262 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



that no dust or dirt would fall from them, a milker dressed in a duck suit and 

 sterile, a milk pail that is free from any contaminating material, and proper ap- 

 paratus for aerating, cooling, and bottling milk — I repeat that it would be ad- 

 vantageous; it is practical, but only to the man who can carry these things to 

 execution. Only one man out of every hundred milk producers is capable of 

 doing it, in my judgment. It would also be desirable if there could be a separate 

 milking room with all the conveniences, the water supply, cooler, aerator and 

 other utensils, and the foul odors of the stable completely eliminated, but all 

 of these conveniences must accord with the cost of production. If the consumer 

 is willing to pay ten or twelve cents per quart for his milk, then the milkman 

 or the milk producer should be compelled to produce that quality of milk; but 

 if, on the other hand, the consumer is willing to pay only five or six cents per 

 quart, then the consumer must expect to have that quality of milk furnished to 

 him. At five cents per yard you cannot buy silk or broadcloth, but you can 

 buy certain kinds of cotton. ' If we are to fight for a pure milk supply, let it be 

 a fight for something that is definite and to the point; something that we know 

 can be produced; it must be something that we know can be produced at a 

 profit to the producer. Let the matter be put on a business basis. If we demand 

 an eight cent milk and know exactly what eight cent milk means and can specify 

 by contract, the producer who is willing to so contract should carry out the 

 terms of his contract or go to the wall. It follows from what has been said 

 that in order to place our milk supplies upon a more favorable basis, it will 

 be necesary to establish specifications and then endeavor to find such men who 

 are willing to furnish milk according to specification. Let the five cent man fur- 

 nish five cent milk, the eight cent man, eight cent milk, and the ten cent man, ten 

 cent milk, and let it be the business of the inspector to not only see that these 

 specifications are fulfilled, but let him see also that the consumer knows the 

 difference between five cent milk and ten cent milk. This will be an attempt 

 in the right direction, will be an open deal between producer and consumer, and 

 will be fair to all parties concerned. Under such specifications it will be 

 necessary that an inspector know his business. He will be neither all producer 

 nor all consumer; neither medical man nor veterinarian; neither bacteriologist 

 nor chemist, but he will be a man trained for a special purpose, trained in all 

 scientific and practical subjects, so far as they pertain to milk production and 

 consumption, and if trained properly, will be able to adjust all differences satis- 

 factorily. To my mind, there is no necessity for arbitrary compulsion; no neces- 

 sity for city authorities antagonizing milk men; nor, on the other hand, should 

 it be necessary for milk producers to defend themselves and resort to dishonest 

 methods unbecoming men. Let the fight for pure milk be an open, business deal 

 between man and man. The necessity for pure milk exists. Few realize it 

 more than the writer. The author is heart and hand in the movement, but unless 

 this can be accomplished in a manner that is just to all men, then it will be 

 as well to let it drop until it can be dealt with frankly. In personal encounters 

 with milk producers, the writer has found that there are hundreds of ways by 

 which they can outdo the milk inspector or overcome any compulsory enactment; 

 in personal encounters with milk inspectors, ninety-five per cent or more of 

 them neither know what milk production is, what constitutes the proper handling 

 of milk, or the significance of consumption of bad milk. They have learned 

 mechanically to test for fat by the Babcock method, have learned how to stick 

 the lactometer into milk, perhaps can make a plate for counting germs, but 

 that is all. Scarcely one of them can give the significance of a single test. What 

 good does it do? It keeps the milk man angry and they constantly devise ways 

 of circumventing the regulations. Co-operation which is mutual will yield the 

 best fruits. Most men know when they have fair treatment. As it stands at 

 present, the farmer thinks he knows his business better than the inspector 

 and the inspector thinks he knows his business better than the farmer, when 

 both are densely ignorant of their own and the business of each other. The 

 chasm between is immense and needs bridging. 



It may be pertinent to enumerate many of the subjects to be treated in the 

 production of pure milk. Each item needs further explanation and discussion 

 when carried into practice, otherwise interpretation would be difficult under 

 varying conditions and circumstances. In carrying such a scheme into execution. 

 It wiir also be necessary to select such items as may seem fair in the production 

 of five cent milk, such as may seem fair in the production of six cent milk, and 



