Commercial milk plants have employed the sediment test for milk for many years. In fact, the milk sediment test has its place on the milk score card. The amount of sediment is always determined in scoring milk. The test is extremely simple; it consists of passing 1 pint of milk through a sediment tester and catching the sediment present in the milk on a circular pad 1 inch in diameter.

The application of a sediment test to cream, on the other hand, has been attempted only very recently. A test as simple as that for milk is impossible. The cream’s high fat content necessitates warming it to melt the fat so that the sample will filter easily; the variable acidity of cream for butter-making necessitates the use of a neutralizing agent, in many instances in order that the filter pad will not clog. Because of the high fat content of the cream it is imperative to use less than a pint in order to reduce the cost and eliminate the handling of a bulky sample after dilution.