280 THE COMMON SENSE OF THE MILK QUESTION 



Bonal factor can never be wholly eliminated, but it can 

 be reduced to a minimum. It is not enough to tell 

 the farmer that his stable is badly constructed or 

 that it is not clean. The score card ought to tell 

 him just exactly where the faulty construction or 

 the lack of cleanliness lies. It is not enough to have 

 a card which allows ten points for a stable that is 

 entirely satisfactory to the person drawing up the 

 card, and then to have another person, with possibly 

 another ideal of what a stable should be, go and 

 arbitrarily allow the farmer only five points. The 

 card should show upon its face exactly what defects 

 caused the low award of the inspector. In the event 

 of the farmer's feeling that his score is unfairly low, 

 he ought to be able to check the award, point by point. 

 And the reviewing officer ought to be able to tell by 

 reading the card whether the award made by his 

 subordinate is fair and just. 



How important this aspect of the problem of 

 inspection is the following personal experience may 

 serve to illustrate: In company with a physician 

 who has long been identified with the milk reform 

 movement, a man of unusual knowledge and fine 

 judgment, I went through a stable in Orange County, 

 New York. We agreed that each should fill in a 

 popular score card, with the result that my friend 

 marked his "Very Good" and awarded the stable 

 95 per cent of the marks allowed, while I marked 



