4 BULLETIN 1, IT. s. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
the milk: provides for inspection of premises, examination of cows, 
and collection and analysis of milk samples ; and includes provisions 
under which the contract may be terminated by either party entering 
into it. 
Many commissions prefer not to have any contract with their 
producers and claim that it is superfluous and unnecessary. The 
producers understand well that if their milk does not come up to 
the requirements they can not sell it. However, in cases where there 
are contracts, commissions are not at all hasty in severing relations 
with a producer when his milk falls below requirements, but make 
more frequent inspections and lend every effort at such inspections to 
help the dairyman out of his trouble. In this way when a producer 
does have trouble he often writes to know when the commission can 
send a representative to help him out of his difficulty. The efforts 
of such commissions are therefore to help and cooperate closely with 
the producer. Some commissions feel safer in the work without a 
lengthy binding contract. This plan allows a certain latitude for 
meeting conditions as they arise, and the latter vary greatly at dif- 
ferent farms, even though the dairymen all produce milk well within 
the requirements and standards. 
REQUIREMENTS AND STANDARDS. 
There has been in the past considerable diversity as to the require- 
ments of the various commissions concerning the production of certi- 
fied milk. In the spring of 1912 a report was received from 58 milk 
commissions as to the standards which they had set for both chemical 
composition and bacterial content. 
The requirements for fat range from 3.5 up to 5 per cent, while 
the standards for total solids range from 12" to 11 per cent. By far 
the greatest number of commissions required that the bacterial count 
be kept below 10.000 per cubic centimeter, one of the commissions 
requiring a count under 5.000 in the wintertime. One commission 
allowed 15,000, one 20.000. and three 30.000 bacteria per cubic centi- 
meter. It has been generally recognized, however, by those connected 
with certified-milk work that a standard of 10.000 bacteria per cubic 
centimeter is that which is usually associated with certified milk. 
In order to make the requirements more specific and to unify the 
work of the various milk commissions, the American Association of 
Medical Milk Commissions appointed a committee to draw up tenta- 
tive standards which should be adopted by the association for the 
production and distribution of certified milk. The report of this 
committee was read and accepted at the meeting of the association 
held in Louisville. Kv. May 1. 1912. and the provisions of this report 
are looked upon as standard regulations for this product. These 
rules are reprinted in the appendix of this bulletin. 
