THE MILK SITUATION IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 25 



form the merits of the farms and dairies concerned with the Wash- 

 ington milk supply. The use of these cards has not been confined to 

 our own country, the provincial board of health of Ontario, Canada, 

 having, for example, recommended their adoption by all of the local 

 boards of health in its jurisdiction. 



The score-card system of dairy inspection, which has been objected 

 to in some respects by the representatives of the local dairymen's 

 association, is not new, this method of rating dairies and dairy farms 

 having been introduced by Dr. Woodward as early as January 9, 1904, 

 and having since, as stated, met with very general acceptance through- 

 out the country. The system of scoring received the indorsement of 

 the Dairy Division of the Department of Agriculture, which believed 

 it to be useful in the improvement of the milk supply. A somewhat 

 modified form of score card was prepared by the Dairy Division on 

 July 1, 1906, having in view its general adaptability to all sections 

 of the country. This form has been introduced and adopted in a 

 number of cities, improvements having been made in the card from 

 time to time, as indicated by practical experience. There is abun- 

 dant proof that the score-card system produces immediate and per- 

 manently beneficial results wherever it is put in practice, it having 

 been demonstrated, for example, during a period of six months at 

 Richmond, Va., that the average score of 20 dairy farms increased 

 from 33.4 to 56.8, showing an improved percentage of 23.4 in six 

 months and furnishing an indication of the possibilities of improving 

 dairy conditions through the score-card system. Copies of the score 

 cards in current use by the District health department and those rec- 

 ommended by the Department of Agriculture are appended (Ap- 

 pendix L). 



The score-card system of dairy-farm inspection has, since 1904, 

 been introduced into 131 cities, the Department of Agriculture having 

 even extended the use of the card to the rating of the sanitary condi- 

 tions of renovated-butter factories throughout the country. 



The relative importance attached to the items of equipment and 

 methods prevailing on dairy farms and in dairies connected with the 

 production and distribution of the local milk supply appears to the 

 committee to be reasonable and calculated to stimulate diligent clean- 

 liness and care in the handling of milk in its journey from the cow 

 to the consumer. While the items embraced in the cards and the 

 ratings assigned appear to the committee to be generally reasonable 

 and appropriate, the committee is impelled to believe that the deduc- 

 tion from the score of the smaller producer and dealer on account o* 

 his inability or failure to provide certain machinery (such as be 

 tling and capping machines) and to set apart in the perhaps limited 

 space occupied by his establishment a separate room as a salesroom 

 is unreasonable, and that unless these appurtenances be expressly 

 required by law or regulation the system of scoring should be 

 amended in this respect so as to rate the producer or dairyman ac- 

 cording to the cleanliness of his actual equipment and of the methods 

 which obtain in his handling of the commodity. 



Since the adoption of the score card for rating dairies and dairy 

 farms, there has been considerable diversity of opinion as to whether 

 the rating should be based on an ideal condition which each dairy 

 or farm might be hoped to approximate, or whether the rating should 

 coincide with such a reasonable standard as might be expected to be 



