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1906] 274
cent. of fat will produce one pound of butter, so that if the butter only fetches
one shilling per pound, it represents less than fivepence per gallon for the milk,
and it is therefore of the highest importance to every butter maker to see that
the cows in the herd are producing milk of high quality. The Journal of the
Board of Agriculture might, however, have gone further and pointed out that
it was of even greater importance that the farmer should see that the milk
which he is producing for human consumption shows a proportion of fat as
high as that which is destined for butter. As a rule, in the one case (if the
farmer thinks about it at all) he aims at getting a milk containing 3.25 per
cent. of fat, while in the other he endeavours to get the largest amount possible,
so that the making of butter may give him a return.
There is not much excuse now for farmers continuing to retain cows in
their herds which produce a low ratio of fat through ignorance of the quality
of their milk, because the Board of Agriculture have made arrangements
with most of the Agricultural Colleges as well as with the Agricultural
Departments of the Universities for determining the percentage of butter
fat for a fee of sixpence per sample.
It remains to be seen how far use will be made of this privilege by farmers
with the object of improving the quality of the milk that is intended for human
food.