MR. J. W. BKITTLEBANK'S PAPER 207 



this I would institute a system of licensing, not neces- 

 sarily for any limited period, but such licence to be a 

 guarantee of the conditions in regard to the essential 

 requirements of a pure milk supply. I would not make 

 the conditions too stringent at first, as it would be 

 disastrous to bring about a condition of things which 

 caused a famine in milk. 



I am convinced that the effects of such a system 

 properly carried out would be enormous. The improve- 

 ment would be so great as to justify all the trouble at 

 the outset. It would be resented, it is true, but most 

 legislative measures are. There should be good 

 security for the holding of a licence and it should 

 not be in the power of any officer to cancel such 

 licence ; the holder should have full protection. The 

 licensing authority should be the sanitary committee 

 of the administrative county, whose decision should 

 be final. 



It may be contended that the holder of such licence 

 should have the right of appeal to a Government 

 Department, but I think there is little likelihood of 

 any injustice being done, and if any appeal is advis- 

 able it should be to quarter sessions. 



I am afraid I have only been able to treat the 

 subject very superficially. The subject is an immense 

 one and quite impossible to deal with adequately in 

 the scope of a paper such as this, but the conditions 

 required to improve the milk supply may be summarized 

 as follows : Effective legislation ; complete re-construc- 

 tion of all insanitary cowsheds ; thorough cleanliness 

 of all premises and cattle ; cleanliness of all milkers, 

 milk vessels, dairy, &c. ; efficient trained inspection. 



I have not been able to refer to the very wide 

 subject of communicable diseases. These require 

 special treatment, as the whole subject is a difficult one, 

 but some reference may be permitted to the most 

 important of them, namely, tuberculosis. 



The Board of Agriculture have promulgated an 



