164 THE MILK QUESTION 



In general it may be said that an inspector who reports 

 upon fifty dairy farms a week is making a good average. 

 From the administrative standpoint it would be better 

 to require two hundred a month under ordinary condi- 

 tions. At this rate one inspector is able to inspect about 

 two thousand farms a year. The number of farms which 

 may be inspected varies of course with the methods, their 

 distance from each other, the roads, the means for trans- 

 portation, etc. First inspections naturally take much longer 

 than reinspections. Every dairy farm should be inspected 

 not less than once in six months. 



More inspection is needed in the early morning and late 

 evening hours, when the cows are in the stable, and less at 

 noon, when there is little to see. The inspector's visit 

 should be unannounced and the route should be varied, for 

 farmers soon learn to know when the inspector is in the 

 neighborhood, which gives them a chance to clean up in 

 preparation for his visit. 



An honest, capable officer is more important than the 

 law. It is easy to make laws and it is a simple matter to 

 appoint inspectors, but it is practically impossible to pur- 

 chase enthusiasm and conscientiousness, especially at the 

 prevailing rates. People should not expect Pasteurs, Kochs, 

 Darwins, Huxleys, or Newtons to apply for the position 

 of milk inspector at a salary of from six to nine hundred 

 dollars a year. 



A good man may accomplish wonders with a poor law 

 and imperfect regulations. A poor man will make a mess 

 of it with good laws and perfect regulations. 



The score-card system. Score cards and a tactful inspector 

 are the essence of a good system. The score card is a 

 mathematical photograph of the sanitary conditions of the 

 dairy farm. Without a score card it is exceedingly difficult 

 to make a thorough and systematic inspection; in fact, it 

 would be quite impossible to do so without long experience. 

 The score card has an educational value for the inspector 



