24 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



A large proportion of diarrhoeal diseases of infancy and child- 

 hood are due to impure milk with which they are fed. It is 

 estimated that two million infants die annually in this country 

 from impure milk. This is more in twenty-five years than the 

 number of men that have been killed in all wars. 



It should be impressed upon all persons having in their posses- 

 sion, even temporarily, bottles, cans, or other receptacles con- 

 taining milk or cream, that they should clean them immediately 

 after the contents are removed, and that these receptacles should 

 never be used for any other purpose. 



Great care should be taken, not only of the stable, but of all 

 the utensils used, and the milkers should have clean hands, and 

 put on clean overalls and jumpers, before repairing to the stable 

 to milk. In addition to the daily care of the cow they should 

 take with them a damp towel and wipe off the udder, side and 

 all parts exposed to the milkpail. 



Persons having a sore throat, which might possibly be diph- 

 theria, or who have not fully recovered from scarlet fever and 

 are still desquamating, or who are affected by tuberculosis, 

 should never be allowed to come near the milk. There are many 

 cases on record where such persons have contaminated the milk 

 and led to epidemics along the routes where the milk was dis- 

 tributed. All dairy cows should be tested once a year with 

 tuberculin to determine if they have developed tuberculosis. 

 While usually the bacilli of this disease will not appear in the 

 milk unless the udder is affected, there are many instances 

 reported where they have appeared in milk of cows suffering 

 from this disease, without the udder being affected. The theory 

 of Dr. Koch that a disease in a bovine could not be communi- 

 cated to human beings has been repeatedly shown to be a mis- 

 take. In many instances the bacilli of the bovine which are 

 clumped at the ends, as well as the straight, round rods of the 

 human bacilli, have been found in a person suffering from tuber- 

 culosis. A cow suffering from this disease may not only have 

 the milk contaminated, but the dairy products, both butter and 

 cheese. You will recall that not only the national, but the pure 

 food laws of the various states as well, prohibit the use of foods 

 which contain anything likely to make them injurious to the 

 health of the consumer. The presence of these bacilli in the 

 milk and dairy foods is equally serious and should be most care- 

 fully guarded against. 



