496 MILK 



ficial influence on milk production in general. The importance 

 of bacterial counts as a guide for detecting imperfections in milk 

 production has been amply demonstrated. It has been made 

 clear that bacterial pollution in the first stages of production can 

 be controlled in large measure, and that at later stages of handling 

 or during transportation material increase in numbers of bac- 

 teria can be avoided. The effect of cleanly production and con- 

 tinued low temperature during transportation has ' been well 

 illustrated by Mr. H. B. Gurler, who sent milk from DeKalb, 

 111., to the Paris exposition in 1900. The astonishment was 

 great when it was found that after twenty-one days from the time 

 of milking the product was still sweet and wholesome. Similarly, 

 it is a common practice to take bottles of certified milk for infant 

 feeding on ocean trips. The milk will remain sweet for the period 

 of the trip if kept cold. 



Supervision of milk production by medical men and vet- 

 erinarians has shown that the disease germs of man and cattle 

 can be excluded with reasonable certainty* It is important, as 

 has been pointed out, that this kind of supervision be painstaking 

 and the work of competent experts. Careful tests for tubercu- 

 losis with tuberculin must be made at intervals of six months, and 

 all reacting cattle promptly removed. Care must be exercised in 

 regard to introduction of new animals. When all these precau- 

 tions are conscientiously carried out certified milk can be de- 

 pended upon to be of the highest quality and as free from infec- 

 tious germs as our present knowledge can make it. 



From a commercial point of view there remains much to be 

 done. Owners of some certified milk dairies claim that there is 

 no profit in production. Dairymen, as a rule, are deterred from 

 going into the business because a large capital is needed for equip- 

 ment and because the overhead expense is large. To insure a 

 safe product the control cannot be relaxed, but medical milk com- 

 missions sometimes make extraordinary demands on the producer. 

 Instead of receiving counsel the producer may lose his certificate. 

 Troubles do arise occasionally, and the commission should then 

 investigate and attempt to locate the trouble. Mistakes may 

 have a discouraging effect on producers, especially when they are 

 new to the business. At each inspection some suggestion can 

 be made, and the establishment of the producer can be gradually 

 improved to relative perfection. A friendly attitude will do more 

 good than insistance upon needless or arbitrary rules. Certified 

 milk has filled a great need, and only by intelligent co-operation 

 between producer and the commission can the greatest benefit be 

 conferred upon the public. 



It has been demonstrated that milk practically equal to cer- 



