62 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



dairymen, and, through education and cooperation and encour- 

 agement, assist him in bringing about the desired improvemenr. 

 This would not bring the r^suUs in all cases, but in very many. 

 Most dairymen would be willing to make improvements if they 

 knew exactly how to go about it. I say this advisedly, because 

 I have had charge of the work of inspecting several hundred 

 farms and I know all about their troubles. It is all right for 

 our cities to set standards for bacteria; it is all right to insist 

 that the milk shall be cooled ; it is all right to require that the 

 milk contain a certain per cent of butter fat and solids ; it is all 

 right to insist that the cows be tuberculin tested ; but the dairy 

 farmer should be assisted along all the lines by capable inspectors 

 and given the help and encouragement possible, and the city 

 should come into personal contact with the individual producer. 

 They are only just beginning to do this, which, to my mind, is 

 the most important work in securing a clean milk supply. Our 

 cities, however, are hampered by lack of funds which permit of 

 only a small number of inspectors. Dairies supplying milk to 

 some of our cities have never been reached at all. What are 

 fourteen inspectors to 30, 000 dairies? This is the situation in 

 one of our large cities. 



It is evident that only slow progress can be made in improv- 

 ing dairies under these conditions. If a sufficient number of 

 inspectors could be placed in the field to report conditions and 

 close up dirty dairies until they were put in proper condition, it 

 would go a long way toward securing a clean milk supply. One 

 small city I know of has accomplished this, and no dairy that has 

 not been approved by the Board of Health can sell milk within its 

 limits. The poor dairies ship their milk somewhere else. 



A Plan for Scoring Dairies. 



Any successful plan for the improvement of milk, must be 

 practical and must work for the good of both the producer and 

 consumer. It must be broad enough in its scope to cover all 

 conditions of dairies and must be of such a character that it can 

 be applied by City Boards of Health, milk dealers, or any organi- 

 zation working toward the improvement of milk. After care- 



