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15
DAIRY FARMS, Etc.
There are 8 Dairy Farms, 10 Milk Shops, 13 Bakehouses
(3 underground), 7 Slaughter Houses, 18 Butcher's
Shops, 8 Fish Shops, and 7 Laundries. Two underground
bakehouses have not been used during the year.
All these places have been carefully and regularly
inspected, and are now on the whole satisfactory. The
sanitary standard of the Dairy Farms has been greatly
raised, in some instances by erecting new buildings in
place of old ones.
VETERINARY INSPECTION OF MILCH COWS.
I again draw your attention to the necessity of a
Veterinary Surgeon being appointed to make an examination
of the milch cows in the District.
Some of the dairy farms are inspected by their own
Veterinary Surgeon, and it has been ascertained that one
or two cows have had to be disposed of and taken to
market. In one instance a calf was transferred to a
rejected cow, probably for no other purpose than to
enhance its value.
An accident having occurred to one of the cows at a
Dairy Farm, it was found necessary for it to be killed.
The carcase was dressed for inspection and found to be
affected with tuberculosis. A careful examination was
made of the udder and mammary glands, but no trace of
tuberculosis was found.
The third interim report of the Royal Commission
appointed to inquire into the relations of human and
bovine tuberculosis has been issued. In the report the
Commissioners state:—
"Tuberculosis involving the udder is compara"tively
common in cows, and in such cases their milk
"always contains tubercle bacilli and is therefore
"dangerous for human beings consuming it. It was,
"however, undecided what is the danger, if any,
"attaching to the milk of tuberculous cows in which
"the udder presents no evidence of disease. We
"therefore took the opportunity of making a number
"of observations and experiments bearing on this
"point. The experiments were made with the milk
"of cows which had contracted the disease in the