[Report 1914] / Medical Officer of Health, Leicestershire / County of Leicester County Council.

  • Leicestershire (England). County Council.
Date:
1914
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1914] / Medical Officer of Health, Leicestershire / County of Leicester County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    56/178 (page 46)
    The Milk and Dairies Act, 1914, whose operation has been postponed until after the .war, will, I hope, greatly improve matters generally. There is, however, no reason why Local Authorities should wait for that Act to come into force before really making an attack upon the insanitary premises where milk is produced. I refer more particularly to the accumulations of farm-yard manure which are allowed to stay far too long in close proximity to the sheds, and the unpaved and filthy yards. I have seen many yards in the Rural Districts where there is no paving, and where the liquid filth, from the refuse deposited, has saturated nearly the whole of the farm-yard area. This condition is, to say the least, an abominable piece of insanitation which ought not to be allowed to exist. Moreover, the water supplies, which are mostly from shallow wells in the Rural Districts, are greatly endangered thereby. Milk never ought to be allowed to be produced under such conditions. The proper paving of farm-yards should proceed more rapidly, and manure from the sheds should be carted right away from them while it is fresh. Every Authority should support their officers to the full in their efforts to effect those essential improvements consistent with a pure and wholesome supply of one of our most valuable foods. Last year I had to report most adversely upon the general conditions of uncleanliness prevailing in the Ashby Rural District, and I am, therefore, all the more pleased this year to publish the following Report, which shews an improvement. The Sanitary Inspector says:—“I am pleased to report an improvement in the regular limewashing of the cowsheds, etc., but even now not that willingness is shewn generally to fall into line with the Regulations, and it is in rare cases where the roofs are ever cleaned down and properly limewashed. Fewer cases have been found of dirty cow¬ sheds, but cases do still exist. I have succeeded, in several instances, in having the farm-yards clear of manure, and the yards levelled up, and a great improvement is noticeable—the tenants themselves appreciating the altered state of things.” It is to be hoped that the efforts of the Sanitary Inspector to bring the conditions to the proper standard will secure the full support of his Authority. It is a farce to adopt Regulations unless there is a determination to enforce them, and there are no Regula¬ tions which require a firmer administration than those relating to the public milk supply.