No. 4.] GRADING OF MILK. 167 



Nevertheless, the records of the bacterial test show that farm 

 after farm has experienced a progressive reduction in the num- 

 bers of bacteria through the observance of simple sanitary 

 precautions. The mixed milk at this station contained in the 

 month of December over 5,000,000 bacteria per cubic centimeter, 

 while in the month of April, due to the installation of the 

 laboratory and the stimulation of the bonus offered, the bacteria 

 in the mixed milk were less than 50,000 per cubic centimeter. 



At Oxford, Pennsylvania, the same milk-producing system 

 has been established. Oxford is a very large milk-shipping 

 station to which 98 dairy farmers bring their milk for shipment 

 to Philadelphia. It was not possible immediately to transform 

 such a large group of farmers into clean milk producers. They 

 were, therefore, divided into two classes, 63 of the producers 

 going to one door in the shipping station called the "Grade A 

 department," and the rest of the producers bringing their milk 

 to another part of the building, called the "Grade B depart- 

 ment." 



In this station the bacterial tests are made by a young 

 lady who was formerly the district school teacher, and who 

 was trained by the writer in making these tests. The stimula- 

 tion of the tests and the bonus acted with such force on these 

 producers that in a short time all of them graduated into the 

 "Grade A department." The records of individual farmers 

 taken from the laboratory books show in a remarkable manner 

 the reduction of bacteria from many millions under old methods 

 down to a few thousand, and even less than 1,000, as a result 

 of the adoption of new methods. 



On one of these dairy farms, in particular, having in the cow 

 stable a ceiling composed of poles, between which the hay 

 overhead hangs down, and with a dirt floor, and with only two 

 tiny windows for lighting, and without any regular cow stan- 

 chions, is a barn in which the producer is able to furnish milk con- 

 taining at times even less than 1,000 bacteria per cubic centi- 

 meter. On these same premises this dairyman produced milk 

 which took second prize and a silver cup at the Philadelphia 

 Milk Show, in competition with milk from many model dairies. 



The samples taken from the mixed milk of all of these 

 farmers at Oxford show that on October 1 there was a great 



