The Newtown bee., 1908-08-14
SANITARY SUBJECTS.
SOURCES OF BACTERIA IN MILK.

The entire gauntlet that milk has tC
 run from sources of bacteria is a large
 and complex one. It is not necessary
 for any one source to be large, but it is
 the aggregate that sums up so large {
 total number of bacteria. It is the
 progressive steps from one point to an
 other, each source supplying its quots
 of organisms, that produce the large
 totals. The sources arranged in theil
 largest divisions and in logical ordel
 are the COW, the air, the milker. ant
 the milk utensils. The intelligent care which each source receives de. termines the diminution of numbers o1
 bacteria from each source. The mag. nitude and importance of the milk in. dustry demand the attention and study of every citizen. The health of a con- munity quite largely depends on the character of its milk supply. Nobody can afford to use unhealthy milk, even if it is cheap in price. Many cities receive milk that is little better than fertilizers.
 The price paid for milk does not pay  for the value of the food that It con- tains. The consumer can then afford to pay higher price for a clean, healthful milk and then get the food value in it, which is equivalent to its money value. There can be no money value placed on loss by disease, and sometimes death, caused by impure and disease-germ laden milk.
 The consumer and the producer need education on the problem of the milk supply. The one should be familiar with the needs of the other. They should associate ideas of aid rather than opposition to the demands of each other.
 The numbers of bacteria in milk are no criterion of its healthfulness. The determinations must rest on the varie- ties of bacteria even if present in very small numbers. A majority of the bacteria in the world are absolutely essential to our existence. A few va rieties are out of place when in our foods and a few are disease germs which are parasites on the human body.
 The most objectionable bacteria that get into milk are the easiest to keep out of milk. The personal education is marked factor in producing milk free from bacteria. Intelligent clean linesss is thu most important factor.
 The clothes of the ordinary dairymen carry immense numbers of organisms with dust from all sorts of contamina- tions. The milker has much wider range for the collection of a larger number and greater variety of organ isms than the COW. The only proper attire for a milker is white suit and cap to be worn only at milking time. A white suit shows dirt very readily, and when made of white duck will last a long time and can be sterilized al- most indefinitely.
 The milker may not only be the source of a very large number of harm less bacteria, but the largest source of disease germs that get into the milk. The milker may be the immediate source of disease germs transmit them from another person. The disease germs that get into milk are largely from human origin, infectious dis eases that pass from individual to in. diyidual. A grave mistake has been made in the past by allowing persons i'll with contagious diseases to enter a COW stable or dairy where milk is han dled. Many an epidemic of diphtheria, scarlet fever and typhoid has been traced to case of illness on the dairy farm, which was not properly quaran- tined and cared for. One high grade milk handling concern requires that if I,,aa.a E.