THE SANITARY FACTORS 77 



In public discussions of clean milk, the certified milk 

 standard of 10,000 germs per c.c. is ordinarily taken as in- 

 suring a milk which is above suspicion of uncleanliness. In 

 obtaining milk which shall be safely below this 10,000 limit, 

 it is the custom to expend much labor in washing the cows 

 and in keeping the interior of the barn scrupulously clean. . . 



Those who have followed recent discussions of germ con- 

 tent of city milk and particularly those who are familiar 

 with the extreme precautions which are taken by many of 

 the producers of certified milk will be struck by the small 

 germ content which has characterized the milk obtained [by 

 simple scientific methods] during these experiments . . . the 

 large number of counts which are under 1,000 germs per 

 c.c. . . . 



This milk was produced under general conditions which ap- 

 pear to be no better than those surrounding a considerable num- 

 ber of the ordinary city dairies, conditions which probably 

 would not be acceptable to any certified milk commission. . . . 



The important fact which is being gradually recognized 

 through these and similar observations is that the production 

 of a reasonably clean and low-germ-content milk will be a far 

 simpler and less expensive undertaking when the factors which 

 really govern its production are actually understood. 



Some of the separate factors are dealt with in the 

 conclusions as follows: 



The cleanliness of the interior of the stable, within a fairly 

 wide range, had no measurable effect upon the milk.* 



The protection of milk pails from accidental contamination 

 after they had been thoroughly steamed had a measurable 

 effect in reducing the germ content of the milk. 



* A recent number of the Journal of the American Medical Association 

 (Sept. 2, 1916, p. 746) has an editorial entitled "The relation of stable 

 air to sanitary milk," asserting that aerial contamination in milking 

 is negligible. 



