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12
1858.—The milk supply of some parts of this district
is very inferior in quality. I have examined samples of it
which are considerably reduced with water, and probably
by the extraction of cream. The cows are in many instances
constantly confined to stalls, are fed upon stimulating food,
and live in an impure atmosphere. This form injures the
animals' health, and also deteriorates the quality of the milk.
1873. Milk is the most important of all aliments, as
many infants derive their sole nutriment from it, and invalids
and children are dependent upon it as an article of diet. It
is liable, however, to absorb impurities both from air and
water; therefore scrupulous care must be used to remove all
noxious effluvia from the neighbourhood of dairies. Water
is used occasionally to increase bulk in milk, and this liquid
when impure has been shown to be the means of conveying
disease.
Cowhouses and Slaughterhouses.
1856.—I am decidedly of opinion that a closely inhabited
neighbourhood is a most unfit place for animals to
be kept in, and that in such a locality no animal can be "so
kept" as to avoid becoming a nuisance and (in many states
of the atmosphere) injurious to health. If every inhabitant
householder were allowed the right of keeping pigs, cows, &c.,
a town would be intolerable. Further, the health of animals
requires an abundance of space, and a large supply of fresh
air.
1864.—The Cowhouses and Slaughterhouses of the district
have been inspected, and in one or two instances the
licenses have been opposed, from the fact that they were
erected in the midst of inhabited houses, and that they were
not kept in a sufficiently clean state.
With some exceptions in this district, the animals are
turned out to grass in the summer time, and brought up to
the cowhouses in winter.
But it is my opinion that cowhouses and slaughterhouses
should not be allowed to be erected in the midst of dwelling
houses, as, 1st, they must depreciate the value of property in