SANITARY MILK PRODUCTION 173 



1. Milking with clean, dry hands into covered pails. 



2. Thorough washing and sterilization of milk pails, and milk cans. 



3. Cooling the milk by placing it in cans in tanks of cold water, or of ice water. 



4. Regular laboratory testing of milk for bacteria and the making of payments on 

 the basis of laboratory tests. 



Dairy-farm Score Cards. That the conditions under which milk was 

 produced bore an important relation to its character soon became the 

 conviction of the pioneers in improving the quality of milk delivered 

 in our cities; consequently the dairy inspectors of the large milk companies 

 and of boards of health shortly began to pay particular attention to the 

 sanitary conditions of dairy farms and to make reports to their employers 

 thereon. For convenience in filing, and to systematize the inspection 

 Borden's Milk Co., the Board of Health of the Town of Montclair and 

 others substituted printed forms for written reports. These early forms 

 were rather cumbersome and did not convey to the reader at a glance a 

 clear impression of whether the farm was commendable or not. Con- 

 fusion arose from the many details reported and the fact that their 

 relative importance was not clearly indicated. The forms did not show 

 the producer and consumer either the faults that should be corrected 

 forthwith, or give them a basis for rating the sanitary condition of the 

 farm. 



Something better than the forms was needed and this was provided 

 by W. C. Woodward, health officer of the District of Columbia, who on 

 Jan. 9, 1904, brought out the first dairy score card. The principle on 

 which such cards are constructed is that the different items that appear 

 are assigned weights according to what the originator of the card deems 

 to be their relative importance. Thus out of a total of 100 points allowed 

 for say, 32 items on a score card, 5 points may be allowed for annual 

 tuberculin testing, 5 for the use of the small-top milking pail, 1 for clean 

 milking suits, 2 for construction of the milk room, etc. So, when the 

 deductions for all the various differences have been made the sum of 

 the points allowed is less than 100 and gives a general idea of the sani- 

 tary condition of the farm is obtained from the total score, and from a 

 detailed consideration of the cuts, it may be seen just where the sanitation 

 is poor and what is necessary to do to improve it. A feature of Dr. 

 Woodward's card was the provision for scoring equipment and methods 

 on one side and the cattle on the reverse side. 



In February, 1905, R. A. Pearson of the Cornell University Station, 

 working independently and without knowledge of the existence of the 

 District of Columbia card, brought out a card different but in many ways 

 similar to it. Pearson's ideas were evolved from practical experience 

 gained at the Walker-Gordon farm at Plainfield, N. J. In July, 1906, 

 C. B. Lane, then of the Dairy Division of the U. S. Department of Agri- 



