19O9 MILK COMMISSION. 55 



"The injurious effects of table food to infants under a year old, and of fruits 

 to all infants and young children in cities, in hot weather, should be much more 

 generally appreciated/' 



HIGH STANDARDS AT BROOKSIDE FARM. 



About sixty miles from New York is the city of Xewburgh. About two miles 

 from the city of Newburgh is the Brookside Farm, famed for its production of 

 ideal milk. Being one of the best known of these institutions on the continent, 

 it was visited by the members of your Commission. While it is conducted on the 

 same broad, general principles as the Tully Farms, described in some detail in 

 previous pages, even more scrupulous care is exercised in some points. It is not as 

 extensive as the Tully, but instead of being the property of a large company, it is 

 owned and operated by Mr. S. L. Stewart as a commercial enterprise, and is un- 

 derstood to be paying a profit. The milk has been contracted for by a large New 

 York firm for a period of years at 15 cents per quart on the farm, and is being 

 retailed in New York at 20 cents a quart. In summer time it is sometimes shipped 

 to the wealthy at their summer homes at a total cost of 75 cents a quart. 



To show the minuteness of the care necessary to render such prices possible, 

 a few points may be mentioned. The walls and ceiling of the milking room are 

 pure white, covered with imported enamel paint presenting a surface like glass. 

 This is washed thoroughly every day. The stanchions are inch and a quarter pipe, 

 and they are also washed thoroughly every day. To get into this room it is ne- 

 cessary to pass through two doors, one of which was closed before the other opened, 

 thus preventing the possibility of dust. The cows are clipped every three weeks 

 and aie groomed, washed, scrubbed and dried before milking. Warm water is 

 used and in drying the udder only one towel is used to each cow. When we visited 

 the stable shortly after milking, not the slightest cow odour could be detected 

 even by rubbing the hand over the cow's udder. Mr. Stewart stated that a luncheon 

 had once been served in the stable to a party of medical and scientific men. In 

 the milking, the men wear white suits, sterilized not once a day but twice a day, 

 so that a clean suit is used for each milking. The same care is carried on in hand- 

 ling the milk and sterilizng the bottles. The cows are mostly Jersey or Guernsey. 



With such minute sanitary precautions, it might be expected that the bacteria 

 count would be low. In fact the Brookside Farm claims the honour of being one 

 of the few places on the continent where absolutely germless milk has been produced. 

 This feat has been accomplished several times, while the averages for months at 

 a time frequently go below 100 per cc. 



SYSTEM OF STATE COMPENSATION. 



To ascertain the position of the State authorities on the question, your Com- 

 mission visited Prof. C. A. Publow, at Cornell University, where the Dairy Branch 

 of the Department of Agriculture is located, and G-. L. Flanders, Assistant Com- 

 missioner of Agriculture, and Dr. Devine, Chief Veterinarian at the State Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture at Albany. 



New York State maintains a large veterinary staff and is giving considerable 

 attention to the question of the tuberculin test. The test has not been made com- 

 pulsory, but it has been encouraged by free testing and the granting of compensa- 

 tion for slaughtered animals. The Commissioner of Agriculture is empowered to 

 direct the quarantining or slaughtering of any animal found to be tubercular on 



