TESTING AND HANDLING OF MILK AND CREAM 
By R. McCann, Deputy Dairy Commissioner 
Introduction 
The use and understanding of careful, uniform methods of testing 
and handling milk and cream by the producer and receiver has led the 
advance of the dairy industry to higher planes and to broader fields 
wherever practiced. To secure uniform and accurate methods of 
testing and bring about a mutual understanding of the producer’s 
and receiver’s problems has been the aim of this bulletin. 
The dairyman should know the requirements and rules of the 
receiving stations for his own protection and the advancement of his 
industry. The station operator should know and help solve the prob¬ 
lems confronting the producers of the cream which he is handling. 
Co-operation for the advancement of all concerned will work 
wonders in effecting changes of great economic importance to the dairy 
world of Colorado. 
HERD TESTING 
Dairying, when properly conducted, is one of the most profitable 
lines of farming. But as a rule the average dairyman neither knows nor 
suspects the amount of profit or loss from each cow in his herd. It is 
not the large amount of money taken in, but the money that stays in 
the dairyman's pocket, which counts. Every cow must eat whether 
she produces much or little and she can bring no profit to the owner 
until she has first paid for her board. 
To advance in dairying, herd improvement must go on. Elimina¬ 
tion of low producing animals is without doubt the first step toward 
herd improvement, and this elimination cannot be successfully ac¬ 
complished unless records of the milk production of each cow are sys¬ 
tematically kept. 
The only way to know how much a cow produces in a year is to 
weigh her milk at each milking and find its per cent of butter fat by the 
Babcock test. This should be done two days of every month, the mid¬ 
dle two days of each month being preferable. Along with such records 
of production it is at least desirable, if not absolutely essential, that a 
record of food consumed be kept as well. 
To facilitate the tabulating of such tests and weights as are 
necessary for the keeping of records, especially prepared sheets will 
