CHAPTER VII 
DAIRY FARM INSPECTION 
Tue hygienic qualities of milk depend very largely 
upon the conditions existing at the source of supply. A 
knowledge of these conditions can be obtained only by an 
inspection of the dairy farm. Collecting a sample of milk 
in the city or town and examining it in the laboratory 
will disclose certain conditions, and it will usually be cor- 
rect to infer that the same conditions exist in the entire 
volume of milk from which the sample was taken. Some 
of these conditions may be dangerous to the health of 
the milk consumer, but the milk will have been consumed 
before they have been discovered. Determining the 
number of bacteria per c.c. in a sample of milk will fur- 
nish a good basis for judging the care observed in pro- 
ducing and handling the milk, especially in regard to 
cleanliness and cooling, but it will not discover the pres- 
ence of the bacilli of typhoid fever, tuberculosis, or diph- 
theria, nor other important pathogenic organisms. Even 
if it were practicable to subject each sample of milk to 
the comprehensive examination necessary to discover 
these organisms, the milk from which the sample was 
taken would be consumed long before the examination 
could be completed. It is more rational to guard the 
milk against contamination at the source than to attempt 
to discover contaminated milk after it reaches the city 
and then exclude it from the supply. 
While it may not be possible to discover the actual 
contamination of the milk in all cases by inspecting the 
dairy farm, the conditions which permit or favor con- 
126 
