538 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



EEPOET OF THE DAIRY BUREAU. 



To the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of 



Massachusetts. 



The past year was the second complete year of the exist- 

 ence of the Dairy Bureau ; and its labors have been con- 

 tinued along the general lines reported a year ago, with such 

 increased efficiency as would result from increased experience. 

 The personnel of the Bureau and its executive staiEF has been 

 unchanged ; the governor reappointed the retiring member, 

 Mr. Clemence, and also the working executive officer, Mr. 

 Whitaker ; the Bureau has continued the services of Mr. 

 Stockwell in the detective and court departments. Hence 

 the work has received the full advantage not only of accumu- 

 lating ex})erience, but also of the concerted action of those 

 becomino: more and more accustomed to lal)or together. 



As we advance in the work and more fully realize its possi- 

 bilities, the meagreness of the appropriation becomes more 

 iipparent. The Bureau is given both educational and police 

 duties, covering the whole State, with an appropriation less 

 than one-half of what the city of Boston places at the disposal 

 of its milk inspector for only police work. This small sum 

 restricts us to one detective agent, where the Boston milk 

 inspector has four or five, and it also limits our expenditures 

 for expert assistance in the educational field. As the dairy 

 laws of the State relate more to commercial frauds than to 

 the public health, possibly at some time our funds may l)e 

 increased, and by friendly arrangement with the Board of 

 Health our field of operations may be enlarged without 

 encroaching on theirs. They could then be relieved of the 

 compulsion of expending three-fifths of their appropriation 

 on dairy products, and could l)e unhampered in the field of 

 health work ; while we, in harmony with them, would have 

 the dairy laws under our more especial charge, with particu- 

 lar reference to commercial frauds. 



