No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 77 



some food. Milk is very sensitive to foreign influences. Some 

 months ago the Montlily liulletin of this Bureau related an incident 

 wherein the child of a family was made violently ill soon after 

 taking its usual meal, and the milk was subjected to examination 

 by one of the chemists of the Department. It was found to be 

 tained by the odor of paint, and investigation revealed the fact that 

 the kitchen in which it had been kept had been freshly painted. In 

 this instance the fault did not lie Avith the milkman but with tht 

 home. Thoughtlessness or carelessness or ignorance had almost 

 cost that family its child. This fact and similar ones which might 

 be adduced, demonstrate the great importance of taking special 

 pains with the milk supply from the very beginning until it 

 has been consumed in the family. Some of the dairymen of the 

 State become impatient with rigid rules adopted by city health 

 departments and others, complaining that the expense they are put 

 to swallows up all their profit. In some respects there is ground 

 for their impatience, but when they realize the vital importance of 

 keeping the milk supply pure and free from poisonous substances, 

 they will probably realize that it would not be fair to their patrons 

 to demand less care from them. The security of the community 

 is the first matter to be considered. 



It is extremely encouraging, in view of what has just been said, 

 to find that the milk and cream sold in Pennsylvania are so excellent 

 that out of 1,813 samples lifted in many widely separated sections 

 but 27 were adulterated. Of course that was just 27 too many, but 

 the improvement in contrast with the condition of affairs when the 

 Dairy and Food Bureau was organized is marvelous. The dairymen 

 of the State are doing their part, as the figures show, to give the 

 public pure milk. Their efforts should be supplemented by equal 

 care in the home of the consumer. Already there has been a 

 gratifying decrease in infant mortality, and hundreds of valuable 

 lives that under other circumstances would have gone out in dark- 

 ness soon after they began to live will be preserved, adding largely 

 to the world's wealth in the years to some. Cream, skimmed milk 

 and buttermilk make an even better showing. Of 754 samples of 

 cream, 60 of skimmed milk and 8 of buttermilk analyzed by our 

 chemists, everyone was found free from adulteration. Of 7 samples 

 of condensed milk analyzed 2 were found to be adulterated. Taking 

 the entire result of the examination of these samples of milk and 

 cream one feels that much progress has been made and that the 

 milk supply of the State has reached a very creditable condition, ap- 

 proaching closely to that perfection we all desire. 



Quite as good a showing is made in the butter supply of the 

 Commonwealth. Of the 770 samples collected and scrutinized by 

 our chemists, all but 6 were found to be free from adulteration, 

 while all the cheese examined was pure. Of all these articles — but- 

 ter, cheese, cream and milk, only 35 samples out of 3,426 collected 

 were found to be adulterated. It would be difficult to improve upon 

 such a situation, and yet we hope to do so with the continued 

 growth of knowledge and the advance of public sentiment until 

 adulteration will be a thing unknown within the limits of this 

 Commonwealth. 



