236 



ANNUAl. REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



MARKET MILK INVESTIGATIONS. 



The work of the section of market milk investigations, of which 

 Mr. George M. Whitaker is in charge, deals mainly with the improve- 

 ment of milk supplies, and is done very largely in cooperation w^ith 

 public health officials. In connection with this work during the past 

 fiscal year over 150 visits were paid to various towns and cities to 

 consult with and assist citizens and officials for the advancement of 

 market milk conditions, and agents of the Dairy Division inspected 

 332 dairies and milk plants, judged in 9 milk contests, assisted in 6 

 dairy exhibitions, and attended and addressed 83 public meetings. 



The score-card system of inspection, under which dairy farms and 

 milk depots are inspected and rated for specific items on a scale of 

 100 points, is largely used in this work. One hundred and seventeen 

 municipalities are using the score card in official inspections, in 14 

 States it has been adopted to a varying extent, 11 milk dealers use it 

 in inspecting the dairies from which their supply is obtained, and 18 

 agi'icultural colleges use it in the class room. The system is in use in 

 8 of the 15 largest cities in the country. 



The improvement brought about in the wholesomeness of the inilk 

 supply by means of this work is well illustrated by the following 

 table, showing results in 6 cities selected from different sections of the 

 country and representing places of a wide range of population, as 

 reported by the local officials who made the scores : 



Improvement in milk supplies of six cities as shown "by score cards. 



Cities. 



Los Angeles, Cal . 

 Glens Falls, N. Y 

 Concord, N. H... 

 Hudson, N.Y... 



Clinton, Iowa 



Portland, Oreg... 



Average 



score in 



1909. 



55 

 49 

 40 



40 

 56 

 35 



Average 



score in 



1910. 



63 

 62 

 46 

 50 

 67 

 45 



Average 

 points 

 gained. 



8 



13 



6 



10 

 11 

 10 



Percent- 

 age of 

 gain. 



15 

 27 

 15 

 25 

 20 

 28 



This is an average gain of 22 per cent for the places named. The 

 gain is alw^ays most rapid and most noticeable when the work is new, 

 as in the above places, and when very poor conditions are being im- 

 proved, though further improvement follows the continued use of 

 the system. 



The Dairy Division encourages efforts to improve the milk supply, 

 even though the score-card method is not adopted. During the year 

 assistance was given to 101 municipalities under these circumstances. 



A month was spent by one man in an investigation of the farms 

 which produce milk for Chicago. Dairies in all parts of the Chicago 

 territory w^ere inspected, and it was found that 46.7 per cent of those 

 inspected were rated below 40, 43 per cent between 40 and 50, and 

 only 10.3 per cent above 50. It is considered that any dairy scored 

 below 50 should not be allowed to place milk on the market; hence 

 it will be seen that there is much room for improvement in the Chi- 

 cago territory. Fortunately, however, there is abundant evidence of 

 improvement taking place, showing that the health department has 



