54 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



far too low. Science has moved forward, and they have 

 lagged behind. But as surely as day follows night the newer 

 ideas of absolute personal cleanness, healthy and well-cared- 

 for cows, sterilized utensils and quick delivery in the city, are 

 bound to prevail. Fortunate will they be who shall seize the 

 opportunity to be at the front in this new movement. 



The Chairman. In operations of modern surgery it is not 

 merely the operator and the instruments that are sterilized 

 and kept clean, but the patient himself. So now when you 

 come to the milk question, where the cow is the patient, the 

 cow herself must be sterilized and clean. Before throwing 

 this question open for discussion, I will ask Mr. Geo. 

 M. Whitaker, the assistant executive officer of the Dairy 

 Bureau, to make a few remarks. 



Mr. Whitaker. Mr. President and gentlemen : I have 

 listened with great interest to Professor Sedgwick, and I am 

 glad the State Board has invited him to be here to-day. It 

 is a fortunate event when the professor, or men of his stand- 

 ing, can state their views directly to the farmers. We oc- 

 casionally see their ideas reported in the daily papers, but 

 one of the first places for such statements is face to face with 

 the farmers themselves. 



As I listened to the professor one thought came emphati- 

 cally to mind : a point half-way between the summit of a hill 

 and the foot of it may be either " up" or " down," according 

 to the point of view. We may properly use such opposite 

 words as " up " or " down " in referring to the same place or 

 thing. In the few years during which it has been my fortune 

 to be particularly interested in the milk supply, to study it, 

 to appear before legislative committees for a good standard, 

 and to use pen and voice in behalf of the milk question, I 

 have come to the feeling that the quality of the milk supply 

 has advanced part way up the acclivity. At the same time I 

 can see how a man of Professor Sedgwick's attainments may 

 truthfully look at it as pretty well down. Although we 

 agree as to the facts, I allude to them with the word "up" 

 while he uses the word ' ' down." Among my reasons for pre- 

 ferring the word " up " are these : Professor Conn of Connec- 

 ticut, an expert in dairy bacteriology, says the Boston milk 

 supply is relatively the best of that of any city of its size in 



