178 CONTROL OF THE MILK-SUPPLY. 
III. PUBLIC PROBLEMS. 
Although this subject primarily concerns the regulation of the 
milk-supply after it reaches the city, certain aspects of it are inti- 
mately associated with farm life. City authorities are every year 
extending their control more and more directly to the farm. The 
public is making certain demands regarding the milk-supply that 
must be acceded to by the milk producer. 
Freedom from Disease Germs. This demand needs no argu- 
ment. To meet it the only plan within sight at present is the in- 
sistence that only healthy cows shall be used in the production of 
milk; that no milk shall be distributed for drinking purposes from 
cows having any kind of udder disease; that no person suffering 
from or recovering from a contagious disease, or having direct con- 
tact with others thus suffering shall be employed in the dairy or 
handle the milk in any way; that the milk shall not be watered, and 
that in washing the milk- vessels no water shall be used that is in the 
slightest degree open to suspicion of sewage contamination. In 
addition to these demands it must be insisted that precautions be 
taken for excluding stable filth from the milk, and that the milk be 
cooled at once to prevent undue growth of bacteria. 
Milk Standards. A legal standard set for the chemical com- 
position of market milk is nearly everywhere adopted and does not 
concern our immediate subject. A few cities have set a standard 
as to the number of bacteria that will be allowed in milk offered for 
sale. Boston has a standard of 500,000 per c.c. This has as yet 
been done in only a few places and it is still uncertain whether such 
standards can be enforced or are of much value. The milk pro- 
ducer needs only to remember that, to reach these standards, he 
must use care in the dairy to insure cleanliness along lines already 
pointed out. Special grades of milk are becoming more or less 
common in various localities. Sanitary dairies of exceptionally 
high character have been conducted with more or less success. In 
these every possible precaution is adopted to produce milk under 
ideal conditions. Only tested and inspected cows are used, and 
numerous devices are carried on to protect the milk from all possible 
