138 MODERN DAIRY PRACTICE. 



the special supervision of the consumers it would act 

 highly beneficially and educationally for the whole milk 

 business; with their naturally higher sense of cleanliness 

 the housekeepers would be able to call the attention of the 

 milkman to many conditions deleterious to the cleanliness 

 of the milk that may not have come under his observation. 



Their influence is especially necessary for starting a 

 reform regarding stables situated in small towns; accord- 

 ing to my observations these are generally almost below 

 criticism, as far as cleanliness is concerned. My investi- 

 gations of the milk from different city stables have further 

 verified this fact. 



On approaching such a stable we find stinking manure 

 and other filthiness outside the door, and the air in the 

 stable and around it as a result becomes intolerable, espe- 

 cially on warm days. The stable air is often so bitter and 

 sharp that it makes the eyes of the visitors smart, and 

 when the door is closed complete Egyptian darkness reigns. 

 This darkness has a bad influence on the keeping quality 

 and paiatability of the milk, as is plain to every one who 

 has studied the preceding chapters. Still more shocking 

 than the accommodations are the animals in such a stable. 

 They are usually dirty and unbrushed from horns to tail, 

 and manure particles may be seen all over their bodies 

 We readily see how these conditions will influence the milk 

 produced by the cows. 



The filthy condition of many of these stables arise first 

 of all, I suppose, from the fact that they usually are very 

 narrow, dark, and poorly arranged, but other factors also 

 contribute to the result; litter is expensive in cities and 

 towns, and the cows are fed large quantities of concen- 

 trated feeds, brewers' grains, distillers' slump, etc., which 



