MILK HERDS 505 



obtaining drinking water from contaminated sources. Therefore, 

 at the outset of any consideration of the control of the milk supply 

 it is necessary to deal with milch herds. 



Present position. — It is a matter of common knowledge that 

 clean dairy herds do not obtain, as a general rule. Of 144 1 cows 

 inspected for the Manchester Corporation in 1 901, as many as 379 

 were " very dirty," which is equal to a percentage of 2609. The 

 veterinary inspector writes : " Nearly always bad cowsheds and 

 dirty cows are found together though occasionally this does not 

 hold good ; but, as a general rule, where you find bad insanitary 

 cowsheds you find dirty cows. When I speak of dirty cows I mean 

 not only those with dirty quarters and tails, but those in which the 

 udders are also dirty. In fact at one farm a really abominable 

 state of filth was seen. ... So plastered up with dung and dirt do 

 we find some udders that the dirt effectually masks any slight 

 abnormality, such as commencing induration." ^ Nor is uncleanli- 

 ness the only fault. In the majority of farms supplying milk, the 

 question of breed, and really careful management of the milk herd, 

 do not arise. The animals are considered and treated in a most 

 casual way. On large farms, and by well-informed and experienced 

 farmers, the matter is, of course, otherwise, but on hundreds of 

 small dairy farms no real study of the milch herd takes place. If 

 milk is yielded, and can be sold, that is deemed sufficient But, in 

 fact, that is not sufficient. 



Recommendations. — Breed. — It is evident that the present 

 volume is not the place to discuss the question of breed. We will 

 content ourselves with two brief references. " The breed of dairy 

 cattle to be most profitable must have in addition to a large 

 capacity to consume food and the quality to long sustain a large 

 flow of rich milk, the ability^ to resist tuberculous and other 

 diseases ; it must be prolific in calf-bearing ; longevity should be 

 a strong characteristic ; the animals must have kind dispositions ; 

 and all these must be blended as a strongly flowing stream in the 

 heredity of the breed " (Hays).' To improve milking stock should 

 be one of the objects of the dair>' farmer, and he should make it 

 his business to study the question in practical fashion. Ernest 

 Mathews has laid down five simple rules by which such improve- 

 ment can be brought about, namely — (i) only keep the best cows 

 and use bulls descended from the best milking dams ; (2) select 

 the calves with the best escutcheons and do not over-feed them ; 



' Report on the Health of the City of Manchester., 1901, P- 247. 

 ^ United States Year- Book., Department of Agriculture, 1901. 



