[Report 1927] / Medical Officer of Health, Aberdeen County Council.

  • Aberdeenshire (Scotland). Council.
Date:
1927
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1927] / Medical Officer of Health, Aberdeen County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    74/76 (page 72)
    Assistance was given towards reconstruction of occupied houses, recon- ditioning of derelict houses, or conversion of buildings to render them fit for human habitation. If the advantages of this Act wrere more widely known, many would be more than pleased to avail themselves of the assistance offered. The Ellon District Committee decided to erect six more houses at Tarves and four at Hatton of Cruden. These houses will be let at an annual rental of T13. Dairies. Copies of the new Dairy Bye-laws were distributed to registered dairymen. It w-as frequently said that, by putting the Bye-laws into operation, half the dairymen would be driven out of the trade owing to the extensive improvements that would be required and the extra labour involved. This has not been borne out in fact. Not a single registered dairyman has as yet given up the trade for reasons of having to carry out improvements. It will be some considerable time before all dairies are brought up to the required standard but the work goes steadily and smoothly on. Tact and ability are required rather than insistence on strict compliance with the letter of the law in the administration of the legislation on this subject. The two commonest defects in byres are bad ventilation and bad lighting. Another common fault found during inspections is dirty milk stools. It will be readily understood that if all precautionary measures have been adopted, in- cluding washing of milkers’ hands previous to milking, the lifting of a stool contaminated with dried faeces will undo the whole of the good work. The workers’ hands will be a little damp after washing, and, if a wet milker, probably not dried at all; thus gross impurities will gain access to the milk and be responsible for a high bacterial count. Clean milk production depends on strict attention to detail with regard to the cows, utensils and bedding. The cows should be washed at least once a month and groomed daily. The udder should be wiped, before milking, with a damp cloth soaked in chlorinated water oz. calcium chloride in half a pail of water). This removes the dirt and also prevents the hair from falling into the milk pail. The clipping of the long hair on the flanks and udders assists greatly in keeping the cows clean. Inquiries show that this does not affect the health of the cows; there is no evidence that it makes them more susceptible to colds. It is found that w7here the lighting is good, the premises are usually well kept. The use of the score-card system is found very beneficial; it is educational; it teaches the points of the most importance and the producer learns from his score the factors that he must emphasise in bettering his supply. The Inspectors who attended the special course in clean milk production arranged by the Board of Health and held at the Dairy School, Kilmarnock, report that they found much of interest and of benefit in the course.