THE SANITARY FACTORS 71 



The most representative of the various cards which 

 have been devised is that adopted by the United States 

 Department of Agriculture in concurrence with the 

 National Association of Dairy Instructors and Investi- 

 gators. The most important feature of this card is its 

 separation and weighting of equipment and methods: 

 to the former a total of 40 points is allotted; to the 

 latter, 60. 



The score-card method has been commonly ac- 

 cepted as the standard basis of inspection and record- 

 ing, both for dairies and for milk plants. Dairy scores 

 have come to be widely taken as indicating, at least 

 approximately, the quality of milk produced under 

 the given conditions and are frequently published as 

 ratings of milk supplies. Score requirements have 

 been generally incorporated in grading systems and, 

 in one case at least (New York State), have been au- 

 thorized as a sole basis of grading. The exact value of 

 the score card demands, therefore, most careful con- 

 sideration. 



The Dairy Score Card Under Criticism 



It is a curious fact that the score card has been so 

 unconsciously accepted as a sanitary index that little 

 attention has generally been paid to the question of 

 the exact relation between dairy scores and bacteria 

 counts.* Such study as has been devoted to the matter, 



* Throughout the following discussion it is assumed that the ordinary 

 bacteria count, properly performed according to standard methods, is 

 a fairly accurate criterion of biological cleanliness. Discussion of the 

 exact merits and present status of the count is beyond our present 

 scope. See, however, paragraph c, p. 74, and notes on pp. 92, 94. 



