No. 4.] SANITARY MILK. 101 



They are more free from dust than straw or stalks, or any- 

 thing of that kind. Some men moisten the bedding. I 

 don't believe damp bedding is good for the cows to lie on, 

 and those men may be sorry by and by ; but, with a con- 

 stant endeavor to hold down the count, they do it. In con- 

 nection with this, I will say that at Mr. Wieting's farm two 

 years ago they used two-year-old straw from the bottom of 

 the mow, and they had to discontinue it, because the count 

 went up so high. 



Ml". L. W. West (of Hadley). What damage do these 

 bacteria do to the human body ? I have been drinking them 

 for fifty years or more, and I can't see that I have suffered 

 from them so far, — perhaps because I drink only skim milk ; 

 I can't aiford any other kind. I would like to know what 

 that skim milk is worth. 



Mr. Dawley. Unfortunately, all the experiment stations, 

 in determining the value of skim milk, have directed the 

 work along the line of feeding calves and swine. I don't 

 know much about your laws, but I do believe, from the fact 

 that we do not allow skim milk to be sold in New York 

 State, many people are deprived of a first-class food. I be- 

 lieve there are many people who will get almost as much 

 nutrition out of good, fresh skim milk as those same persons 

 would get out of the whole milk. There is a good food 

 value in the fat in the milk, but it isn't everybody who can 

 assimilate that fat. I believe skim milk is a good food, not 

 only for beast, but for man. 



In relation to the bacteria, we haven't attempted to enter 

 into any discussion as to what has l)een done by the various 

 medical societies in reducing the death rate of the children in 

 the cities simply from getting a better milk supply, and I 

 am not sure that I could give you the exact figures from mem- 

 ory. In New York City, children fed from the milk sent out 

 from the Strauss laboratory, practically certified milk, no 

 pathological germs to be found in it, show a marked improve- 

 ment. In those families where it was used, the death rate 

 of children under two years of age, for one summer, showed 

 56 per cent less than where fed on market milk purchased 

 from the stores and delivered from the wagons. In every 



