THE SANITARY FACTORS 73 



large number of the items included on the score card have 

 little or no effect upon the number of bacteria present in the 

 milk. In other words, too great emphasis is placed upon 

 unessential factors in all of the score cards studied, with a 

 consequent lessened emphasis upon the factors which ac- 

 tually do affect the milk. 



Some may contend that these findings encourage the pro- 

 duction of milk under filthy conditions. This contention 

 will be raised only by those who hold the idea that low- 

 scoring dairies are necessarily unsanitary and filthy. Such 

 conditions have, however, not been found to hold true in the 

 region studied because /ow-scoring dairies were found which 

 vied in cleanliness with the most ideal of the high-scoring 

 dairies. On the contrary, however, these facts give decided 

 encouragement to the intelligent dairyman who finds that 

 he can produce high-grade milk by the simple observation 

 of the few essential factors of cleanliness and care. This 

 places him in a position to secure a greater profit from his 

 business while at the same time he has the moral satisfaction 

 of knowing that he is selling a high-grade article. Where 

 the present score cards are used, all dairies, in order to get 

 credit for Grade A milk,* are forced to an additional expense 

 and consequently to an increased cost of production. At 

 the same time a compliance with the score-card requirements 

 carries with it no guarantee that the quality of milk will be 

 improved or rendered more safe from the standpoint of 

 public health. 



The fact that high-grade milk can be produced with simple 

 equipment, likewise gives encouragement to the consumer 

 who is as much interested in keeping down the cost of pro- 

 ducing high-grade milk as is the producer. 



The above study deals with correlation in a general 

 and unmathematical sense. A closer criticism of the 

 * New York State. 



