24 agriculture; of maine. 



of dirt in the shape of manure, hair, scales, etc., enters New York 

 City daily in the milk. It is not that kind of dirt of which I 

 wish to speak, but the living dirt in the milk, that is bacteria. 

 Some people have the notion that bacteria are little worms or 

 bugs. They are plants as truly as onions, oaks or apple trees 

 are plants. They are usually thought to be disease producing 

 organisms. Some are, but the most of them are not. Some are 

 extremely helpful in milk, others extremely harmful, and a large 

 share of them, so far as we know, are without effect one way or 

 another. They are omnipresent. They come from the air, from 

 the hands, from the body of the animal, from the clothes of the 

 milkers, from the fodder. It is almost impossible to keep them 

 out, but one can lessen their numbers. There are means of kill- 

 ing them, means of keeping them out, and means of checking 

 their growth. 



And now for five minutes I want to plead with those who 

 are making milk, cream or butter, in the interests of a good 

 cream and butter trade, to endeavor to keep out, to kill and 

 to check the growth of bacteria so far as is practicable. How 

 may these policies of exclusion, slaughter and repression be 

 enforced ? Whitewash in the stables ; sunlight in the barn ; 

 scalding water and steam on the utensils ; seams in the tin pails 

 that are flush or filled with solder ; sawdust, shavings or straw 

 for bedding ; plaster in the gutters ; all of these help to kill out 

 and keep out bacteria. To do these, however, means some work, 

 means some expense, means some thought, but it means every 

 time a better product for butter making and for the cream trade. 

 There is one other way of killing these germs out that is easier 

 than any of the others, and that is by the use of a poison which 

 will kill the bacteria, and may imperil human life. Whenever I 

 can I sound this note of warning, for this infernal poison is being 

 talked and vaunted all through the country, is advertised shame- 

 fully by some of our dairy papers, and, I fear, dairymen and 

 creamerymen are using it widely. I say this here so that those 

 who use it may know what they are doing. They should be 

 answerable to the laws of the State, and certainly will be, if they 

 act knowingly, to the laws of God. This material, which is 

 called preservaline, formaldehyde, formalin, milk sweet, freezine, 

 iceline, etc., will keep milk sweet, will serve in lieu of care, of 

 cleanliness and of ice, does away with the need of pasteurization 



