Part 4

It was arranged to give the products exhibited, as well as the dairy farms in the contest, the most careful examination possible, so that the final results would be beyond question; and it may be said that the dairymen generally expressed themselves as well pleased with the absolute fairness with which the contest was conducted. The judges were C. B. Lane, assistant chief of the Dairy Division; Ivan C. Weld, assistant dairyman, Dairy Division, and Dr. C. W. Eddy, chief of the inspection division, public health department, Cleveland.

MEDALS.

As previously stated, the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce offered medals to the dairymen. This feature increased the interest and stimulated keen competition. A gold and a silver medal were awarded for the two samples of milk scoring highest, and the same for cream. Medals were also awarded to the five dairy farms scoring the highest.

LETTER TO DAIRYMEN.

In order to bring the matter before the dairymen the following letter was sent to about 2,000 milk producers in Cleveland and vicinity:

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY, Washington, D. C., March 5, 1907.

DEAR SIR: The Dairy Division of the United States Department of Agriculture is arranging for a dairy meeting and milk and cream contest to be held in the Chamber of Commerce hall, Cleveland, Ohio, March 16, 1907, in cooperation with the municipal sanitation committee of the Chamber of Commerce. The object of the meeting is to discuss with the dairymen problems relating to the production and handling of market milk and cream. A special feature of this meeting will be an exhibit of milk and cream from the dairymen supplying Cleveland. These products will be carefully analyzed by experts from the Department and scored for flavor, composition, acidity, general appearance, etc. There will be three classes in this contest, as follows:

Class I. Market milk (raw), two prizes (gold and silver medals).

Class II. Market cream (raw), two prizes (gold and silver medals).

Class III. Dairy farms, five prizes (gold and silver medals).

After being scored, all the milk and cream will be placed on exhibition, accompanied by the score. Questions regarding the scoring of the various products will be cheerfully answered. Prizes will be awarded to those scoring highest in each class. The whole object of the meeting and of the exhibits is educational and entirely for the benefit of the dairymen.

All dairymen supplying milk or cream to the city of Cleveland are invited to exhibit in one or all of the above classes, in accordance with the conditions on the entry blanks inclosed herewith.

In addition to prizes offered for the milk and cream exhibited, prizes will also be given in Class III to the five dairy farms scoring the highest. Only those dairymen, however, having exhibits of milk or cream will be entitled to have their dairy farms scored and to compete for these prizes. If you desire to compete for the dairy-farm prize, do not fail to answer question 5 relating to this on the entry blank provided for milk and cream.

If the milk and cream you handle are of high quality it should be of interest and value to you to enter the contest. If your product is not of good quality you ought to know it. The defects, whatever they are, will be pointed out to you by those qualified to make a careful examination.

Come prepared to ask questions and to get all you can out of this meeting.

Respectfully, yours,

ED. H. WEBSTER. Chief of Dairy Division.

SCORING THE MILK AND CREAM.

The scoring was done on the basis of score cards, similar to those used at the National Dairy Show already referred to. The standard for perfect milk in the present contest, however, called for a much smaller number of bacteria, and the standard for fat was also made higher. The judges experienced but little difficulty in scoring the various samples; in fact it was demonstrated that milk and cream can be graded as accurately as butter or cheese by the use of the score card, although the system is comparatively new.

All the milk and cream entered in the contest was produced March 11 and shipped to a cold-storage house in Cleveland. The scoring was done March 14, when the product was three days old.

The score cards used in this contest are presented herewith:

SCORE CARD FOR MARKET MILK.

Exhibitor: ---- ----. Address: ----, ----.

NUMERICAL SCORE. -------+-------------+----------+---------+---------------+-------- | | | | Appearance of | Perfect Flavor,| Composition,| Bacteria,| Acidity,| package and | score, 40. | 25. | 20. | 5. | contents, 10. | 100. -------+-------------+----------+---------+---------------+-------- | | | | | Judge’s | | | | | score. -------+-------------+----------+---------+---------------+-------- DESCRIPTIVE SCORE. ----------+----------------+------------+----------+--------------- Flavor. | Composition. | Bacteria. | Acidity. | Package and | | | | contents. ----------+----------------+------------+----------+--------------- Excellent.|Perfect. |Perfect. |Perfect. |Perfect. Good. | | | | Fair. |Fat, ---- |Total, ----.|---- |Foreign matter. Bad. | per cent. | | per cent.| Flat. |Solids not fat, |Liquefiers, | |Metal parts. Bitter. | ---- per cent. | ----. | | Weedy. | | | |Unattractive. Garlic. | | | | Silage. | | | | Manure. | | | | Smothered.| | | | Other | | | | taints. | | | | .... | | | | .... | | | | ----------+----------------+------------+----------+--------------- Remarks: ----. Date: ----. ---- ----, Judge.

DIRECTIONS FOR SCORING.

FLAVOR.

If rich, sweet, clean, and pleasant flavor and odor, score perfect (40). Deduct for objectionable flavors and odors according to conditions found.

COMPOSITION.