184 CITY MILK SUPPLY 



filth and insanitary conditions almost indescribable by words commonly found 

 in the dictionary. 



"This condition is due in a large measure to a swill diet which causes diarrhea 

 and keeps the platform saturated with manure mingled with swill. Many of 

 the cows were in an emaciated condition, some were coughing and looked sick 

 and one was seen dead just outside the stable. The cows never go out for exer- 

 cise, at least in winter, and are tied up in small, cramped, slippery stalls, to drink 

 the nauseating sour swill and breathe the close, stench-laden air for months until 

 they are sent to the shambles. These herds would furnish a profitable field for 

 investigation by the Humane Society as the treatment accorded the animals is 

 cruel in extreme. 



" Invariably the stables were filled with steam rising from the swill, which 

 condensed on the ceiling and continually dropped or ran down the walls. No 

 attempt was made to ventilate the stables in fact the windows were generally 

 nailed down and all possible openings covered with boards. 



"Milk rooms were generally connected directly with the stable and were just 

 as filthy and dirty. There was no provision for properly cleaning the cans and 

 a considerable quantity of dirty water was frequently found at the bottom of 

 them." 



One of the arguments used in the campaign against these dairies was 

 that they discouraged legitimate dairying, it being impossible for dairy 

 farmers to maintain herds fed in the normal way in the face of competition 

 from slop-fed herds. The fight against these dairies was ultimately 

 won, it having been found after 2 years' attempt by the health department, 

 that regulation was a failure. 



It should be understood that distillery slop can be fed under such 

 conditions as to produce wholesome milk. The chances are very great 

 that it will not be fed in this way. Henry says that: 



"Distillery slop is a watery attenuated food substance. Being produced in 

 great quantities it must be gotten out of the way quickly and it is usually pumped 

 into feeding sheds and there distributed in troughs to animals which stand and 

 drink it. The great quantities drunk cause the passage of enormous amounts 

 of water through the kidneys. Unless the greatest precautions are taken, the 

 liquid leaks and spills everywhere and the urine distributes itself likewise. Often 

 the animals have little hay and other food. They are overfed on this one product 

 because it must be quickly and continuously disposed of. Good flesh in steers 

 or good milk from cows can hardly be produced under such conditions." 



The practical results of the campaigns against slop dairies have been 

 two, namely: (1) they have been largely wiped out with consequent 

 improvement of the city milk supply; and (2) the distilleries have in- 

 stalled plants for evaporating and drying the slop so that they are now 

 recovering and selling a valuable cattle feed. 



The Cost of Milk Production. The several elements of production, 

 namely: the raising of proper crops, the oversight of labor, the erection 

 and maintenance of barns and other buildings, the formation and im- 



