The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1900-06-21
Dairy Meeting.
Two Days Session of Representatives
of Maine Board of Agriculture at
Grange Hail. Skowhegan.

TWO udys meeting WIS ne1u I'D orange
Hall, under the auspices of the Maine
Board of Agriculture, devoted to praeti-
cal instruction in darying.
Secretary Mckeen was present, also
Ansel Holway, member of the Board Tor
Somerset who made the arrangements
for the session and was active in their
execution.
Order of exercises were substantial.
ly as given in advance in the REPORTER,
several weeks ago, and as otherwise
advertised. The lettings were for
instruction and scientific exempliticatipn
of certain phases of the dairy business.
and were schools of instruction and dem
onstration rather than meetings in
general sense.
The first day cream was separated
from the fresh milk as ii was brought in
and it was "started" for use In the churn
the second day. This was explained
and demonstrated while the process of
separation and rpening of the cream
was in operation by Prof. &. M. Gowell,
Dairy Instructor. at the University of
Maine. Secretary McKeen also gave
brief talk on "Intelligent dairy prac-
tice."
Thursday evening Mrs. Sprague
Taylor of Fairfield Center, gave an in.
teresting address upon the important
subject, domestic Economy" While
speaking in general way aud effective
ly upon home making and household
duties, the preparation, cooking and
serving of food were particularly dwelt
upon. She gave at length her method
of making bread, stating infinitely the
ingredients used and process pursued.
After the address was concluded or
portunity was given for inquiries of the
speaker and discussion of methods,
which were INDUCED in by several
persons, and remarks were made by
Secretary Mckeen bearing upon the
relative value of certain articles of food
The attendance was not as large,
Thursday, rs it should have been but on
Friday, there was decided Improvement
In this respect.
SeparatOrs and churns were both in
operation Friday and the addresses by
Prof. Gowell and Hon. r. w. Ellis If
Emblem were intensely interesting.
The Babcock Milk Tester was in oper-
alton both days and about $50 samples
were tested during the two days.
This practical school in dairying WAS
much appreciated by those who gave it
their time and attention and the pro-
cesses and explanations must be of
great utility to all engaged in producing
milk, cream and butter.
Following is Secretary McKeen's Off
cial report of the meeting:
The two days meeting for demon
stratve dairy work held at Skowhegan,
was successfully carried through. The
severe rain of Thursday prevented many
people from attending; Notwithstanding
this, there WAS fair attendance of
representative dairyman present, every
one of whom came to the meeting for
the purpose of learning and for the
interchange of ideas. The morning of
Thursday was devoted to setting up the
machinery, and separating the cream
for churning. Two separators were run
and Is gallons of milk from nearby
dairymen was separated and the cream
placed ut the proper temperature for
rtpening. Prof Gowell txplane in
detail the process OF ripening by the
,,f at -.
McKeen was kept busy with the testing
of samples of milk, about 40 of when
were tested during the session. Prof.
Gowell spoke in the afternoon, demon
strating further the practical work If
dairying and in the evening Mrs. f. E..
). Taylor of Fail field Center gave an
interesting lecture on Domestic Science.
This lecture brought out quite an amount
Of discussions and questions, in which all
were deeply Interested The morning OF
Friday the churning begun. II had been
divided into two lots, one of which had
been thoroughly pasturized. After the
hutter had been churued and printed by
Mr.. Percy Lowell from the farm of the
University of Maine at Orono, it was
submitted to the audience for inspection.
There was a manifest difference in the
JudltJ vi tut DuLttT lToIu Tie phSl uTlIeu
and unpasturized cream. While both
were pronounced first class that from
the PASTURE d cream had II much hefter
appearance, with better grain aud fl vor.
Ii was considered quite remarkable that
butter of such flavor ard general Ap.
pearance could be secured ut n public
meeting. 1t could, of course, only be
done by a strict observance OF all Of The
rules governing such work
The milk WAS weighed and sample
taken for testing. The butter WIS care
fully weighed and comparisons made
between the result as obtained from the
churn and the tester. and it was found
they were practically alike, there being
no apprecia BILE difference in the amount
of butter obtained and that called for by
the tests. The test of the skinned milk
from the separators showed very clean
work. Some OF the tests OF SKINNED
milk from deep can setting showed quite
large amount of fat, and the necessity
for The use Of the siphon in the skim
ming The sample drawn without the
use of the siphon tested flve.tenths' of
one per cent nf fat, and the other two
tenths. In the afternoon Prof. Gowell
again addressed the audience upon dairy
matters, devoting most of the time to
the consideration of the Maine bred
Jersey.
Good VIII Commencement.
The exercises of Commencement