cattle; commissione;rs' re;port. 245 



hundred and thirty-five pure blood cattle, out of which one hun- 

 dred and sixty have been found diseased and destroyed out of 

 one hundred and thirty-six Maine herds, and thirty out of for- 

 eign herds. Total, one hundred and ninety. 



About March first \of this year the Portland Board of Health 

 called the attention of the commissioners to the health of the 

 herds -then supplying Portland with milk and cream. They com- 

 plained somewhat, by saying they did not think the herds sup- 

 plying Portland with milk had received the attention they should 

 have received within the last few years. They were told by 

 the commissioners that Portland had been treated the same as 

 all the other sections of the State. They always answered to all 

 applications made and took care of all animals found diseased, 

 but had never used arbitrary methods and had never ordered 

 the testing of any herds furnishing milk to Portland or any. 

 other city in the State, and that the appropriation made by the 

 last legislature was entirely exhausted and it would be a hard- 

 ship to the farmers, if any amount of cattle were found to be 

 diseased, to wait until the next legislative meeting for their pay. 

 The Board seemed to be fair in the matter, yet they were per- 

 sistent and claimed that they had good reasons to believe that 

 there was more or less milk sold that was produced from tuber- 

 culous cows. And in order to justify their claim we take the 

 hberty to publish that part of their 1906 report relating to the 

 Bureau of Milk Inspection. 



"It is well recognized that milk is a universal article of food, 

 the chief and most necessary and most perfect food for children. 

 It is often the dirtiest of foods, and when it comes from dis- 

 eased animals, contaminated by barnyard filth and street dust, 

 and distributed in unclean cans or bottles, no process of filtra- 

 tion, pasteurization or sterilization can possibly make it a fit food 

 for infants or sick persons. There is no sanitary problem of 

 greater magnitude than the proper control and improvements 

 of the production and sale of milk. 



"In January, 1906, the Board of Health took entire charge 

 of the Bureau of Milk Inspection and elected Edgar F. Sweet 

 milk inspector. 



"The work of this department had not been very satisfactory. 

 It was found- that there was no system in use which would ade- 

 quately show the work of this department, or by which the pro- 



