Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1894-06-21

Many Of the most advanced and pro-
! gresSiye creamery managers have been
| thinking for some time about the Bah
! cock test as a means Of determining
! what shall be paid to patrons in cream
| gathering creameries, and some of the
| experiment stations have been doing
| pioneer work in experiments and in
vestigatiOns. The Connecticut station
| has done some excellent work in this
| respect, and has recently issued a val
! liable bulletin giving summary of
| the results.
The fact is we'll known to those who
! have investigated the subject that
| there is much difference in the butter
| value of spaces of cream, and that,
/ therefore. the space system has its dis
! advantages. The farmer must not be
! SO radical as to denOunce the system,
! because it has done excellent work IN
| times past, and through lack of any
! thing better has been of wonderful
! advantage to the farmer. We always
! like to speak we'll Of the bridge that
carries us over the stream. But, on
! the other hand, it is not wise to be
dull to any faults in the construction
! of the bridge or any weakness in its
! composition. The space" system hay
! inc done excellent service is now
! shown by modern study to have GER
! tain inaccuracies. One space" is
/ not always like another space" and
/ paying farmers by the space" makes
| that arbitrary measurement the sole
/ end and aim of the farmer rather
) than the production Of butter fats.
| In using the Babcock test the funda-
! mental essential is that the product to
| be tested shall be fairly sampled, and
this has, to many careful thinkers,
/ been an apparent element of difficulty
/ in applying the BabcoCk test to cream
! gathering creameries, because cream
! is so thick that error seemed to be
! possible, and if so, it would be more
manifest in its results in dealing with
! a product which contains heavy per
! cent, of fat,
In the work done by the Connect
i cut station this trouble was obviated
| by the use of a brass tube twenty-five
! inches long and SIG Of an inch bore.
| The cream to be tested was first pour
| ed from one can to another so as to
! be mixed as we'll as possible, and then
! this tube was lowered into a can and
a sample taken, which included cream
from the top, bottom and center of
! the can The cream from this tube
> was run into a small jar, to which
was added a small amount of bichrO-
mate Of potash as a preservative.
This was done every day, and at the
end of the week a sample was taken
from the jar Of samples gathered dur
ing the week. which proved to be
reasonably accurate for purposes Of
the test.
| BY using the tube different amounts
of cream were obtained from different
! cans in proportion to the whole
! amount of cream in the can. and this
SO eQualized any error which might
arise from taking samples represent
ing different quantities of cream. By
this arrangement, if a patron furnish
ed twice as as much cream today as
he did Yesterday the sample drawn
! from today'S cream was twice as much
as yesterdays, and if there was any
difference in the quality of the cream
/ on the two days this method of sam
ping would make due account of the
+ difference in the composite sample.
! After sampling. the test is made in
/ the ordinary way with the BabcOck
! tester. The remainder of the work is
a matter Of bookkeeping, for multiply
ing the result of the test by the num-
Der of pounds of cream furnished
shows exactly how much butter fat
each patron furnishes, and the pro-
portion of that to the whole amount
of fat furnished shows the proper
Tomato amount of the whole mouey
which he will receive.
The bulletin before named gives a
number of table results showing the
variation between payment by the
space and by the actual test. Thirty
three tests of cream from one gather
ing showed a variation in the quality
Of the cream of from 5.12 spaces to the
pound up to as high as 500 spaces.
But of the thirty-three tests nineteen
Of the patrons would receive more
money by the Babcock test than they
would by paying by the space. and
fourteen would receive less. The eX-
tremes of difference were very marked.
One patron would receive twenty-three
per cent. more by the BabcOck test
than he would by payment by the
space. while another would receive
twenty per cent less. Thirty-four
tests of cream from one gathering at
another creamery showed a range in
quality Of cream OF from sol spaces
to a pound to Hip spaces per pound.
In this case fifteen patrons would re-
ceive more money by the Babcock
test system and eighteen less. The
man whose cream required 11.72
spaces to the pound would receive
forty-seven per cent. less than he
would if paid by the space system.
while the man whose cream was so
rich as to require only five spaces to
the pound would receive twenty-six
per scent. more by the Babcock test
than by the space system.
A record of the tests of composite
samples representing the cream gath
cred in one week showed a range in !
quality Of from 5.25 spaces to the :
pound of butter up to 992 spaces to
the pound. For this weeks work thir- ;
teen patrons would receive more by
hn Doh IL +ac 4hny hoy (