19

H.—3la

Dr. Lyth thought the institutions might very well start by insisting on the certified-dairy system, and the public would in time follow suit. In reply to a remark by Dr. Finch, Mr. Reakes stated that any man who had his whole herd tested could always be given a certificate by the Agricultural Department to that effect; but tiie trouble was that unless the matter were followed up and the herd tested every year the man would trade on that certificate. Dr. Blackmore thought Mr. Reakes put his finger on the right spot when he spoke of the apathy of the public with regard to the provision of a pure milk-supply. The public should be educated in this respect. Dr. Frengley considered it necessary to ensure that people entering institutions for treatment should get pure milk, and for this reason he proposed, That all Hospital Boards make it a condition, prior to the acceptance of any tender for the supply of milk to their institutions, that'the supplying herds be examined and passed as free from tuberculosis by officers under the direction and control of the Chief Veterinarian. He considered that such a step as this would tend to evidence to the public the value of procuring tubercle-free milk, and would be educational in that sense. Dr. Hardwick-Smith thought Dr. Frengley's suggestion a very excellent one, and one that would help the Hospital Boards very much. The motion was carried. The Hon. Dr. Collins stated that it had often occurred to him whether the pasteurization of all the milk supplied to individuals would have any effect in reducing the amount of consumption, but for many reasons he thought it would be inadvisable to adopt such a plan. If it were possible to get a pure milk-supply it would be very much more desirable. He had seen it demonstrated that a herd could be so cleansed by repeated tuberculin tests that no pigs or calves fed from the milk of these cows got tuberculosis. It was also a fact that pigs and calves get tuberculosis from the by-products of dairies, and that the sterilizing of these by-products had reduced the amount of tuberculosis in calves and pigs; and he thought that by a further process of eliminating all tubercular cattle from the dairy herds it would be possible after a time to get a pure milk-supply which would be absolutely safe for the people. He felt sure that if a campaign could be initiated to eliminate all cows with tubercular udders —in the first instance in the larger districts, at any rate —a Very great advance would be made, and the next thing would be the elimination from the herds of cows which were obviously ill. With regard to the supply of milk from certified dairies, Dr. Collins thought this a very good idea. He considered, however, that it would tend to cause a rush by the public on a particular dairy, though he was inclined to think that the average person, who would not go within a quarter of a mile of a consumptive patient, would hesitate to take advantage of a pure milk-supply if the milk cost a little more. But what would happen if there was a rush on the dairy would be that, unless the owners were very honest people, they would supplement their supply from other sources, and the people would not be getting what they were paying for. He considered it an excellent idea to start by supplying institutions with milk from certified dairies, and thus educate the public. In reply to the Hon. Dr. Collins the Chairman stated that it would, of course, be very necessary to have these dairies under very close and constant supervision. Mr. Reakes stated, in connection with the point raised by Dr. Collins with regard to the elimination of all cows with tubercular udders, that one point that was always insisted upon by himself and his supervising officers was that when examining cows the Inspectors should make a very thorough inspection of the udders, and if a cow were undoubtedly tubercular it was at once condemned and destroyed—no risks were taken; and if it had any abnormality of the udder at all the cow was always tested for tuberculosis. This especially referred to town and city milksupplies. He pointed out that the inspection of the cows whose milk is consumed directly by the public as milk was very much more comprehensive than the inspection of the cows supplying dairy factories, this being a matter of ways and means. He thought it would be very difficult indeed to find any cow with udder tuberculosis at' the present time. At the same time, however, he believed it was possible (though not common) for a cow to yield tubercular milk without having a tubercular udder. He stated that one factor in disseminating tuberculosis through milk was by accidental contamination of the milk by the faeces of cows. A careless dairyman could very easily allow his milk to become so contaminated. In reply to a question asked by Dr. Frengley, Mr. Reakes stated that, though it had not been absolutely established, he was strongly of opinion that a considerable proportion of New Zealand cows contracted tuberculosis during their first year, and he considered that if all the dairy factories would agree to pasteurize their milk before it passed to the calves it would mean that each year's generation of calves started life free from infection. Dr. Makgill asked if Mr. Reakes was aware of any information as to the effect of pasteurization on the food-value of milk, Mr. Reakes replied that he had made a great many inquiries with regard to this point, and in practically every case he had been quite satisfied that pasteurized skim-milk —and, even more so, pasteurized skim-whey —had, as regards the feeding of calves, proved of greater food-value than non-pasteurized. Pasteurization had the effect of rendering the milk absolutely pure from every point of view. He thought.it was a matter for the medical men to decide as to the food-value of pasteurized milk for human consumption. Moved by Dr. Hardwick-Smith, That it be a recommendation of the Conference that pasteurization of skim-milk and whey be carried out at all dairy factories. Seconded by Dr. Blackmore and carried. The Chairman thought an expression of opinion should be given by the Conference as to the advisability of advocating the use of pasteurized milk for human beings. Dr. Hardwick-Smith thought it very useful, provided additions were made —live cream, orange-juice, and so on.

4—H. 31a.