of our pure food laws as well as the jobbers and manufacturers of our own State. The loyal support and the general desire on the part of the manufacturers, jobbers and dealers in this State in all instances to aid this department and to live up to the requirements of the law will ever be remembered with the highest appreciation in my efforts to carry out the administration of the pure food laws of this State. Very respectfully,

A. W. SMITH, Dairy and Food Commissioner.

DAIRY LAWS.

After eleven years' existence of the Dairy and Food Department of Michigan there has been absolutely nothing done towards placing upon our statute books a single effective law looking to the upbuilding, fostering and protection of the dairy industry of this State that is so favorably adapted for dairying, while many other states in the union have sought by every effort in the way of legislation to protect, encourage and benefit such interests from every conceivable standpoint. The fact that Michigan dairy interests are so bereft of all safeguards, protection and encouragement that come through proper legislation is largely due to the failure on the part of those most interested in not making a united effort to secure by legislation the necessary laws looking to the advancement of this great industry, and not until the dairy interests are awakened to this fact will they ever be able to secure any legislation that will be fruitful of results.

At the last session of the Legislature a bill was prepared by this department which passed the Senate, but failed of passage in the House, owing to the fact that it did not reach that body until the closing days of the session, when there was not sufficient time for an intelligent discussion of such an important measure. Such bill was in line with the dairy laws of the leading dairy states in the union. It empowered the Dairy and Food Commissioner, with the consent of the Governor, to appoint instructors possessing technical and practical knowledge of cheese and buttermaking, to examine and inspect cheese and butter factories, etc., attend agricultural fairs, institutes and other meetings to impart information thereat of the most improved methods in the profitable production of milk, and the making of butter and cheese and improving the quality of such products. They were also given power to inspect dairies and enforce the necessary measures to secure the sanitary condition of buildings, premises and utensils, the keeping of cows clean, and all necessary authority to protect the consuming public against filthy and unsanitary dairy products.

The same bill also provided for the licensing of every milk vendor in this State annually. By this means the department would be in touch with all such vendors and thereby very materially aid them from an educational standpoint in the care of milk and all matters pertaining to the handling of such product. The bill carried with it the necessary provisions that where vendors would not comply with the law, the Commissioner might revoke such license until they should fully comply with the requirements. The bill also required the securing of statistics compelling owners and operators of factories to answer all reasonable questions at least once a year when requested by the department to

furnish such facts and figures regarding their business as necessary to assist in making a complete record of the dairy industry of this State.

At the time this measure was before the Senate, there was a division of sentiment as to under which branch of our state government such instruction should be placed, while a majority thought the appointments of instructors should be made by the Governor and the Dairy and Food Commissioner and be entirely under the control of the Commissioner, there was a large element who were inclined to believe the best interests would be subserved by placing the work of instruction under the Experimental Station and Dairy School of our State Agricultural College. After careful consideration of this matter I believe the law should provide that the instructors be appointed by the Dairy and Food Commissioner upon recommendation of the President of the State Agricultural College, the Director of the Experimental Station and the Instructor of the dairy school. This I believe would, to a large extent, have a tendency to remove these appointees from politics, as they would not be then under such conditions mere political protegees of the Governor and Commissioner. There can be no question but that the function of a Dairy and Food Commissioner is police and not an educational office only in so far as the enforcement of the dairy and food laws might bring to the attention of the dealers in foods and the manufacturers of dairy and food products the stubborn facts brought to their attention in the enforcement of the dairy and food laws.

The selection of dairy instructors is an important question and one that should be carefully considered in all of its bearings in order that the best results can be obtained from such appointees. The object in having the President of the State Agricultural College, the Director of the Experimental Station and the Instructor of the dairy school make such selection is that the instructors would then be free from political obligations and could pursue their work without being interfered with instead of being required to devote a large part of their time in rounding up political caucuses and conventions, as is too often the case in dairy and food departments where such appointments are made by request of the Governor. Such instructors should be selected for their ability and technical knowledge and experience in cheese and buttermaking and not because of their achievements in being able to successfully work political conventions, and never will such instructors be of any account to themselves or the dairy interests of this State until they are freed from the truckling subserviency of political obligations. One thing is absolutely certain and that is if this department is to be run along political lines and made a political dumping ground in order to carry out political promises made during campaigns without taking into consideration the qualifications or fitness in the way of technical knowledge or experience that is absolutely necessary in a department of this nature, then there can be no question or doubt but that the important work of selecting and instructing dairy inspectors and instructors and their control should be placed under the charge of the Experimental Station and dairy school of our State Agricultural College. In this method there would be more or less danger of selections being made from favorite students of the college, who might not possess the highest qualifications for such work, but be selected because of favoritism. Even then they would be preferable to the political selections made by a Governor who is always loaded down

with political promises. I think all will agree, even those who have not fully settled the question in their own minds as to under which branch of our State government dairy inspectors and instructors should be placed, that they should be removed from the obligations of political recognition in appointments of this nature.

In connection with the dairy interests of this State, one thing ought not to be overlooked, and that while it is essentially necessary that every effort be made in the way of giving buttermakers, cheesemakers, instructors and inspectors a thorough education in our dairy school in order that the very best results can be obtained in producing the highest quality of cheese and butter from our factories and farms, the important work of assisting the farmers in the best and most improved methods of milk production ought not to be lost sight of.

The Deputy Dairy and Food Commissioner should by law be required to be a practical and expert dairyman, and while perhaps not possessing the necessary knowledge that an instructor should have in the technical work of butter and cheesemaking, he at least should be able to give general instructions as to sanitary conditions and other knowledge in promoting the development of the dairy interests of this State.

DAIRY PRODUCTS.

During the last four years there has been a very noticeable increase made in the production of cheese and butter in this State. The output of dairy butter for the year 1899 amounted to 60,051,998 pounds, and 12,122,520 pounds of creamery butter were produced from the factories the same year, while in 1903 the output of dairy butter from the farms in this State amounted to 65,000,000 pounds. The amount of creamery butter produced for the year 1903 amounted to 26,687,272 pounds. In 1899 the output of cheese from the factories of this State amounted to 10,422,582 pounds. In 1993, 14,618,569 pounds.

The above statistics show that during the last four years an increase has been made of 4,948,002 pounds in dairy butter, 14,564,752 pounds in creamery butter and 4,195,987 pounds in cheese. With proper legislation carrying with it the encouragement and support that can be given the dairy interests of this State by a united effort of all those closely associated with this interest there is no reason why a substantial gain should not be made annually in the increased production of dairy products in this State.

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CHEESE.

The following table gives the production of cheese, in pounds, in the thirty counties in this State where the 120 factories are located for the year 1903:

During the last year the.department has given, as far as possible with its limited force, special inspection of the milk supply in the different cities of the State. Nearly every city has been carefully inspected in the Lower Peninsula, and this year's inspections show that the efforts of a year ago have been fruitful of results, as the milk tests made of hundreds of samples of milk taken up in the different cities show a