Evening star., 1896-12-18
Tagging the Cows.
E.ito: oI The Evening Star:

t. the E.itUr oI The Evening Star:
I am of phegmatic tempera ment sell
| dom indulging in mirth. even when con-
templating the yellow kid" and "Hogan's
alley but when 1 read. In late issue of
The Star. of the suggestions of the health
officer. relative to tagging the cows, which
are to furnish the lacteal fluid for Wash
ingtonians in the future. was provoked
| into fit of uncontrollabIe sidesplitting
laughter. l suppose after the proposed ta6-
ging process has been completed a repre-
sentative of the health office-alSo wearir g
a tag-will stand by. at milking time. and
| see TO it that none but tagged cows are
MIXED.
Now l. as a layman of course think 1t
would be much better plan to appoint a
competent inspector, whose duty il would
| be to visit the different dniries, and If lis
ease OF uncleanliness Were evident the pro-
pTietur be deprived of his permit, and
heavily lined. the latter being contingent
| upon the living within the jurisdic ton Of
the health office. FRED c. PERRY.
RANDOLPH, Md. December IL, 1886.
TO the Editor of The Evening Star:
To tag the cows advocated by the
| health officer of your city Is mere rot and
does rot amount to a pinch of snuff, so
far as securing pure supply of milk for
| the District is concerned. the tags are
no protection to the consumer of milk from
contf gion. and to provide against fraud 1t
would be necessary to have an. inspector
| on hand at each stable morning and even
| ing to see that the farmer did not ship
milk from untagged COWS.
For instance, suppose lot of cows
| should be examined today by veterinary
surgeon, pronounced sound and tagged.
| could that surgeon identify each and every
| COW six months heLce the ones he had
tagged? If he could he would have a host
| wonderful memory, after visiting stable
| after stable. OF course, he could keep a
| rec ord Of the description of eacn COW, and
| then the tag would be of no value.
| Doesn't the health officer know that one
or many cows could be taken sick the same
day or day after they We're examined by
| the surgeon and the milk from them ship
ped right along TO Washington without his
| knowledge? Why, tagged COW could be
| sick. get well several times over before
the inspector could get around to all OF
| the dairy farms. The tagging idea is not
| lrac teal. and even If cows should be tag
| ged the people of the District would have
| 10 trust to the honesty of the farmers
just the same as they are doing now. As
| there has been such a hue and cry raised
| about impure milk, / wonder if the healt h
| officer can prove beyond a doubt where
| che case of disease has been traced to milk
| imported into the District? l ask this
| question simply for information.
When it comes to forcing the farmers of
| Maryland and Virginia to comply with the
foolish regulations of the District. officials
Will find out that two can play at the same
game. and at the finish the farmers will
not be left behind. The people of Wash
| inston depend the rear counties of
| Maryland and Virginia for the greater por-
| tions of their supply of milk. because milk
| cannot be shipped from any great distance
| Nov. then, suppose those farmers anC!
\ they could easily dc it, should stop shipping
| milk for few days. what would bee ONE
| or the thousands of babies in Washington
| dependent upon milk for their existence ?
| Who would be the greatest sufferer, the
producer or consumer? The farmers would
| lose but little, they are only receiving
| fourteen cents gallon for milk and de-
ducting two cents from that for freight,
| leaving only twelve cents to pay for feed,
hire of help all expenses and interest on
| the money invested. Where is that re-
muneratiye Washington market? This milk
question can easily be settled by the use
OF f little good judgment on the part of
| the District officials. What's the matter
| with the health officer inviting q confer
ence between the boards of health of
| Maryland and Virginia, a delegation from
| the milk shippers and the District Com
missioners. then we would be able to get
a correct and sensible plan to work on
/ In conclusion l wish to say that L would
| suggest to the health officer that he amend
the tagging clause of the milk bill to pro-
vide against the loss of tags. so that the
cows should be branded instead Of tagged
and at the same time brand the farmer so
that all the world may know that he ts
shipping pure milk into the District of CO.
| iumbia. ARTHUR NJ MACE.