EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 261 



merchant raises the price of some article, as nails, that merchant at once con- 

 veys to his customer that it is due to an advance in steel. A few years ago 

 bran could be secured for a few pennies per hundred, hay was cheap, and all 

 the foods which are necessary for the feeding of cows had a low market value 

 as compared with present prices.. The cost of the food of one cow, which a few 

 years ago would not amount to more than $20 per year, at the present time, 

 as has been stated, has gone to $53. The price of milk, however, has undergone 

 little change. It would seem, therefore, to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion 

 in the matter of pure milk production, all controlling factors and circumstances 

 should be carefully weighed by inspectors and consumers, what it costs to 

 produce milk, the ability required in the milk producer, as well as stringent 

 regulations in handling. 



Competition is no mean influencing agent. It is a well known fact that in 

 our smaller places, reliable farmers have attempted to produce a good quality 

 of milk for their customers and to sell it at a fair price. Their charges esti- 

 mated from cost of production, have been very reasonable, say six cents per 

 quart. After starting, some irresponsible man would undertake to sell milk at 

 three, four, or five cents per quart; consequently the good milk was soon crowded 

 out and there was left upon the market only this poor quality of milk. This 

 irresponsible man could then raise the price of his milk. 



Another feature which is very important may be considered. It is safe to 

 estimate that at least ninety per cent or even more of the people of any town 

 or city are unwilling to pay extra prices to secure a product which is guaranteed 

 to be clean and free from disease germs. They simply demand cheap milk and 

 they usually get it. 



It may be excusable to introduce at this point some directive words concerning 

 the handling of milk. Milk, as it comes from the udder of a cow, is not abso- 

 lutely free from germs, the number ranging anywhere from to 3,000 per cubic 

 centimeter. These bacteria present when milk is drawn from the animal are 

 not seriously detrimental to the product if properly handled unless some disease 

 producing germs are in it; but if improperly handled, trouble may arise even 

 if the milk is as pure as a milk producer can secure it. Proper handling of 

 milk applies equally as forcefully to pure milk supplies as to contaminated milk 

 supplies. For instance, it is nearly as essential to keep pure milk cold as it is 

 to keep foul milk cold, but this may be said: Where pure milk is produced there 

 it little trouble with methods of handling, for whoever will produce pure milk 

 will handle it properly. Most of the contaminations to which milk is prone will 

 be found during the milking process and in the manipulation before cooling or 

 bottling. Contaminations are in the form of the dirt from the animal, from 

 the stall, from the bedding, feed and floor, from the utensils, and from the 

 milker. In order to successfully eliminate these various forms of filth, it is 

 necessary that the manager understand bacteriological principles as well as the 

 surgeon. The problem the producer has to contend with is fully as complex as 

 that which the surgeon meets; the surgeon has his complications, so also the 

 milk producer; the surgeon has his fee of one or two hundred dollars for a 

 single operation, but the milk producer has his meager gains and condemna- 

 tion if everything does not result satisfactorily. I bring this to the front not to 

 complain of the intelligently directed skill of the surgeon and his very modest 

 fees, but to illustrate a serious state of affairs in milk production. A surgeon 

 is protected by law, but every ignorant man thinks he can produce milk, and 

 sell it for less than it really costs. The dairyman must sterilize his utensils, 

 must eliminate the dust of the stable, must guard himself to insure cleanliness; 

 the cows must be thoroughly groomed and cleaned; in fact, if you compare 

 one operation with the other, there will be found many points of similarity 

 existing between the milk manipulator and surgeon. You say a surgeon should 

 be a pathologist, a physican, etc ; this granted, the dairyman must be an agri- 

 culturist, breeder, etc., — they balance up very evenly. If this is true, can an 

 untrained and inexperienced farmer produce a good milk? Are we not asking 

 too much? It is the same old story with sanitarians as with all mankind — 

 we preach what we do not know, we expect ideal conditions where only fair 

 are possible, we advocate the things of the millennium when we are just emerging 

 from barbarity. 



It would be advantageous to have a stable which can be kept clean, stalls which 

 would contribute no dirt, cows which were so thoroughly cleaned and clipped 



