MEDICAL MILK COMMISSIONS AND CERTIFIED MILK. 13 
is being elevated. It will show that it is practicable for any medical 
association to form such a commission, which, once formed, will be 
most useful in educating the public as well as the profession and in 
creating a demand for a cleaner milk supply, and will thus further 
the efforts of boards of health. 
THE PRODUCTION OF CERTIFIED MILK. 
EQUIPMENT AND METHODS. 
In the following pages is given a short description of the equip- 
ment and methods that are used at the present time among the various 
dairies that produce certified milk. 
The Dairy Division is ready at any time to furnish working blue 
prints for the construction of barns and milk houses in which certified 
milk may be produced and handled. 
STABLES. 
The stables in which the cows are housed for the production of 
certified milk are built of various materials and vary greatly as to 
their arrangement and cost. In the past certified stables have been 
built mostly of wood or brick, but of late there have been a few 
stables erected entirely of concrete. Feeding floors, walks, and gut- 
ters are nearly always built of cement, and in a number of cases the 
platform on which the cows stand is also built of this material. 
Some certified dairies use wood for this purpose, and a few are using 
cork brick for the cows to stand on. 
While many of the certified barns at the present time are built 
with a storage loft for feed overhead, it is thought that the best 
practice is to have the cows in a separate one-story structure. 
A great deal of money has been spent in some certified-milk plants 
in finishing the stable in an elaborate manner with tile and expensive 
trimmings. Experience would seem to show that good results can 
be secured in an inexpensive barn, provided the proper precautions 
are observed. The floors should be smooth, nonabsorbent, and easily 
cleaned ; the gutters should be capacious ; the walls and ceilings should 
be absolutely smooth so that they may be easily kept free from dust 
and other dirt. Square corners and ledges should be avoided. The 
barns which are most easily kept clean are built with rounded corners 
and no horizontal ledges where dust may accumulate. It facilitates 
work if running water is available in a barn, so that the floors and 
walls may be washed down with a hose. 
At least 500 cubic feet of air space and 4 square feet of window 
glass per cow should be allowed. Many certified stables are built 
with a much greater window allowance. Sunlight acts as a disin- 
fectant in the stable and adds much to the attractiveness of the 
building. 
Views of stables are shown in Plates I and II. 
