MILK 223 



20. Eleven commissions have 1 each; three have 2; one has 3; 

 one 4; and one 20. The least amount handled daily by any one 

 commission is 120 quarts and the greatest amount 9,373 quarts. A 

 few commissions certify to cream as well as milk. 



Standards for Condition and Quality of Milk. The standards 

 for bacteria vary with the different commissions. Of the 20 report- 

 ing standards, 13 place the number at 10,000 per cubic centimeter, 

 1 at 20,000, and 3 at 30,000. One has a standard of 10,000 from 

 October to April, and 20,000 from April to October. Another has 

 a standard of 5,000 in winter and 10,000 in summer, and another 

 a standard of 25,000 in winter and 50,000 in summer. The stand- 

 ard for cream in all cases where it is certified is 25,000 per cubic 

 centimeter. 



The standard required for fat in eight instances is a minimum 

 of 4 per cent; in three instances, 3.5; in two, 4.5; and in one, 3.7+. 

 Four allow a range of 3.5 to 4.5, one a range of 3.25 to 4.50, and 

 one 3.75 to 4.50. One puts out a special milk containing a higher 

 percentage of fat, which must keep within the limits of 4.50 and 5.50 

 per cent. One commission specifies that the cream must not vary 

 more than 2 per cent from the guaranty. Only eight commissions 

 report standards for solids not fat. These range from 8 to 9.3 per 

 cent. 



Living up to the Standard. Twelve commissions report that 

 their dairies have no difficulty in producing milk that is up to the 

 required standards. Five report a little difficulty, and one states that 

 there was no trouble with the bacteria count, but that it took several 

 months to reach the fat standard, which was 4 per cent. 



Inspection of Dairy and Product. The answers from the vari- 

 ous commissions relative to inspections show considerable variation. 

 In some instances the inspections are made by members of the com- 

 mission and in others paid inspectors are employed to do the work. 

 As a rule inspections of the dairy are made monthly either by a 

 veterinarian or a member of the commission, or both, and in some 

 instances inspections are made every two weeks. The tuberculin 

 test is usually applied annually, but in some cases this is done every 

 six months. Chemical and bacteriological examinations range all 

 the way from once a week to once in two months; in most instances, 

 however, it is the practice to make tests every two weeks or oftener. 



Health of Employes. The employes in certified-milk plants 

 are required to be clean in habits and appearance and are not admit- 

 ted to the stables or dairy if not in good health. Some commissions 

 require that employes be regularly examined by a physician and 

 given certificates of health. In some certified plants attendants when 

 ill arc cared for in a building specially set apart for the purpose. 



Precautions to Prevent Spread of Contagious Diseases. Where 

 a large milk business is conducted and several thousand customers 

 are served daily, there is danger that some contagious disease may be 

 brought to the dairy in some of the bottles. To avoid this, in some 

 instances a wagon makes a special trip to collect bottles from any 

 house where a contagious disease is known to exist. These bottles 



