46 , AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



some consumptive patient who may or may not know that he has 

 the disease. It is true, however, that consumption may be 

 carried through the milk of the cow. It is our duty, therefore, 

 those of us who supply milk for human consumption, to have 

 our cows tested with the tuberculin test and to be very certain 

 that we are sending from our farms a sample of milk absolutely 

 free from the germs of tuberculosis. With the cows properly 

 tested we should bathe them in sunlight every sunny day. It 

 has been my pleasure to visit in Maine, barns where the cows 

 are put along the south side and where the south side itself has 

 one continuous window, letting in the sunlight, bathing the floor 

 in sunlight, saturating the animals with the ex-ray and all other 

 rays of the sun to drive away disease and to keep them healthy. 

 I visited other barns where no sunlight was allowed to enter, 

 just little holes in the wall through which the manure was 

 pitched. These are an abomination. It is impossible to keep 

 any barn sanitary where the floor is not bathed in sunshine each 

 sunny day. So it is with our houses, the deadly day shade is 

 almost as fatal as the deadly nightshade. 



The walls of the barn should be smooth so that they can be 

 whitewashed twice each year. The whitewashing should be 

 done in that barn, but with a spray pump. Whitewash is cheaper 

 than human labor hence a pail of liquid should be carried to the 

 proper place, the necessary material put in it. and sprayed with 

 a good deal of force against the walls and on the ceiling. 



It of course follows that the ceiling shall be smooth, not rough 

 boards laid a few inches apart supporting hay or straw above and 

 letting the dust rattle through. It is true that pure milk can 

 be made in a stable with such a ceiling but that is not the best 

 wav. If possible, cover over the top of the cow stable with a 

 smooth ceiling. Whitewash it once or twice a year. 



The daily program in the stable has much to do with the 

 puritv of the milk. It is assumed that if the air be kept pure, if 

 dust be eliminated, and if foul odors be kept out of the stable 

 at milking time the milk will be pure. It is not true that all 

 milk, as it leaves the udder of the cow. is free from germs. The 

 first milk to be drawn is seldom, if ever, absolutely free from 

 bacteria. Many experiments have shown that the remainder 

 of the mess, after the first few strippings are drawn. Is almost 



