The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1914-04-21
Pure
milk And How 1t Can BE
Obtained
The Views OF DR.. c. {. CFidGF
OF This City
Mt. Vernon, O., April II.

IIOn. GuTe iOOu laws are 81 bhnS ShS
public has come to expect some one to
look after the food it eats, and to guar
antee it's wholesomenness.
Milk is one of the articles of our diet
that is eaten raw, to a great extent. 1t
is produced from animals that are oft
en- kept under unsanitary conditions,
it may contain large amount of con-
tamination without any visible change
in its condition. 1t is an ideal medium
for the growth of e number Of differ
ent kinds of bacteria.
All these characteristics make it
possible to sell milk that is not pure
to the unsuspecting consumer. There
will probably always be many produc
ers and dealers who will take advan
tage OF the character of the milk and
sell an impure article. They will do
this, not because they wish to sell inn
pure milk, but because it costs more
money to procure and handle milk of
high quality.
Il is cheaper and easer to let things
slide along in the old careless way,
than it is to clean up, to rebuild, to
inspect and to improve methods gen
orally.
At this point we are confronted by
distractions to reform the conservat-
ism and don't-care attitude of the pro-
ducer and dealer, and the reluctance of
the consumer to pay what clean milk
costs.
From my acquaintance with farmers
and dairymen, which is extensive,
am convinced that they generally have
pretty good excuse for the lack of
interest in clean milk production
when the consumer makes no descrim-
ination in the milk he except
on the basis of price, and is willing to
use any milk so long as ne can buy it
cheaply, there is little inducement for
the farmer to spend money producing
a first class article.
We may dispose right here of the ar
gument of clean milk can be produced
as cheaply as dirty milk, it can not be
done Clean milk means whitewashed
barns, means COWS kept clean with
brush and comb, means bedding on the
floor, means tight floor and ceiling and
sanitary surroundings, free from ex-
cessive dust in the air. 1t means men
of enough intelligence to milk in q
sanitary manner and to be able to ap-
preciate what it means to obey regu-
lations, whether the inspector is at
hand or not.
All these items cost money; dirty
milk can never be made cleam-the
dealer and the milk retailer should
understand that great part of this
educational work must devolve upon
him-he is the link between the dairy
men and the consumers. He must
know the value of clean milk and the
cost of clean milk, he must demand of
the farmer a properly produced article,
and then must demand of the consum-
er proper price for that article.
If the producer and retailer are one
and the same man, then he must com
bine the requirements just stated for
dealer and producer in one man, in
other words the business of retailing
milk in the cities should not be left
to ignorant or irresponsible parties. IT
is too important a matter.
The health and welfare of your chill
dren depend too closely ON the milk
they use, for you to be unconcerned
about the knowledge of the morals OF
the legal responsibility of the men who
deliver that article at your home.
All these considerations then point
to the necessity for careful regula
tion of milk trade; this must be the
work of the city.
Where must the regulation begin
Evidently where the milk is produced
the farm where the COWS are kept
the barn in which they are MIXED ant
the men who do the work.
The farmers have objected in the
past to the work of inspection. Per
haps we should not blame them toC
much for their unfriendly attitude to
ward the inspector often he ha'
secured his appointment because o
his political applications, rather thai
ON account Of his knowledge of farm
and cows-when an inspector shows b,
his attitude and conversation that h.
is entirely ignorant of all Orlinar
dairy and farm operations, and is a
the same time high minded and dicta
tcrial concerning what must be don
to please the city; nevertheless here
where inspection must begin-the COZ
ditions under which milk is produce
must be right.
Failure at this time can never b
remedied. Dirty milk can never b
made clean, no amount Of strainini
clarifying or pasteurizing will entirel