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Show Creamery Test Is to be Most Thorough (SALT LAKE Dec. 5 Walter M Boyden. state dairy and food commissioner, commis-sioner, was authorized yesterday by the state dairy and food bureau, of which he I? chairman, to employ an additional ad-ditional inspector, for as long a time as may be absolutely necessary' to mike an ln estimation of the complaints com-plaints that bac come to the bureau of ovpr reading and under reading the Babcock test. . "It has bef-n charged, from several localities In the state, and from various va-rious sources, that at times creamery ""ompanles instruct their agents to over-read the Babcock test, which tells the amount of butter fat In n sample of cream or milk." Mr Boyden said. "The result of over-reading, if persisted in. Is that the farmer learns he can get a bettor price for cream from the cream- i cry resorting to this practice then he-fan he-fan from the creamery which tries to live up to the law. The state law -ixcifically makes 11 .i misdemeanor to over-read or under-read the Babcock Bab-cock lest. "A creamery over-reading a Babcock test in any locality might be able to crowd a competitor out of the field YVh-u this was accomplished, of course, it could then reimburse itself, if not strictly honest, by under-reading the test for a time. The over-reading or under-rending of the test Is much harder to discover than a price competition, compe-tition, though It amounts to about the same thing In the end. There is a state law which requires that a creamery cream-ery shall not pay more for butter fat ln rm part of the state than it does in another." When the complaint! were first officially of-ficially called to the attention-of the dairy and food bureau, a meeting was held with the creamery men of the at trhlcb thebatter was thoroughly thor-oughly discussed, including resolutions drawn up at Omaha at a conference of i Ik- fi dt-ial i ral' roimiiis-ion with representatives rep-resentatives of the creameries. The bureau met yesterday to discuss Lhesi resolutions and the general situation situa-tion further, with the result that It was decided to employ a special inspector in-spector to investigate and report on conditions as they actually exist in the state He will check up at arious points in the state from which complaints com-plaints have come, and will endeavor to ascertain if the over-reading 1b act ually going on. On his report will depend largely any further action by the bureau. It la probable that sorue of Hit BUggtS-, BUggtS-, tlonn made at the Omaha conference will bo adopted by the dairy and food bureau, but Just how far it will Co in this direction will depend on the report re-port of the expert and on the state laws limiting the power? of the bureau. |