242 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



dairy farm. He must almost be a bacteriologist in order to prac- 

 tice cleanliness necessary to make his product a blessing, instead 

 of a curse. He must understand business methods, in order to 

 find a profitable market for his products. In short, the most suc- 

 cessful dairyman will possess the qualities of the real estate man, 

 the live stock judge, the hygienist, the breeder, the chemist, the 

 agronomist, the physiognomist, the bacteriologist, and the mer- 

 chant. Love and gentleness must rule his nature, for an ill-temper 

 is a misfit in a dairy. He is making merchandise of motherhood. 

 He is putting on the market an article of food fraught with won- 

 derful possibilities for the production of life, strength and health 

 or weakness, disease and death. Is it too much to ask dairymen to 

 have a high ideal? 



Good, pure milk is a precious food. It gives life and strength 

 to the babe and to the invalid. To the laborer who goes forth in 

 the full strength of years, it gives more energy than other food 

 that he can purchase at the same cost. To the professional man 

 it is ever a restorer of his wasted nerves. To the housewife it 

 is the ultimate consummation of convenience and usefulness. Ic 

 is the one perfect food of the Divine Chemist. In the great plans 

 of nature there is no substitute for it. The man who produces 

 it should have a clear mind, clean hands, and a pure heart. 



Bad, impure milk may be dangerous food. If any of its 

 natural properties are removed from it, or water added to it, it 

 loses, at least, a part of its food value. It may only fill space at a 

 time when nourishment is most needed. If it contains either filth 

 or preservatives, it may actually become poisonous. If it is from 

 diseased cows or is contaminated with disease germs on its way 

 to market, it may produce disease and even death. It should not 

 be produced and handled for the human family like a scavenger 

 gathers offal for hogs. 



There is room for higher ideals in all occupations. Perfec- 

 tion can never be reached in any of them. It will probably be more 

 difficult to approach perfection in dairying than in any other 

 occupation. Nevertheless, <feiirynien should have high ideals in 

 view, and strive and strive, and keep on striving for greater per- 

 fection. 



Dairymen should never go on record as opposing reasonable 

 reforms in the dairy business. No one can deny that heretofore 

 there has been a general lack of cleanliness and sanitation about 

 dairies. Long practice of watering, skimming and adding preserva- 

 tives to milk has apparently led some dairymen to believe that 



