Dealers. —“Apian has been pro¬ 
posed to compel milk dealers to guarantee the per 
cent of fat in their milk; what do you think of the 
plan ?” 
“ I consider it entirely practicable for any reputable 
dealer to guarantee 3% per cent of butter fat in the 
milk handled by him. The truth is, and I have re¬ 
cently had occasion to learn that it is true, the test is 
now used by the dealers that supply large cities with 
milk. I mean that a test may be found in many, if 
not all, of the milk stations in the regions that supply 
the larger cities with milk.” 
“ What use do they make of the test if no guarantee 
is required of the farmers ?” 
“Probably as a check on the farmer,but more than 
likely to be sure that no milk is sent to market that 
tests more than the required standard, or that, on 
the other hand, would render them liable to prosecu¬ 
tion.” 
Do you mean that some of the milk is skimmed ?” 
I mean that it would be very easy for a dealer to 
skim a portion of the daily intake at times when the 
average was largely above the required standard, and 
ship cream as well as milk to market; and there is no 
doubt in my mind that the parties at the other end of 
the line do the same thing. New York City is, prob¬ 
ably, the largest cream-shipping center in the United 
States. Immense quantities of cream are shipped to 
points along the coast, and I doubt whether all of it 
is shipped to New York as cream.” 
But would it be possible for the average milk 
dealer to handle the test with sufficient accuracy to 
enable him to make such a guarantee ?” 
“ Of course it would ! The creamery men do this. 
Tn all the creamery section of the West, the operators 
use the test with satisfaction to both producer and 
employer. Why may not the same thing be done in 
milk stations ? The secret of the whole business is 
to pay the farmer according to the per cent of fat; if 
that be done, there will be no adulteration. Again I 
tell you that the gain to the milk consumer will not 
be wholly in richer milk, but in cleaner and purer 
milk, for the improvement will surely be in these 
directions as well as in the increase of the fat con¬ 
tent.” 
Other Dairy Problems.— “ You spoke of other 
problems a moment ago. Can you give the readers of 
1 he R. N.-Y. an outline of the work in which you are 
engaged at present ?” 
“ In connection with Dr. Russell, of this Station, I 
am working on methods of manufacture, and more 
especially on methods of ripening cheese. The de¬ 
tails of this work we are not prepared to give to the 
public at present. I feel that whatever of value or of 
credit has come from work sent out from here, has 
come from the fact that it has been thoroughly tested 
before being given to the public.” 
“ Will you tell me, Doctor, some of the conditions 
under which the composition of milk varies.” 
“ The composition of milk varies chiefly in the per 
cent of butter fat that it contains. The solids not fat 
are very nearly constant under all conditions in all 
animals. Among natural conditions that affect the 
composition of milks may be mentioned breed charac¬ 
teristics. The variations of the solids not fat, due to 
breeds, are very slight, however, not more than one to 
two-tenths of one per cent in any : ase. As the period 
