REPORT OF THE 



No. 55 



of that amount. Altogether, it seems well within the mark to say that dairy pro- 

 ducts are worth to this Province each year $45,000,000, giving employment to 

 thousands, affording a large market for foodstuffs, and, in turn, giving back fer- 

 tility to the soil and paying interest on an investment of over fifty million dollars, 

 exclusive of the land. 



THE GOSPEL OF THE GERMS. 



But more important, and likewise more intricate, is the question of the milk 

 supply in its relation to public health. In the scientific world there has perhaps 

 been no more remarkable development in recent years than that which concerns 

 bacteriology and the manner in which these germs may be conveyed by water, milk 

 and other carriers. Bacteria were discovered by Antony von Leenwenhock in Hoi- 



Typical Ontario Bank Barn. 



land about 1675. He was a linen draper, as history records, but his hobby was 

 grinding lenses, and one day he constructed a microscope of greater power than 

 any previously manufactured. With the aid of this he discovered what he de- 

 scribed as " animal-cules " in a few drops of water. While it seems to be agreed 

 that that was the beginning of bacteriology, little progress was" made in the ensu- 

 ing two centuries. When Koch ? in 1882, discovered the tubercle bacilli and in- 

 troduced the " plate " method of media, he virtually started the modern school 

 of bacteriology. Since that time the progress has been rapid and hundreds of 

 books have been written and hundreds of men have devoted their lives to the 

 work of research. 



The chief carriers of bacteria are water, air, soil, milk and milk products. 

 Milk, by its' very nature, is one of the best and cheapest foods known, being made 

 up as follows: 



