DAIRY me;e;ting. 153 



New England has one distinctive advantage which can never 

 be lessened either absolutely or relatively — that is the incom- 

 parable beauty of her natural scenery in its kaleidoscopic pano- 

 rama of seashore, lake, mountain, and valley, and the tonic salu- 

 brity of its summer climate. I have been surprised on reading 

 the society news in the D. C. papers, at the time for the annual 

 summer vacation exodus of judges, ambassadors, congressmen, 

 cabinet officers, chiefs of bureaus and divisions and others, 

 to see how many go to New England. 



In this New England has a valuable asset that never can be 

 taken from her, and which will become more and more valuable 

 as the country becomes more thickly settled and the demand 

 for vacation homes increases. This asset should be carefully 

 protected and preserved — for many obvious reasons — not the 

 least of which is its bearing on the demand for choice dairy 

 products. 



But to turn to more direct dairy subjects: The demand 

 for cleaner milk has been a familiar sound in my ears for a 

 long time. Years ago, when connected with the Massachusetts 

 Dairy Bureau, I planned several dairy institutes for the especial 

 benefit of the creameries, which were continued successfully 

 until abandoned by direction of the State Board of Agriculture 

 as conflicting in a degree with the Board's Institutes. At these 

 meetings, more cleanliness of milk and cream was a frequeiit 

 theme. Buttermakers complained that they could not make 

 Number One butter if even one farmer in twenty furnished 

 dirty cream. Sometimes this careless man would be an influen- 

 tial director, and the salaried buttermaker was powerless to 

 reject the cream from the man who employed him. The need 

 of state dairy inspection was discussed ; a more rigid oversight 

 of the dairies and a putting out of business of those who would 

 not produce cleaner milk or cream was urged. 



More recently the subject of cleaner milk has come promi- 

 nently to the front all over the country, and a careful inspection 

 of dairies has been started in many places. This comparatively 

 new movement has been inaugurated largely by physicians 

 rather than dairy leaders ; its official machinery has been put in 

 operation at the instance of health boards rather than agricul- 

 tural departments; and its object has been a better market milk 

 supply rather than a higher flavored butter — though cleaner 

 milk helps one as well as the other. 



