19 
Figuring Butterfat in Milk 
Will you tell me how many pounds of butter there 
are in 100 lbs. of four per cent milk? IIow much will 
TO lbs. cream, containing 28 per cent butterfat, be 
worth with butter at 58 cents per pound? Will you 
show me how to figure the pounds of butter from the 
milk and cream? f. h. 
New Yoi’k. 
These frequent questions about the percentages of 
fat in milk and butter indicate a healthy tendency 
on the part of dairymen to learn all the facts, and 
we go into details in order to make the important 
subject clear. 
In 100 lbs. of 4 per cent milk there are, of course. 
4 lbs. pure butterfat: but commercial butter may 
contain only 82.5 per cent pure butterfat The other 
17.5 per cent is mostly water, with a small percentage 
of salt and curd. Since one pound of butter con¬ 
tains only .825 lbs. of pure fat. in 4 lbs. fat, we 
would have 4 .825 = 4.84 lbs. butter in 100 lbs. 
4 per cent milk, assuming that the full legal limit 
of impurities are present, and no more. 
In 70 lbs. cream containing 28 per cent butterfat 
you have .28 x 70 = 19.00 lbs. fat, and since one 
pound of butter contains .825 lbs. of fat in 19.60 lbs. 
fat. you have 19.60 -4- .825 = 23.7 lbs. butter, with 
the same assumptions as before. 
At 58 cents per pound 23.7 lbs. of butter will come 
to .58 x 23.7 = 13.74. 
This is the full amount of butterfat in the cream. 
In practice you will leave some fat in the milk and 
cream, and the amount of the loss will depend on 
the machinery and the skill used by the butter- 
maker. The fat lost, in skimming varies from .01 
(1-100) of one per cent to .5 (*4) of one per cent, 
The amount of butter in excess of the amount of 
fat is called “over-run.” In the above case the 
over-run would be .84 of a pound of butter in 100 
lbs. of 4 per cent milk. There would be 4 lbs. but¬ 
terfat and .84 (84-100) of a pound of water, salt 
and curd. 
To find the exact over-run in any given case, first 
find the percentage of fat in milk by the Babcock 
test. Multiply this percentage by the weight of milk 
to find the weight of fat in the milk. Weigh the 
butter when worked and salted. The difference be¬ 
tween the weight of butter and the weight of fat 
will be the over-run. If this over-run is divided by 
the weight of fat we will have the percentage of 
over-run on the fat basis. 
As a basis for estimating prices, no allowance for 
waste need be made, because the milk is all con¬ 
sumed and the consumer gets the benefit of all the 
fat. 
The Land Drainage Amendment 
At the last election in New York State the people 
voted on what is called the “drainage amendment” 
to the State constitution. The following is a fail- 
abstract of this amendment. At the election 718,150 
votes were cast in favor and 590,134 against: 
Section 7. When private property shall be taken for 
any public use, the compensation to be made therefor, 
when such compensation is not made by the State, shall 
be ascertained by a jury, or by the supreme court with 
or without a jury, but not with a referee, or by not less 
than three, commissioners appointed by a court of record, 
as shall be prescribed by law. Private roads may be 
opened in the manner to he prescribed by law; but in 
every case the necessity of the road and the amount 
of all damage to be sustained by the opening thereof 
shall be first determined by a jury of freeholders, and 
such amount, together with the expenses of the proceed¬ 
ing, shall be paid by the person to be benefited. [Gen-, 
end.] The use of property for the drainage of swamp 
oi agricultural- lands is declared to he a public use. and 
general laws may be passed permitting the owners or 
occupants of swamp or agricultural lauds to construct 
and maintain for the drainage thereof, necessary drains, 
ditches and dykes upon the lands of others, under proper 
restrictions, on making [and with] just compensation, 
and such compensation together with the cost of such 
drainage may he assessed, wholly or partly, against any 
property benefited thereby; but no special laws shall be 
enacted for such purposes. , . . . . 
The Legislature may authorize cities to take more 
land and property tlmii is needed for actual construc¬ 
tion in the laying out. widening, extending or relocating 
parks, public places, highways or streets, provided, 
however, that the additional land and property so 
authorized to be taken shall he no more than sufficient 
to form suitable building sites abutting on such park, 
public place, highway or street. After so much of the 
land and property has been appropriated for such park, 
public place, highway or street as is needed there oi. 
the remainder may be sold or leased. 
