224 BOARD OF AGRICULTUKE. [Pu]). Doc. 



told that there seemed to be no provision of law for a penalty 

 for having such a stamp and its unauthorized use the memljer 

 of the board of health referred to said that he thought he 

 would see that the proprietor of the slaughterhouse received 

 a tip to buy his own stamp ; that, as the meat was not sold in 

 his town, it was no menace to its inhabitants, and the butcher 

 might as well do the stamping himself, and thus save the 

 expense of having it done. 



The health authorities in some cities and towns think that 

 it might be better to do away with this stamping, as car- 

 casses of animals that are unfit for food are frequently 

 branded as having been inspected ; and it would be better in 

 the cities and larger towns for the agents of boards of health 

 to use their own judgment as to what is or is not fit for 

 human food rather than to have animals marked as fit for 

 human food that should not be looked upon as such. The 

 Massachusetts law provides that calves under four weeks old 

 shall not be considered fit for veal, yet many calves are 

 killed for food that are only a few da,jii old. 



The United States rules and regulations for meat inspection 

 conflict with the State law, as they require calves to be three 

 weeks old. As a matter of fact, there seems to be little evi- 

 dence that young calves are dangerous as an article of food ; the 

 objection is largely a matter of sentiment, and immature calves 

 have less nutritive value than older, well-fattened animals. 

 Either the State law should be enforced, if it is to remain on 

 the statutes ; or, if not dosiral)le as it is, it should be revised 

 to coincide with the rules and regulations of the United States 

 Bureau of Animal Industry, or repealed altogether. 



While the United States law provides for an inspection 

 of animals slaughtered for export or interstate commerce, it 

 does not prcn ide for an inspection of animals shipped from 

 one State into another; and old, emaciated cows, frequently 

 suffering from disease, and immature calves, can l)e shipped 

 from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York or other 

 States into Massachusetts, to be killed for " beef" or "veal " 

 at slaus^hterhouses where there is no United States govern- 

 ment inspection, and the local inspection is incompetent or 

 lax. While the United States Bureau of Animal Industry 



