66 STORRS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 
QUALITY OF MILK AFFECTED BY COMMON DAIRY 
PRACITGHS: 
BY W. A. STOCKING, JR. 
—__ 6 + eo 
The production of market milk is the most important branch of 
the dairy industry in Connecticut. According to the United 
States census of 1900 the annual production of milk in Connec- 
ticut amounts to 287,372,748 quarts, representing the product 
of something over 132,000 cows. About 35 per cent. of this 
milk is manufactured into butter and cheese while the remain- 
ing 65 per cent. is used as milk and cream. These figures 
serve as an indication of the importance of the milk industry 
in our state. While quite a percentage of the milk produced 
in the state is shipped to other states for consumption, princi- 
pally to New York, Providence and Boston, a large part of it 
is consumed in the cities and villages in our own state. This 
being so, any problems relating to the quality of the milk pro- 
duced should be of interest to both the producers and the con- 
sumers. For some years the state authorities have carefully 
looked after the chemical quality of the milk sold throughout 
the state with the result that milk of poor chemical quality has 
been practically driven from the market. The consumer is 
also protected against the use of chemical preservatives so that | 
milk users need have very little fear of being defrauded either 
by a low content of fat and solids or by the use of preservatives. 
It is probably safe to say that the cream and butter-fat content 
of Connecticut milk averages as high as that of any state. The 
nearness of the producers to good markets also reduces the 
temptation to use preservatives. The production of milk from 
animals suffering from contagious diseases is also carefully 
guarded against by state laws and inspection. It has been, 
however, only during the last few years that any attention has 
been paid to the sanitary conditions under which milk has been 
produced and handled. With our increase in knowledge of the 
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