SANITARY MILK PRODUCTION 



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the air was vitiated by the constantly flowing urine. The animals were 

 brought to the city soon after calving. At first they refused the slop 

 but afterward became fond of it. Often they became sick and many 

 died soon after arrival. Sore foot, in several cases due to a fungus 

 growth and accompanied by carious bones and a discharge of pus, was 

 one of the diseases. Caries of the teeth was common in cows that had 

 been fed slop for 6 months and in time the teeth loosened and fell out. 



Later, Frank Leslie 's Weekly made its famous onslaught on the swill 

 dairies. This was known as the short or stump-tail cow campaign for 

 the cows were represented as suffering from a disease that caused part 

 of the tail to drop off. The expose was based on a report made to the 

 Brooklyn common council in 1857 by a committee of 11 appointed in 

 response to a petition of John T. Hildreth et al. for the investigation of 

 cow stables. The series of articles in Leslie's began on May 8, 1858, 

 and ran over several months. They are profusely illustrated with 

 drawings and cartoons by Nast and other artists and depict the evils of 



Courtesy of W. E. Miller. 



FIG. 31. Method of conveying slop at a Cincinnati swill dairy. Such dairies are now 

 entirely eliminated by the Pure Food Division-of the Cincinnati Board of Health. 



the swill dairies very fully and clearly. Undoubtedly the expose is one 

 of the severest arraignments of any business ever published. It served 

 a useful purpose in its day, is an instructive record of bygone conditions 

 and is interesting as one of the very first instances of pitiless publicity 

 being used to compel improvement in the production of food and in 

 general sanitation. The incident is utilized in Ford's novel, "The Hon. 

 Peter Sterling." 



Since then, many States, including Pennsylvania, Illinois, Kentucky 

 and Indiana have prohibited the sale within their borders of milk from 

 slop-fed cows. 



In 1906-1908, largely under the leadership of 0. P. Geier, a vigorous 

 campaign was waged against the slop dairies of Cincinnati. Of conditions 

 there C. B. Lane says: 



"I visited the swill dairies supplying milk to the City of Cincinnati and found 



