tuberculosis in hogs. For a number of years packers whose hogs are killed under the eye of a competent Government inspector have found their losses by reason of tuberculous hogs increasing in proportion. They uniformly assert at the present time that their regular loss by reason of tubercular hogs for which they have paid full price runs from one to two per cent; that from dairy localities the percentage is higher than elsewhere; that skimmed milk and buttermilk fed hogs show the highest percentages of tuberculosis. Of course the farmer receives nothing less for his hogs to cover this loss to the packer, but even so small a percentage as two per cent is a very great item figured on the aggregate value of Iowa hogs, and the fact that the disease increases among hogs is alarming. Dairymen should be interested in movements for suppression of animal diseases. Their product depends largely upon its reputation for wholesomeness, and we cannot afford to omit any act which tends to keep up the general reputation of our product. For this reason passage of the law requiring pasteurizing of skimmed milk was secured from the Legislature. Most Iowa hogs are marketed before they are a year old. Tuberculosis in hogs does not show its effects so far as the general appearance of the live animal is concerned. It can only be detected by the tuberculin test, or by inspection after slaughter. Because the discovery of this disease in the live animal is almost impossible, farmers are inclined to doubt the prevalence of the disease, but a visit to one of the Iowa packing houses will show too large a number of slaughtered animals hung up in the room for tuberculous hogs. Farmers of this State now lose more than a million dollars annually by reason of this disease in swine. It has been proven experimentally over and over again that hogs fed on milk from tuberculous cows readily contract the disease. It follows, then, that the distribution of skimmed milk at a creamery results in the spreading of the infection to every farm which patronizes the creamery, and other means for checking tuberculosis in hogs must be found when the hogs are fed upon the infected milk from the neighborhood creamery. The Dairy Commissioner's report of a year ago showed that more than half the milk creameries of the State were voluntarily pasteurizing their skimmed milk before returning to the patron, yet the passage of the present law and attempt at enforcement raised very great opposition. Various objections were raised to the practice. The creameries pasteurizing skimmed milk complained that it made the milk stringy and ropy; that pasteurized skimmed milk sours quicker than unpasteurized; that it makes the calves sick; that the heating destroys the feeding value, and lastly, that it is absurd to care for the health of hogs when no effort is made to prevent the spread of tuberculosis by the use of the butter made from tuberculous milk. None of these objections are well founded. If heating skimmed milk makes it stringy and ropy it is because the milk was nearly or quite sour before being pasteurized, a condition in which it ought not to come to the creamery. The heated milk does not sour quicker than the unheated. More than half the creameries of the State practice the heating of skimmed milk for the very purpose of lengthening the time that it would keep sweet. If heating milk makes calves sick, it is fed to them hot and they are scalded. The heating of skimmed milk does not lower the feeding value of the milk whatever. Lastly, the germs of tuberculosis do not thrive in butter, and are seldom found even in the fresh butter immediately from the churn. The law requiring the pasteurization of skimmed milk is a proper law, and while it does not, by any means, cover the whole of a difficult problem, it is a considerable step in the right direction, and the creameries of this State should render cheerful obedience to the same. The Dairy Commissioner is required to enforce this statute, and expects to do so. August. September. October. Average val. per $.2112 $.2325 $.2337 $.2600 $.2650 $.2317 $.2481 $ .2350 2720 $.2487 $.2412 .2423 2688 2480 2262 .2425 2762 .2270 2910 2650 2250 2099 .2825 2725 .2284 3008 2188 2017 1930 .2025 .2262 .2150 .2110 .2170 .2075 .1947 .2068 .2462 .2235 2400 .2190 .2200 2362 .2100 .2005 .2184 .2611 2290 lb. for each year $.1885 $.1971 $.2065 $.2278 $.2165 $.2416 $.2417 8.2140 8.2487 $ .2375 CITY MILK INSPECTION. The growth of the city milk inspection in this State is indicated by the following table showing the number of permits for milk dealers issued in the years from 1895 to 1906. The years end in every case on the 4th of July: 1901 1902 1903 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1904 1905 1906 491 566 620 574 676 714 784 821 783 780 827 893 The chemist of the food and dairy department has analyzed about four hundred samples of milk and very few prosecutions for the sale of adulterated milk have resulted. There is room for very great improvement in the quality of milk sold in the cities, so far as cleanliness and modern methods of handling are concerned, but the use of added ingredients of any kind is extremely small. STATISTICAL TABLES. A study of the following tables will show a very considerable increase in every item for which figures are given except the amount of milk which is sent to the creameries, which rapidly decreases. |