trict, by criminal prosecution of those responsible for the importation of the milk-the farmer who sends it in, if he can be found in the jurisdiction, or the dealer who contracts with the farmer to have the law violated and cooperates with him in its violation, or both farmer and dealer. Unless, however, the violation of the regulations is extremely grave, or unless similar offenses have been of repeated occurrence, summary action is not taken, but the offender is given an opportunity to correct conditions, or at least given an opportunity, if he be a nonresident, of showing cause why his permit should not be canceled. If he be a resident of the District, even after final action by the health officer, he has his day in court. What has been said with reference to the cancellation of permits has had reference to cancellation because of the existence of unsanitary conditions. Permits may be suspended or revoked, whether the farm be within or without the District, if the milk supply there from is exposed to infection by certain contagious diseases, but this is a matter that will be considered later."

If, then, an inspector of dairy farms has found conditions that must be corrected, he serves a notice on the responsible person requiring him to correct them within a specified period, or if the conditions are particularly bad, he may, if the farm is within the District, recommend immediate prosecution in the police court, or, if the farm is located outside of the District, he may serve at once a notice requiring the licensee to show cause on or before a given day, to the satisfaction of the health officer, why his permit should not be canceled.' If the farm be one for which no license has been issued, but for which application is pending, then, if the circumstances warrant such action, the inspector may recommend the immediate rejection of the application. Any notice prepared by the inspector is written in duplicate by means of carbon paper, the original being left on the premises and the carbon copy being forwarded to the health officer so as to reach him on the day following the day of service.

Inspectors have uniformly endeavored to cooperate with the farmer as much as possible toward securing the improvement of his premises. As an incident to the inspection of dairy farms, and in order that the dairy farmer and the health officer might be advised as fully and intelligently as possible of the inspectors' findings, the health officer devised some time ago a system of scoring dairy farms, a feature of dairy-farm inspection which has since been widely adopted. It was deemed desirable, whether a notice was served or not, to inform the farmer as accurately as possible, at each visit, of the judgment of the inspector with reference to his establishment. A certain number

a See page 714.

For forms of notice, see page 727.

Report of the Health Officer, 1904, page 27.

of points was, therefore, allowed for each general feature of the dairy farm and the inspector required to grade the establishment accordingly. The form for scoring shows the maximum number of points attainable and the number allowed by the inspector, and is printed so that by means of carbon paper a duplicate copy can be produced without additional labor. The original is left with the farmer for his information and guidance, and the carbon copy is forwarded to the health officer with the daily report of the inspector of dairy farms. With respect to the scoring of dairy farms, however, this may be fairly said: That no one can interpret the meaning of another's score card unless he knows the principle upon which the rating has been made. It is possible either to fix an absolutely ideal standard of perfection and to score every feature of the establishment on that basis, or to fix a reasonable standard, having in view the state of the dairy industry, either generally or in the vicinity and at the time when the scoring is to be done. The former method will give low scores; the latter will give higher ones. It can not be said that either method is wrong, and possibly, having in view the future state of the dairy art that is so devoutly to be hoped for, the former method is preferable. It is essential now, however, only that when we undertake to determine the significance of the scores of dairy farms we know which method has been followed. In one place, apparently, under the former method of scoring, thirty points out of a possible one hundred has been regarded as a fair passing mark. Under the other method seventy would be none too high.

Within the past year the Department of Agriculture has been testing considerable numbers of the dairy cattle supplying milk to Washington to determine which of them are tuberculous. Cattle so tested are tagged, and the identification of those that are diseased is easily made. Some difficulty has been experienced, however, in identifying and following up cattle condemned by the inspectors of dairy farms merely on the basis of physical examination. Such a cow, if found later on the dairy farm on which it was originally condemned, could, in many cases, be identified without difficulty. But if she had been transferred to any other farm she was less likely to attract attention and even if she did identification was not always easy. To minimize the difficulty of identification the health department applied to dairy cattle the principle of the Bertillon system of identification. Each inspector is provided with forms giving in profile the figure of a cow, right and left sides, and containing a space for descriptive memoranda. The forms are small, so as to be easily carried in the inspector's pocket. On such a form the inspector notes the characteristic marks of the cow condemned, and the time and place of con

a Hoard's Dairyman, April 5, 1907, page 268.

For copy of form see page 727.

demnation. The inspector subsequently carries this form with him for a reasonable time, so that if he finds anywhere a cow that seems to resemble a cow that he has condemned he can confirm or allay his suspicions.

Each inspector of dairy farms files with the health officer, daily, a report of his operations for the preceding day. In addition to this he keeps his own record of outstanding notices and as soon as practicable after the expiration of the time allowed for the correction of objectionable conditions, he visits the premises to see whether the notice has or has not been complied with. If it has been, the inspector makes report accordingly. If it has not, he takes action to enforce compliance. He may immediately serve a notice requiring the licensee to show cause, satisfactory to the health officer, why his permit should not be canceled. Or he may recommend that a letter of that purport be written by the health officer. Or, if the farm be located in the District, he may recommend immediate prosecution in the police court, and with the approval of the health officer he may institute such prosecution. If a licensee has been notified to show cause why his permit should not be canceled, and has failed to do so, or has shown no sufficient cause, then the health officer cancels the permit and notifies the licensee and his consignee or retailer, if he have one, that such action has been taken. If thereafter the milk from that farm is brought into the District the person at whose instance it is brought is prosecuted in the police court.