Occupations of New York Legislators 
The Now York Legislature, which meets on Jan¬ 
uary 1, will cover, in its members, a wide range of 
occupations. If its members were put off togethei 
on a desert island, they would be cared for, from 
the doctor to the undertaker, but a good many of 
the lawyers would be obliged to dig in order to live. 
The occupations given by the 51 Senators are as 
follows: 
Senate— Merchants, 2; lawyers, 2G; real estate, 5; 
^hatter, 1; druggist. 1; manufacturer, 1; account¬ 
'll RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
ant, 1; architect, 1; bankers, 3; business, 1; civil 
engineer, 1; near farmer, 1; college professor, 1; 
contractor, 1; farmer, 1; insurance, 1; bookkeeper, 1. 
Thus we see that the lawyers have, as usual, a 
clear majority of the Senate. The one man who 
calls himself a farmer is Charles J. Hewitt of Locke. 
In the Assembly of 150 members we find the 
following list of occupations: Mechanic, 1;. steam- 
fitter. 1: lawyers. 49; machinery dealer, 1; news¬ 
papermen, 4; shoemakers, 2; real estate. 10; farmers. 
portant resolutions were passed, showing where the 
balance of the farmers of this .State stand on leading 
questions of the day. 
One of the first points made was that Samuel Gom- 
pers does not speak for the 700.000 farmers of this 
State when he urges the continued operation of rail¬ 
roads by the Government in the name of wage workers 
and farmers. Prompt return of the railroads to their 
owners was demanded by this representation, which 
included practically every county of the State. Rea¬ 
sonable returns on the value of the property and reason¬ 
able transportation fees were to be made possible when 
the roads should be returned, according to the recom¬ 
mendation. 
19; near farmers, 6; tailor, 1; merchants, 5; insur¬ 
ance, 8; undertaker, 1; clerks. 4; dentist, 1; manu¬ 
facturers, 5; engineers, 2; launderer, 1; contrac¬ 
tors. 2; investigator, 1; news agent, 1; architect, 1; 
builders, 2; coal dealer, 1; fruitgrower, 1; busi¬ 
ness. 5; auctioneer, 1; salesmen. 2; teachers. 2; 
advertising, 1; managers, 2; hotelkeeper. 2: retired, 
1 : printer. 1 ; doctor, 1; banker. 1 ; bricklayer, 1. 
Nineteen men call themselves farmers, but we 
doubt if more than six of them could pass the ex¬ 
amination of the Farm Bureau in order to hold of¬ 
fice. A “near farmer” is one who may own a farm, 
but has some other business from which he makes 
his living. There are, however, several actual 
fanners who will be heard from this year. There 
are two women. Marguerite L. Smith of New York, 
a teacher, and Dr. Elizabeth V. Gillette of Schenec¬ 
tady. 
Rochester Dairymen Losing Money 
The Rochester milk investigation under the direction 
of Dr. Charles E. North, is nearly finished, results of 
which indicate that the farmer in the Rochester terri¬ 
tory has been losing an average of 85 cents per 100 
lbs., or l.S cents per quart, on all his milk produced 
for the year ending May 1, 1919. Charging interest at 
six per cent and his own estimate of the value of his 
labor the survey shows he actually worked for less 
than 11 cents per hour. The results are particularly 
interesting because the survey was conducted by a city 
committee for the purpose of reducing if possible the 
cost of milk to the consumer. 
The cost of distribution figures have not yet been 
completely summarized, but figures thus far given out 
show that the Rochester distributor is handling milk on 
a small margin of three mills per quart. It is un¬ 
fortunate. however, that the city investigation covered . 
only milk, as practically all dealers handle milk pro¬ 
ducts. such as cream, skim-milk, “blended” cream, but¬ 
termilk, ice cream, etc. Some state frankly that there 
is more money in cream and by-products than milk dis¬ 
tribution. An investigation covering the entire business 
would have been more satisfactory from the producers’ 
and consumers’ point of view. 
