CHAPTER XII 
CONTROL OF THE MILK-SUPPLY 
A better regulation of the milk-supply is emphatically needed, 
and this need has become more and more evident as the facts 
enumerated in the last chapter have been gradually disclosed. 
It would enable the dairyman to avoid the many troubles due to 
undesirable organisms and would be to the public at large a 
means of protection from the illnesses due to milk. In conse- 
quence of this need, a series of regulations and suggestions have 
arisen looking toward the improvement in the quality of milk. 
We may best consider these under three heads: (1) Dairy prob- 
lems. (2) Transportation problems. (3) Public control. 
I. DAIRY PROBLEMS 
Manifestly the first place demanding attention in the attempt 
to reduce the possibile evils resulting from undue bacterial con- 
tamination is the dairy. The primary lesson to be learned here is 
the need of cleanliness. But there are several subordinate 
divisions of this general subject. 
The Cow.—The health of the cow is a matter of such great 
importance that it hardly needs to be said that no sickly cow 
should be allowed to contribute to the milk-supply. All tubercu- 
lous cows, in particular, should be excluded, or their milk used 
only after pasteurization. Every dairyman should be on the 
watch for udder troubles, and if any signs of hardness, of inflam: 
mation, or of running sores appear on the udders, or if the animal 
gives bloody milk, she should at once be excluded from the milk- 
producing herd until completely recovered. The presence of 
streptococci in milk can be detected readily by means of the micro- 
scope; and often it is of value to the farmer to have a microscopic 
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