INSPECTION OF DAIRIES.

Two inspectors are available for the inspection of dairies-that is, of places where milk is sold within the District of Columbia-and for the collection of samples of milk. The number of licensed dairies within the District, independent of those located on dairy farms, is 77. The number of places where milk is sold as a mere incident to some other more general business, which places must be regarded as dairies only for purpose of inspection and not for purpose of licensing, is considerable, probably as many as 1,500. The exact number, however, is not known, as such places are registered only as grocery stores, lunch rooms, and so on, and not as milk shops. They begin the sale of milk at the pleasure of the proprietor, discontinue it when he is ready, and resume the business at will; and the health officer knows nothing of it. Many of the latter class of places, however, being grocery stores, come not only under the occasional observation of the inspector of dairies, but also under the more frequent observation

a For copy of form see page 727.

See page 694.

of the food inspectors assigned to the supervision of markets ar green-grocery stores. In view of the considerable amount of time · necessarily consumed in bringing samples of milk collected to the health office from the places of collection, and with a view to increas ing the amount of attention paid to the sanitary condition of dairie it has been deemed best to assign one inspector solely to the sanitary inspection of dairies, requiring him to collect no samples of milk.c to collect them as an incident to his other work. The other inspector is detailed primarily to the collection of samples of milk from dairies. lunch rooms, and grocery stores, and other places where milk is han dled for sale, and from the railroad stations where milk is received. any inspections of dairies which he may make being merely incidenta. thereto. The average number of inspections to which each license! dairy was subjected during the year ended June 30, 1907, was 225 The average number of inspections made daily by the inspector of dairies was 6.5.

In the inspection of dairies, the inspector is guided primarily by the regulations for the government of dairies and dairy farms promulgated under the authority of the act of March 2, 1905. He enforces, however, any and all laws and regulations relating to the sanitary condition of the premises which he visits. Enforcement is ordinarily effected through the service of a notice allowing a certain amount of time for the correction of the objectionable conditions. A carbon copy of each notice is filed with the health officer, with the daily report of the inspector, on the day following the day of service. the original being left with the person to be notified. If the conditions which the inspector finds are so excessively bad as to warrant such action, he not only gives instructions for their immediate correction, but, with the approval of the health officer, institutes criminal proceedings in the police court at once. In the ordinary cases. however, after the expiration of the time allowed by the notice which has been served, the inspector visits the premises and if objectionable conditions have been corrected he so reports. Otherwise, unless there is reason for allowing further time, police court proceedings are then instituted. A scheme for the rating of dairies has recently been devised and is now in use.

In order to insure careful work on the part of the inspector, and to facilitate the keeping of the records in a form convenient for reference, he is required to certify on each score card that all laws and regulations, except such as he specifies in his certificate, have been complied with, and that proper action has been taken to correct such conditions as he reports as unlawful. If no exceptions are enumerated then the inspector must go on record as certifying that everything is all right. A copy of the inspector's score card relating to any given dairy is filed in a jacket reserved for that dairy, with all

other papers relating to the establishment, another copy having been furnished the dairyman for his information and guidance."

INSPECTION OF MILK.

The inspector charged with the collection of samples of milk is expected to bring into the department daily not less than 20 samples of milk. He collected during the year ended June 30, 1907, 4,960 samples of milk and cream, an average of 16 samples for each work day, including half holidays as full days. These samples he obtained in the open market from dairies, grocery stores, lunch rooms, or other places where milk is sold, or from milk wagons, or at the railroad stations where milk from the dairy farm first reaches the city. Milk is obtained by purchase whenever anyone is present to receive the money, but in collecting samples at the railroad stations no charge. is ever made. Money for the purchase of samples is advanced by the inspector out of his own funds, and he is reimbursed each month for the amount thus expended. Vouchers for such reimbursement must be sworn to by the collector and approved by the chemist or the inspector detailed to assist him, such approval being based upon the quantity of milk actually delivered at the laboratory as shown by the laboratory record. The voucher may call for reimbursement for less milk than has been delivered at the laboratory, since in some cases no payment can be made at the time of collection, but it can not call for

more.

While one-half pint of milk is sufficient for purposes of analysis, yet in view of a decision of the court of appeals (D. C. . Garrison, 22 Appeals, D. C. 563) it is necessary for the collector to purchase a pint whenever the vendor claims to sell nothing less than pints, unless the inspector is able to show that he sells in smaller quantities. In view of the court's decision, moreover, the department has felt compelled to purchase quart samples whenever it has been alleged by the vendor that he sold only in unbroken packages and had nothing smaller than 1 quart on hand, the department not being prepared to prove a contrary practice. It might be good administration to require the collector to undertake to mix a pint or a quart sample on the premises of the vendor and to take therefrom so much as might be required for analysis and to dispose of the remainder then and there. In view of the difficulty, however, of thoroughly agitating a pint of milk in a pint bottle, or a quart of milk in a quart bottle, and to avoid, in event of prosecution, attack on the ground of the alleged inaccuracy or unfairness of the sample thus taken, it has been deemed best to require the inspector to bring whatever milk he collects to the health

For copies of forms used in the dairy-inspection service, see pages 729–730. For a statement relative to this decision, see page 698.