About 20 per cent of the cows in the Rochester terri¬ 
tory produce less than 5.000 lbs. per year. This repre¬ 
sents 12 per cent of the milk supply. Seventeen and a 
half per cent of the cows produce over 8,000 lbs., aggre¬ 
gating 24 per cent of the total supply. Only about six 
per cent of the cows—approximately 700—produce over 
9.000 lbs. per year. The need of severe culling and 
better breeding is very apparent. 
r l’he table below indicates that the farmer lost over 
S4 cents per 100 lbs., or 1.8 cents per quart. Tffie 
average price received was 83.35 per 100. or 7.2 cents 
per quart. It cost him. however, $4.19 per 100, or 
about 9 cents per quart. 
The herds with high production per cow and above 
the average in size of herd were paying the best—that 
is, they were losing the farmer the least money. No 
group of farmers, according to the statistics, received 
the cost of production. The lack of silos, or provision 
for succulent feed, poor individuality of cows and pos¬ 
sibly less care caused the Bliss farmers in Wyoming 
County on cheaper land to make less than dairymen 
much nearer to Rochester. 
Volume of business and high production are essential. 
The farmer with 19 cows or less produced milk at an 
average cost of 85.22 per 100. Farmers with herds 
between 20 and 30 cows produced at 84.20 per 100. 
while farmers with large herds of 30 or more produced 
at 83.47. Even they lost 12 cents per 100. 
The farmers need 81 per 100 over present prices to 
make dairying at all profitable. The problem is a 
serious one to both producer and consumer. The ten¬ 
dency to sell out herds is apparent among some farmers 
in the Rochester district. If the consumer receives an 
adequate supply of milk dairying must be made profit¬ 
able. A table showing costs and receipts is given below : 
TABLE SHOWING SUMMARY OF COSTS OF PRODUCTION' OX 
141 FARMS—ROCHESTER DISTRICT. 
MAY 1. 191S. TO MAY 1. 1919. 
Depreciation on cows. 
Interest on cows at 6%. 
Grain and other concentrates. 
Succulent feed. 
Hay and other dry forage. 
Total feed except pasture.. 
Interest oh feed supplies at 0% 
Pasture . 
Bedding . 
Human labor. 
Horse labor . 
Use of buildings. 
Use of equipment. 
Bull service. 
Miscellaneous costs ......... 
Total cost. 
Returns, except wholesale milk 
Net cost (difference).. 
Price received . 
Loss . 
Per Cwt. 
Per Qt. 
.0756 
.00163 
.1241 
.00267 
1.0721 
.02305 
.6805 
.01463 
.6048 
.01300 
2.3574 
.05068 
.1417 
.00090 
.2424 
.00521 
.1651 
.00355 
1.2116 
.02605 
.0975 
.00210 
.1422 
.00306 
.0791 
.00170 
.0351 
.00075 
.1219 
.00262 
4.6937 
.10092 
.4972 
.01069 
4.1965 
.09023 
3.3550 
.07214 
.8415 
.01809 
LEWIS A. 
TOAN. 
Federated Farm Bureau Meeting 
At one .if the important farmers’ meetings of the 
year in Syracuse last week, the two-day session of 
the State Federation of Farm Bureaus, several im- 
Other recommendations were that Congress should 
tax imported beans so as to protect the home industry; 
that Congress pass a pnre-food law which will require 
all fabrics to be stamped to show the material of whch 
they are made; that the State Legislature and execu¬ 
tive officials give proper consideration to a program for 
the completion of needed improvements at the State 
Fair Grounds at the earliest possible moment, either 
by bond issue or appropriation ; that it is the purpose 
of farmers to co-operate with the State College of 
Agriculture on a sound and educational program of 
local work: favoring enactment of the Capper bill to 
permit collective bargaining of farmers; and demanding 
adequate representation on all food investigating com¬ 
missions,, 
A resolution was tabled expressing confidence in the 
Department of Farms and Markets, as it was so soon 
after Commissioner Battle’s report as to savor of poli¬ 
tics. 
