26 AGRICUI.TURE: OF MAINE;, 



Probably we shall all agree that the first thing to be considered 

 in the pure milk problem is the cow. We will not concern our- 

 selves with the breed of the cow or with the question as to 

 whether she shall be of any particular breed, these being matters 

 that will largely be determined by the disposition that is to be 

 made of her product. But whatever this disposition is to be, 

 it is vitally important that she be, beyond the suspicion of a 

 doubt, a healthy animal. In view of the fact that the latest 

 decision of scientific investigators confirms the view already held 

 by many that tuberculosis is transmissible from animals to man, 

 it is especially important that everything possible shall be done 

 to eliminate this disease from our herds. Milk that shows signs 

 of a fevered condition of the cow, such as bloody or gargetty 

 milk, should be religiously excluded and no milk should be sold 

 as food from any cow which is drawn within 8 days after calv- 

 ing or within two weeks previous to parturition. The cow 

 should not be unduly excited at any time by violent handling or 

 even by violent language, for the excitement thus created will 

 surely cause a fevered condition of the milk which in turn will 

 afifect the nervous condition of young children to whom it may 

 be fed. 



The cow should be carefully groomed every day, as much for. 

 the healthful action and reaction of her skin as for her neater 

 appearance. She should have good, wholesome food in sufficient 

 quantity and of enough variety to maintain a vigorous, healthy 

 appetite. Avoid the feeding of city garbage to cows. It is a 

 debatable question as to whether such stufif may be safely fed to 

 hogs, but to cows, never. I am personally acquainted with severaj 

 families where the children were made seriously sick by drinking 

 milk from swill-fed cows. See that the cow has plenty of pure 

 water to drink, as good as you drink yourself. Personally I 

 prefer a watering device that automatically supplies this water 

 so that the cow may drink as much as she wants and whenevei 

 she wants it. 



After the cow, the next consideration in the pure milk prob- 

 lem will be the stable. And right here is where very few of us 

 will lay claim to ideal conditions. But the fact that our condi- 

 tions are not now ideal, is no reason why we should not have an 

 ideal, towards which all our energies and efforts should tend 

 until that ideal becomes a reality. 



