BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 329 



fat, also to determine whether cows kept free from ticks will produce 

 more than infested animals. 



Other experimental work in which the dairy farming section took 

 part is reported under the heading " Experiments in dairy pro- 

 duction." 



MARKET MILK INVESTIGATIONS. 



Dr. George M. "\ATiitaker, who was in charge of the section of 

 market milk investigations for the first half of the fiscal year, 

 resigned December 31, and since that time this line of work has been 

 under the supervision of Mr. Ernest Kelly. It is largely educational 

 in character with a view to improving local milk conditions, and is 

 carried on mainly in cooperation with city health departments. 



IMPBOVEMENT OF CITY MILK SUPPLIES. 



During the year cooperative work has been carried on with 21 

 cities and 11 States. This work consists in aiding in the improve- 

 ment of inspection s3'stems, giving instruction to inspectors, and 

 cooperating in every way possible to help cities develop and maintain 

 an efficient milk-inspection system. 



A survey of a representative selection of the dairies supplying the 

 city of Boston was made during the year, and the scores of the 

 dairies inspected were found to average about 45 on a scale of 100. 



The use of the score-card system of dairy inspection has spread 

 rai)idly. Practically all cities are now using some form of score card; 

 170 such cities are recorded. 



Some of the conditions which act as a handicap to the maintenance 

 of a high-class milk supply are: (1) Municipalities fail to provide 

 sufficient funds; (2) political domination often renders the inspection 

 work inefficient; (3) consumers and often newspapers fail to appre- 

 ciate the fundamental fact that the production of clean milk entails 

 additional expense as compared with dirty milk. 



The clean-milk campaigns too often attempt to make the producer 

 bear the entire cost of improvement without any consideration from 

 the consumer. "\Miile many dairies are filthy and should be put out 

 of business, still it is true that it costs more to produce a good grade 

 of milk than it does to produce an inferior grade, and some incentive 

 should be offered to the producer to bring to market the higher grades 

 of milk. The fact of the matter is that the consumer as a rule is not 

 demanding a high grade of milk. It is well recognized that the health 

 authorities of the country generally are seeking to give the public a 

 higher grade of milk than the public is demanding. This emphasizes 

 the gi'eat need of general education regarding market milk. Pro- 

 ducers, consumers, and officials should endeavor to work in harmony, 

 each giving full consideration to the otliers. The consumer is en- 

 titled to a wholesome product, and the producer should not be allowed 

 to sell unwholesome milk; but the producer deserves a fair price for 

 good milk. 



Many cities are making great improvement in their milk sup]-)lies. 

 The department endeavors to render all possible assistance, and this 

 aid is of the greatest benefit when a movement for pure milk is first 

 begun. 



