2 5 2 MILK AND THE PUBLIC HEALTH CH . xv 



new good supplies were found on these farms. He remarks : 

 " Excluding the public supplies, and taking only wells, springs, 

 etc., into account, I find that I have been able to pass 187 

 water supplies, while I have condemned 188. This indicates 

 that 50 per cent of the waters on farms are polluted." 



5. Farm Dairy. Nothing is more noticeable, as a rule, 

 than the contrast between the state of the cowshed and the 

 condition of the dairy. The dairy is usually scrupulously 

 clean, and often is an airy and satisfactory place. As a rule 

 the milk to be sold never goes near the dairy. 



B. THE MILKING PROCESS 



It may be said as a general broad dictum that, upon the 

 ordinary farm, arrangements for performing the milking process 

 so as to avoid contamination of the milk are rarely adequate, 

 and for the most part their need seems to be scarcely recognised. 

 The milk pail may be clean, but that is usually all that is 

 clean. 



The place of milking is usually the dusty byre, although 

 in many parts of the West of England much out-of-door 

 milking is done. The cow's hind-quarters, ungroomed and 

 dung-laden, add their quota of manure to the milk. Fig. 

 16 is an illustration of dirty cows, and one only too common. 

 The long, untied-up, manure-stained tails of the cows are flicked 

 about and assist in further contaminating the milk. The udder 

 may be superficially clean, but usually shows dried dung 

 adherent to the hairs. Even when apparently clean, an 

 inspection of water used for washing it will demonstrate that 

 its cleanliness is only a matter of degree. 



The milker, now generally a man, milks as if milking was 

 a work on a level with manure carting, and requiring as much 

 or as little personal care ; indeed, he will go from the one to 

 the other with equal readiness and indifference. His dust- 

 laden dirty clothes are but rarely hidden by an overall, and 

 if one has been provided in a hygienic moment, or as the result 

 of outside pressure, one it remains, and is used over and over 

 again without washing, until its smooth texture is the only 

 thing left in its favour. 



Farmers frequently direct (or tell the medical officer that 