A program for 1920 covering seven sections of the 
federation’s activities was discussed and adopted. It 
covers fields of organization, education, legislation, mar¬ 
keting and transportation, and demanded a repeal of 
the daylight saving statute now on our books. Better 
food legislation, severer penalties for food adulteration, 
opposition to health insurance and more stringent laws 
against trespassing were included on the legislative pro¬ 
gram. 
Officers were elected for the ensuing year with few 
changes from last year’s official list. S. L. Strivings 
of Wyoming County is president; H. E. Babcock of 
Ithaca, secretary; II. C. McKenzie, treasurer. Direc¬ 
tors to the American Federation of Farm Bureaus are: 
Mr. Strivings. F. M. Smith of Otsego, Mr. McKenzie 
and Elwood Titus of Nassau County. M. G. F. 
The Delaware School Law; the Grange 
Favors It 
Referring to your editorial relative to the new school 
law of Delaware, you might be interested to know what 
action the Delaware State Grange took upon this sub¬ 
ject at its forty-fifth annual session in Dover, Decem¬ 
ber 9. 10 and 11. The committee on education made 
the following reports, and the reports were adopted : 
“There is no subject in Delaware that is more dis¬ 
cussed at present than education. Now, when we have 
a chance to get better schools, something for which we 
have always asked, and worked, it seems that many of 
us are not willing to support them. It is unfortunate 
that this increase in taxes for better schools should 
coincide with the increase that comes from the depre¬ 
ciated dollar of this year. That the latter alone would 
have more than doubled taxes is lost sight of behind the 
fact that the better school conditions call for money. 
Statistics tell ns that we have been sorely in need of 
a changed school system in Delaware. Now that it is 
within our grasp, do not let us turn it down. We 
earnestly recommend that we declare ourselves in favor 
of the school law and that, we give it our undivided 
support. 
“In the new school code adopted by this State we 
have a broad foundation laid upon which the Grange 
should assist in erecting an educational structure that 
will provide the necessary training for future teachers, 
as well as giving the child of today his or her chance. 
After passing through a 12-year school course under the 
tutelage of the class of teachers demanded by the 
present code, and supplementing the knowledge thus 
obtained by the training along technical lines made 
so easy of acquirement through the co-operation of 
Delaware College, even a young teacher may be of some 
benefit to the school over which she presides. At the 
present time, partly because of the lack of trained 
teachers, a great many of the children of our State are 
at the mercy of instructors who are themselves totally 
unprepared and inefficient, many of them not having 
had the benefits of even high school courses. In such 
cases the children are merely wasting their time, or 
gaining wrong ideas that will have to he revised. 
“Under the provisions of the code in which the re¬ 
quirements for beginning teachers are comparatively 
low. in order to maintain the position and receive the 
increased emoluments a teacher will be required to 
receive additional training, which in itself necessitates 
constant contact with professional ideas and constant 
broadening and strengthening of professional power. 
“Under the provisions of the code in which the re¬ 
education meant a financial outlay that placed it beyond 
the reach of the average boy or girl from a farm home. 
Under the present system every child, regardless of 
financial status, creed or color, stands an equal chance 
with every other child. When this condition is fulfilled 
a long stride will have been made toward the goal of 
good citizenship, placing the coming men and women 
of the State upon a plane where they can proudly lift 
their heads and say. ‘I am a citizen of Delaware.’ 
“The committee recommends that a vote of thanks 
be extended to Mr. Pierre S. du Pont for his personal 
interest and generous efforts in behalf of the children of 
this State. 
“The committee heartily concurs in the recommenda¬ 
tion of the Worthy Master that we declare ourselves in 
favor of the school law and give it our earnest support.” 
TIIE OPINION OF A FARMER 
School taxes under the new school code are being 
paid this month to save a discount of five per cent, 
which will be added on if not paid before January 1. 
School taxes have increased several-fold under the new 
school laws. The tax on a cevtaiu farm and stock 
kept on the same five years ago was $0. This year on 
the same farm and amount of stock it was $74.95. The 
advocates of the new code tell us our schools will be 
better, but many fail to see how that can be when in 
a number of eases the same teachers have been employed 
at the same schools and at the same salary. A large 
number of our rural residents declare they will support 
no candidate for either house of the General Assembly 
who will not pledge himself to vote to repeal the new 
school code, regardless of party politics. C. E. 
