DAIRY INSPECTION 197 



V. SCORE CABDS 



It is important to have some system of recording 

 the conditions found on inspection by which the dairy 

 farm can be rated and classified according to a certain 

 standard. Comparisons can then be made, when desired, 

 between different dairy farms and also of the condition 

 of the same farm at different times. In addition, the 

 rating or classification, together with the details of the 

 record, will serve as a basis for an opinion as to the qual- 

 ity of milk which may be expected from each farm. These 

 ratings, or scores, if published, will also serve as a guide 

 to the consumer in purchasing milk. 



The most satisfactory system of this kind is what is 

 known as the score-card method. In this method, 100 

 is taken as a perfect score and various portions of this 

 number are assigned to different parts of the equip- 

 ment and methods, according to what is considered to 

 be the relative importance of each. Each part of the 

 equipment and the various methods are rated or scored 

 by the inspector according to the degree with which they 

 meet the standard of perfection, and the total of these 

 figures constitutes the score for the dairy farm. Sev- 

 eral kinds of score cards are in use. There is one pre- 

 pared by Dr. W. C. Woodward, health officer of the 

 District of Columbia, the originator of the score-card 

 system. A score card prepared by Prof. Raymond 

 Pearson, known as the Cornell score card, and another 

 published by the U. S. Bureau of Animal Industry are 

 also in rather general use. These three score cards are 

 printed on the following pages: 



