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within the last few years, have now clearly proved the
necessity of strict attention to the health of cows, and
more scrupulous cleanliness in dairy management. I
have long been convinced that many of the dairies of
small Milk-dealers have rooms where Milk is received
and kept a short time before its delivery to customers,
which are in a very improper condition, and in situations
bad, for such a susceptible fluid as Milk.
I may mention some examples that have come
under my own observation of the modes in which
deleterious gases poison the air and pollute the Milk
exposed to it; so well aware of this are the chief large
Dairy-proprietors, and one in particular in this Parish,
that they invite public attention of the system they
adopt for the reception and delivery of Milk, and they
employ a competent staff of officers to advise and
report periodically upon all the matters that contribute
to the perfection of dairy management.
Three striking cases will suffice to show in detail
some of the suspicious circumstances alluded to. I have
seen Milk exposed for retail sale in a dirty shop where
fowls entered from the street by a hole in the wall,
their droppings were lying on the floor, and they laid
their eggs in a nest under the counter on which Milk
stood. The ceilings and walls were dirty throughout.
In another instance, milk was kept in a small back
parlor, used at night as a sleeping room, it smelt far
from fresh and clean during my visit in the day-time,
cases of small pox had occured in the same house a
year back, while it was used as a milk depot. In the
basement of premises in another case where milk was