12 Third Annual Report of the 



animals that produce it, and properly aerate it so as to take from 

 it the animal gases and odors. 



It is generally conceded, by those in a position to take cogni- 

 zance of it, that the milk now produced and sold in this State for 

 consumption is of a much better quality than it was prior to the 

 enactment of the laws against adulteration, and that this Is due 

 directly to the fact that the State has kept a constant watch 

 over it. The amount of good that a constant surveillance of this 

 kind does is illustrated by cases we make or conditions we find. To 

 illustrate: A few weeks ago in the Albany division our agents found 

 a man who was producing milk which he sold to retail vendors, 

 he himself never vending it to consumers. The result was that 

 he never came in contact with our agents, and for that reason 

 did not fear them, nor an enforcement of the law. An analysis of the 

 milksoldbyhimshowedanadulterationof the addition of at least 

 117 per cent, of water. While this was a very large percentage 

 of added water, I am reliably informed that prior to the enforce- 

 ment of this law it was not an unusual thing to find milk sold 

 upon the streets containing an adulteration of added water vary- 

 ing from 50 to 100 per cent. 



While I believe in buying milk at manufactories and paying 

 for it upon the basis of the amount of fat in it, believing that then 

 each man gets his pay for the value he produces, and that this 

 method has a tendency to do away with milk adulteration in these 

 places, I believe that it would be entirely unsatisfactory to at- 

 tempt to so pay for milk where it is sold in cities and villages for 

 consumption. I am not unmindful of the fact that there are 

 scientific gentlemen who have made this matter a subject of study, 

 who are advocating the doctrine that the value of milk sold for 

 consumption depends upon the amount of fat in it, and that 

 each vendor should state the amount of fat that his milk contains 

 and guarantee it. In my estimation this is idealistic, but imprac- 

 ticable. For instance, it would not be contended, I think, that 

 the consuming public as a whole understand the constituents 

 of milk or know what amount of fat pure milk should or does 

 contain. It would be very easy in districts where pure milk is 



