CONDITION OF COWSHEDS 



515 



considered clean. . . . Most of the cows are milked in the 

 stalls."! 



Again : " The condition of the cowsheds visited is bad. The 

 cubic air space allotted to the cows is often insufficient, as also is 

 the ventilation. Large quantities of manure were seen stored 

 adjacent to cow byres. Surprise was expressed that these arrange- 

 ments should be considered faulty." - 



The evidence obtainable from the country farms supplying 

 Manchester is in the same direction.^ The country farms visited 

 were, as a rule, found in a dirty condition. The water supply was 

 often of a questionable quality. Altogether 1 1 1 cowsheds were 

 inspected, and the greater number were found to be insanitary. 

 Some of the particulars are as follow : — 



Such figures are in no way exceptional. In a large number 

 of cowsheds the only means of lighting at all is the door, which 

 is, however, generally closed. Ventilation and drainage are 

 notoriously bad. The materials used in the construction of the 

 floors in the majority of cowsheds are not conducive either to an 

 impervious floor or to an efficient system of drainage. Large accumu- 

 lations of manure are frequently allowed in the immediate vicinity 

 of the cowshed and the water supply. Ever>' kind of filth, and 

 large pools of decomposing refuse water, are familiar adjuncts 

 surrounding cowsheds throughout England.* 



^ Twenty -Ninth Report of Local Government Board, 1899- 1 900 (Medical 

 Officer's Supplement), p. 152 (Sanitary Condition of Aldershot). 



- Loc. Cit. Thirtieth Report, 1 900-1 901, p. 136 (Sanitary Condition of Stroud 

 and Nailsworth). 



' Report on Health of City of Manchester, 1901, p. 248 ; 1902, p. 143. 



* It is unnecessary to quote further evidence in support of the deplorable 

 conditions existing in cowsheds more or less throughout the United Kingdom. 

 Reference may be made, if desired, to Report of Medical Officer of Northampton- 

 shire County Council, 1 901, pp. 96-99 ; Report of Medical Officer County Palatine of 

 Chester, 1 901, p. 112 ; Report of Medical Officer of Staffordshire County Council, 

 1900, pp. 98-101 ; 1901, pp. 96, 97. Reports from Derbyshire, Wiltshire. 

 West Riding of Yorkshire, Leicestershire, Bedfordshire, Herts, Sussex, Surrey, 

 etc., all contain the same record of insanitary' conditions in cowhouses. Take 

 an illustration from Yorkshire. In 1901, Dr Kaye inspected 24 cowsheds m 



