Commissioner of Agriculture 133 



producer of milk is concerned. The tendency at present on the 

 part of the consuming public is to expect that milk and its products 

 can be had at a price not in excess of what it has been in the past, 

 this in spite of the fact that increased restrictions and regulations, 

 not formerly required, are imposed upon the producer, necessitat- 

 ing the use of appliances and methods which tend to increase ma- 

 terially the cost of production. When there is added the expense 

 of maintaining healthy herds it is apparent that compliance with 

 these requirements can logically be attained only by the consumer's 

 paying a higher ultimate price. If the producer can be assured 

 a return in proportion to his expenditure, few if any would object 

 to additional requirements involving the health of the animal or 

 the improvement in equipment and consequent additional cost. It 

 is therefore evident that the successful termination of the efforts 

 to control tuberculosis is more or less dependent upon an economic 

 consideration of the producing cost to the owner of dairy cattle 

 and the willingness of the consumer to aid in safeguarding the 

 product by paying an adequate return to the producer for labor 

 and capital invested. 



The control of tuberculosis in herds producing certified milk 

 is an important feature of the work of this Bureau. One of the 

 requirements before milk can be certified is evidence of the free- 

 dom from tuberculosis of the animals as determined by means of 

 the tuberculin test. It has been customary for these tests to be 

 made by representatives of a milk commission. As a result of 

 such tests the State has in the past been called upon to condemn, 

 appraise, and slaughter a large number of animals, the percentage 

 of tuberculosis being higher than in the average dairy. This is 

 in part due to the custom followed by most owners of such herds 

 of continually buying fresh milking cows to maintain a uniform 

 supply. While these cattle are usually bought on test, they gen- 

 erally come from a number of herds and often from those in which 

 tuberculosis is prevalent. Under the present law the State is 

 given practically no authority over the production of certified 

 milk, since the control of such herds is wholly in the hands of milk 

 commissions appointed by county medical societies, the per- 

 sonnel of which is more or less variable. The creation of so many 

 commissions (one in each county) results in different require- 

 ments being promulgated and more or less lack of uniformity 



