STATE DAIRY ASSOCIATION. 537 



is using it for different purposes, and as lie deviates from tliese natural 

 conditions there will be more to overcome and more vigilance needs to 

 be exercised. 



The first requisite is to have healthy cows that produce pure milk 

 before we need to care for it. With reference to this allow me to digress 

 and say a word in regard to the lireeding of cows. Too many breeders 

 have utterly neglected constitution or vitality in breeding these animals. 

 Many have been bred to such a state that they have lost all vigor, have 

 a sickly appearance and are readily susceptible to disease, rendering them 

 unfit for the production of pure, wholesome milk. This condition of 

 affairs exists especially among the Channel Island breeds, and I can not 

 help but attribute this sacrifice of constitution to the desire to secure a 

 wedge form. There is a need for a wedge form in a dairy animal, but I 

 believe that constitution must not be lost sight of, for it is of greater im- 

 portance. A wedge shape in a dairy animal is merely a means to an end; 

 that is, a cow must have those portions of the body developed that aid 

 in the production of milk. Therefore a cow must necessarily have a large 

 udder and a frame that will be in proportion to receive such an udder, a 

 large digestive capacity and a large respiratory apparatus. With these 

 points summarized, a dairy cow must necessarily assume a wedge form as 

 a part of the conditions for a large milk producer. There is no object in 

 having a heavy fleshed back, broad shoulders or a thick neck on a dairy 

 cow, for it requires that much more food to sustain these parts which 

 otherwise could be utilized for milk. But, nevertheless, a cow must have 

 constitution, enough vigor to resist disease and to stand the wear and 

 tear that a cow is subject to. It is my opinion that if tliis point will be 

 taken more into consideration in future breeding, it will, no doubt, at 

 least partially eliminate the causes of so many tuberculous theories which 

 have recently been advanced and are noAv staring in the eyes of every milk 

 consumer. 



The subjects of defects of milk considered from the standpoint of 

 the milk producer or the factory patron may be treated under two heads: 



First. Defects due to the absorption of odors existing in the air liber- 

 ated from decomposing masses of manure or fermenting foods, the exhala- 

 tion from the bodies of animals and then those volatile substances that are 

 absorbed before milk is secreted when the animal has been fed such feeds 

 as turnips, cabbage, rape, excessive amounts of rye, etc. It is a popular 

 belief that milk will not absorb any of these odors if it is warmer than 

 the surrounding air; moreover, that milk when warmer gives off its odors 

 and only absorbs chem when colder than the atmosphere; but, on the 

 contrary, experiments prove to us that this belief is Avrong. We find that 

 volatile substances are readily absorbed when milk is cooling, and even 

 when exposed only for a short time to air foul and tainted with obnoxious 

 gas it may be sufficient to impregnate the milk so that it can be recognized 

 hours afterwards. Hence, from these facts, and from everyday experi- 



