THE MILK SITUATION IN THE DISTRICT OP COLUMBIA. 39 



concludes with 21 suggestions concerning the treatment of cows, sta- 

 bling, milking, and conditions pertaining to the milk house, which, 

 if followed, must appeal to the intelligent observer as destined to 

 produce important results in effecting a clean and wholesome milk 

 supply. The fact is emphasized that the location of the barn and 

 establishment of the milk house with particular reference to remote- 

 ness from sources of pollution constitutes an important factor in the 

 production of pure milk, as does also the provision of an adequate 

 water supply to afford a convenient and abundant source of this essen- 

 tial adjunct of cleanliness. 



Of importance in this connection is the periodical examination of 

 the water supply of dairies. An analysis, under the auspices of the 

 Bureau of Animal Industry, of the water employed by dairy farms 

 showed that in comparatively few instances is the water free from 

 sanitary objection, though it is apparent that in most cases the im- 

 purification may be rectified with but little expense. 



NECESSITY FOR FURTHER SAFEGUARDS. 



As late as January 24, 1910, Dr. Melvin, Chief of the Bureau of 

 Animal Industry, in transmitting for publication by the Department 

 of Agriculture a series of papers on " The dissemination of disease 

 by dairy products and methods for prerention," 1 makes the statement 

 that, notwithstanding the fact that within the last few years there 

 has been great improvement in the direction of obtaining more whole- 

 some and sanitary milk, much yet remains to be done in safeguarding 

 the health of the community. To this end it is important, he con- 

 tinues, that there should be not only additional legislation and effec- 

 tive official supervision, but a better understanding on the part of 

 producers themselves and of the public concerning the dangers lurk- 

 ing in contaminated dairy products and the latest approved methods 

 of guarding against and eliminating these dangers. He renews the 

 proposal made by him to the Washington milk conference of 1907, 

 and included in its recommendations that the classification of milk 

 should provide, first, for clean raw milk from healthy, tuberculin- 

 tested cows, drawn and handled in a cleanly manner by healthy at- 

 tendants and transported and delivered to the consumer at a tempera- 

 ture not exceeding 50 F. and within the least possible time. When 

 these conditions can not be met, he urges pasteurization, " not for the 

 purpose of making bad milk good, but to render milk of doubtful 

 healthfulness safe. He further emphasizes the importance of han- 

 dling milk properly after its arrival in the home. 



Safe and clean milk can not be had without the active and energetic 

 cooperation of the farmer, the transportation agent, the dealer, and 

 the housewife, and it is only by inculcating in these various agents a 

 proper conception of the extreme care which must be observed in the 

 handling of milk to minimize the dangers resulting from impurities 

 therein that we can hope to secure substantial advancement in re- 

 ducing the inordinate amount of illness and disease communicated 

 through milk and in directly conserving in this manner the public 

 health. 



1 Circular No. 153, Bureau of Animal Industry, issued Apr. 28, 1910. 



