REPORT OF STATE DAIRY' INSPECTOR. 37 



there is something very radically wrong with the system of 

 handling milk in general. Two of our cities have taken steps in 

 the proper direction, in requiring that the milk should be sold 

 in bottles. 



In the city of Portland 183 samples of milk were taken and 

 83, or 45.3 per cent of these were found to contain sediment in 

 some form. This is a slight improvement over the conditions 

 existing there in 19 10, when out of 83 samples taken, 48 or 

 57.8 per cent were reported as containing sediment. The re- 

 quiring of a limit to the germ content of all milk sold in our 

 cities is only a matter of time. Already the Portland Board of 

 Health has taken steps in this direction, a move which I am 

 sure will bring good results, and which sooner or later will be 

 followed by other cities. In other cities the most progressive 

 dairymen have found that the proper way to handle their prod- 

 uct is in bottles, and so they are far ahead of the milk legisla- 

 tion requiring them to do so. Certainly if the men wish to 

 handle the milk in bottles there is no reason why each city 

 should not place such a wish on its ordinance list, for it is a 

 great step in advance towards better milk supplies. This of 

 course insures to the consumer that no dust from the street 

 has entered the milk, but even then the bottling of milk has 

 not entirely solved the dirt question. 



The fact that the amount of sediment in the Portland milk 

 decreased 12.5 per cent in a year, even though this is a small 

 percentage, shows conclusively that results have been obtained 

 by requiring milk to be delivered in bottles. 



That the open milk pail is not conducive to best results was 

 shown by the high bacteria counts from open pail milk exhib- 

 ited at the Central Maine Fair, State Fair at Lewiston and the 

 Dairy Conference in Portland. Sediment in the samples exhib- 

 ited was a common fault, a lack of which should be expected 

 at such times if at all. A study of the entry blanks showed 

 clearly that the open pail milk contained the sediment an.l that 

 it was impossible to strain it out. 



That the percentage of samples showing sediment is so large 

 is to be regretted by all who have the dairy industry at heart. 

 Such conditions should not be charged against dairymen as a 

 class, but against the individuals, and when a progressive dairy- 



