Vol. LXIX. No. 4038 
NEW YORK. MARCH 19, 1910 
WEEKI.Y, $1.00 PER YEAR 
THE NEW YORK MILK SUPPLY. 
AN INSPECTED DAIRY. 
What Improvements Will Cost. 
About the first of April, 1909, I received a call from 
a dairy inspector for the Health Department of New 
York City. This was my first experience, but I had 
heard from my neighbors that former inspectors had 
been ignorant, disagreeable, or both. This one, how¬ 
ever, was very pleasant and gentlemanly, and seemed 
to understand his business. He looked over my barn, 
and commended a number of things in it. He said 
that, in order to have a safe water supply, the closet 
should be made into an earth closet, and there should 
be some ventilation in the barn, besides the hay chutes. 
The closet we were intending to change, and we did 
so at once. As the stable was 40x90 feet, a little over 
eight feet in height, I did not think that more ven¬ 
tilation was necessary, with only 14 head of stock, 
and 30,000 cubic feet of air space. After this Win¬ 
ter’s experience, however, I think that he was right. 
The weather was so cold much of the time that I 
had to plug up the hay 
chutes with hay to keep 
the barn warm enough, 
and this caused more 
dampness in the base¬ 
ment than -there should 
be. While I have no 
doubt that there was 
enough oxygen in the air, 
I think there was too 
much moisture and too 
many impurities for the 
best results with the 
cows. I believe that a 
couple of muslin curtains 
would remedy this with¬ 
out making the barn very 
much colder. 
The inspector spoke of 
a few more things which 
he said were recommend¬ 
ed, but were not insisted 
on. I questioned him 
about the demands which 
had been made the pre¬ 
vious year, and he said 
that they did not expect 
to be able to enforce all 
these demands, as the 
milk supply would drop 
off immediately if this 
were attempted. He then 
departed, leaving behind 
him a pleasant impres¬ 
sion, and a list of the 
recommendations of the 
Board of Health print¬ 
ed on a piece of cloth, 
which was to be tacked up prominently in the barn. 
1 hese recommendations make fine reading. All one 
has to do, when discouraged by the diminutive size of 
die current milk check, and the magnificent propor¬ 
tions of the grain bill, is to sit down and build air 
castles. The foundation for these air castles would 
be the sum of money necessary to carry out the 
recommendations. Of course, if one had that much 
money, he would retire from farming, and. live “high” 
on the interest, instead of investing it in a losing 
proposition. 1 lie recommendations are to take five 
or ^ en thousand dollars (source not mentioned), and 
build a certified milk plant. In this new plant, one 
ls su Pposed to give the cows a sponge bath twice a 
day, a 1 urkish bath every three weeks, and see that 
they brush their teeth every morning, and gargle with 
listerine. One should spray his silage with some per¬ 
fume, preferably “new mown hay,” and milk only in 
a dress suit, the same to be cleaned every day. This 
cloth document does not say what is to be done with 
the milk thus produced, but it is presumably to be 
mixed with the diluted manure furnished by some 
other dairymen, in order to lower the bacterial count 
in theirs. 
On April 29 I received the following communication 
from the Department of Health: 
Dear Sir—At a recent inspection of your dairy prem¬ 
ises, an inspector of this department found certain un¬ 
sanitary conditions, and reports that on a perfect score 
of 100 your dairy scores 54 per cent. The following 
recommendations have been made by the inspector: 
That the ceiling be thoroughly swept down, and kept 
free from hanging straw, dirt and cobwebs. 
That the window panes be washed and kept clean at 
all limes. 
That the cow stable be provided with some adequate 
means of ventilation, either by a construction of suffi¬ 
cient air chutes, extending from the room in which the 
THE SORT OF YOUNG STOCK WE GROW IN WASHINGTON. Fig. 131. 
cows are kept, to the outside air, by the installation of 
muslin curtains in the window openings, or by some ap¬ 
proved system of ventilation. 
That the interior of the stable be thoroughly cleaned, 
and either whitewashed or painted with some light- 
colored paint. 
That the walls and ledges be thoroughly swept down 
and kept free from dirt, dust, manure or cobwebs at all 
times. 
That all live stock, other than cows, be excluded from 
the room in which the milch cows are kept. (Calf or bull 
pens may be allowed in the same room, if kept in the 
same clean and sanitary manner as the cow beds.) 
That an inspection of the herd by a veterinarian be 
made, and a copy of his report forwarded to this depart¬ 
ment. 
That the long hairs on the belly, flanks and udders 
be clipped and kept short at all times, to prevent any 
clinging manure and filth from dropping into the milk. 
That the udders and teats of the cow be thoroughly 
cleaned before milking; this to bo done by a thorough 
brushing and the use of a cloth and-warm water. 
That the first few streams or fore milk from each teat, 
on account of its poor quality and harmful bacteria, be 
discarded. 
That the milk-pails used be of the small-mouthed de¬ 
sign, so constructed that they can be readily and thor¬ 
oughly cleaned, with top opening - not to exceed eight 
inches in diameter. 
That a properly constructed milk h*usc be provided, 
with sufficient light and ventilation, floors properly graded 
and water-tight and not to be directly connected with 
the cow stable. 
That a supply of clean water be provided, to cool the 
milk to 50 degrees Fahrenheit within two hours after 
milking. 
That the privy be located not nearer than 100 feet 
from the source of the water supply, or else be provided 
vs ith a water-tight box that can be readily removed and 
cleaned, and so constructed that at no time will the con¬ 
tents overflow, or saturate the surrounding ground. 
That a pure, wholesome, and uncontaminated supply 
of water be provided at once. 
No milk which has been produced or handled on these 
premises will be permitted to be brought into the City 
of New York unless con¬ 
ditions are remedied with¬ 
in a reasonable time. Any 
further information which 
you desire in relation to 
this matter may be ob¬ 
tained from the Chief of 
the Division of Sanitary 
Inspection, Department of 
Health, Fifty-fifth street 
and Fifth avenue, who is 
to be notified as soon as 
these improvements are 
completed. 
Respectfully, 
Several illegible 
hieroglyphics, 
Secretary. 
Before taking this let¬ 
ter up in detail it will 
be well to give a few 
words of explanation. 
The barn had been re¬ 
cently raised and a new 
basement put under it. 
The work of ceiling it 
had been finished only 
about a month or six 
weeks, so that it had 
hardly had time to get 
dirty, especially as the 
cows face the walls. 
There are 13 full-length 
windows. The floor is 
cement throughout. The 
manure is hauled away 
every day in the Winter, 
and two or three times 
a week in the Summer. 
I give the details to show 
that if conditions in 
such a barn are still unsatisfactory, it would be ex¬ 
tremely difficult for some dairymen to alter their barns 
sufficiently to suit the Board. The dairy was 
run in an economical manner and was composed of 
good cows, nearly all of them giving six or seven 
thousand pounds a year. The milk was shipped to 
New York in the Winter, and was taken to a cheese 
factory in the Summer, where it brought a much 
higher price than at the shipping station. In spite of 
this good management, the income from the milk and 
calves failed to equal the cost of feed and labor, by 
nearly $2 per cow. I do not want it to be understood 
that I am opposed to sanitary milk, for I am not, but 
I am strongly of the opinion that if better milk is 
necessary, the expense should be borne by those who 
