REPORT OF STATE DAIRY INSPECTOR. 



To Hon. J. A. Roberts, Commissioner of Agriculture : 



I respectfully present my report as Dairy and Milk Inspector 

 from January, 1914, to October, 1914. 



As has been the case in previous years, the most of my time 

 has been given to the inspection of milk and cream as it was 

 being delivered to the consumer. Samples of these products 

 have been collected from dealers in every section with the aim 

 of ascertaining whether or not the supply was within the stand- 

 ard set by law. It is only right that the producer should know 

 the status of his product before he offers it for sale, but often 

 dairymen have been found whose interest does not go beyond 

 the fact that the milk they sell is just as it comes from the 

 animal, and they think that this fact alone absolves them from 

 any criticism. For the average milkmen, places where milk can 

 be tested to ascertain whether it is above or below the state 

 standard are limited to the creameries, and to the few local 

 milk inspectors who have the necessary equipment. Many times 

 it has been recommended that samples of milk, as well as of the 

 farm water supply, be sent in separate containers to the Labora- 

 tory of Hygiene at Augusta for analysis. Too often no effort 

 to remedy conditions is made until after some fault is found 

 and it is plain that not enough responsibility is felt with regard 

 to milk as an important food. 



In my work I have often come in contact with those whose 

 livelihood depended upon the milk business and whose knowl- 

 edge as to the proper care that milk should receive during its 

 journey from the cow to the consumer is very much limited. It 

 is evident that instruction, rather than a prosecution for viola- 

 tion with no understanding as to prevention or remedy of ex- 

 isting conditions, would be far better. With this thought in 

 mind, there have been instances where the placing of the vio- 

 lator on probation and the withholding of prokcution for a time 



