8 Feb., 1907.] Dairy Farm Buildings. 117 



DAIRY FARM BUILDINGS. 



S. S. Cameron, ilJ.R.C.V.S., Chief Veterinary Oificer. 



A glance at the first two of the accompanying illustrations, and a com- 

 parison of them, will convey some idea of what it is hoped will be 

 accomplished on many dairy farms as a result of tliat close contact of 

 experts with dairy farmers Avhich is made possible under the Milk and 

 Dairy Supervision Act. The transformation of the scjualid insanitary 

 cow-shed, sloppy and slushy in wet weather, and dusty in dr)', which has 

 been all too much the vogue in the past, into a convenient and cleanly 

 building, in which the comfort of both the cows and their caretakers is 

 provided for, is a change demanded alike by sanitary and commercial 

 considerations. 



The dairy farmer is often loth to concede that these two considerations 

 are compatible. He is prone to think that outlay on sanitarv requirements 

 is a needless and unprofitable expenditure. But such thoughts are onI\- 

 entertained by thoise who ha\e had no experience of the benefits that are 

 unquestionably derivable from the provision of adecjuate milking and 

 housing accommodation for the herd! Once a man has tackled the job, 

 either through the promptings of his own better sense, or the importunities 

 of the much-maligned inspector, and the impro'vements have been effected, 

 his testimonv in favour of the change is unqualified and complete, 



A case rises to mind in which some time back a certain dairy farmer 

 was " dragooned," on fear of the law's rigour, into reflooring and reroofing 

 his milking shed, and paving his cow-vard. It was done with a bad grace, 

 even though the yard Avas knee-deep in mire and mud, and the cow-shed 

 floor so cut up and filth-soaked that members of the family were con- 

 tinually bickering and quarrelling amongst themselves because of the dis- 

 comfort attendant on the work of milking and bailing up. Thev were 

 a bedraggled, careless^, and resentful lot, well matching the lean tucked-up 

 herd of scrubbers that were daily hustled out of the yard bog into the 

 rickety bails, and the " old,' man " was often left to do the milking " on his 

 own." It can easily be iraagined that under such circumstances the busi- 

 ness was not a paying one and the said old man's cup of bitterness was 

 persistentlv full. The overflowing stage was reached when Iv'r. Inspector 

 came along and insisted on new this and extra that, repair here aiivl 

 improvements there. Riven between exasperation and fear, a decision to 

 conform to the requirements of the Act was come to. The fast-diminishing 

 hoard of earlier years w\as widely broached, and the improvements effected. 

 The squalor of the "old order" gave place to the cheerfulness of the 

 "new." 



Two years later I (the aforesaid inspector) was the most heartily-wel- 

 comed visitor to the place, and many times since have I been called 

 blessed for the part I played in effecting the change. It w^as a change 

 for the better all along the line; for, with the advantages of the new 

 shed proven, with the family pulling together, the wife and girls cheerfully 

 and regularly taking their part in the milking, leaving the boys more time 

 for fodder cultivation, and with the farm "paying, sir." as the old man 

 gleefully announced, it was a somewhat easy matter to impress further 

 advice. ' Recording daily milk yields, culling the herd, intensixe cultivation 



