DAIRY* MEETING. 153 



In view of the above facts the deniand of our people for clean 

 milk, which means a bacterially good milk, is reasonable. No 

 town would stand for a public water supply which was known 

 to cause as many deaths as unclean milk does among our chil- 

 dren. But we have come to look upon this high infant mortal- 

 ity as almost a necessity; and have only lately appreciated its 

 Heedlessness. The need for clean milk must be instilled into 

 the intelligence of our people before the demand for such milk 

 w^ill arise; but the efiforts of boards of health, agricultural socie- 

 ties and charitable institutions have produced the awakening 

 to a considerable extent. Now we have a demand on the part 

 of the people for clean milk, because they are beginning to know 

 what it means. It is coming to be a more and more common 

 practice for the purchaser to look at the bottom of the bottle 

 of milk for dirt, rather than at the top for the cream layer. 

 The growing intelligence and demand of these people must be 

 met by the production of a clean article of food ; and in meet- 

 ing this demand the producer is entitled to an increased price 

 for his product. 



Such a degree of cleanliness as will give a milk that is free 

 from visible dirt, and so from excessive bacterial dirt, is not 

 hard to attain. If the milk industry were just starting no per- 

 son would think of producing anything but clean milk. It is 

 the old and slovenly idea of milk production that we must 

 banish, and which we must pay to banish. If we are willing to 

 pay for clean milk we will get it, and the sooner we accept the 

 fact that clean milk is an economic problem, the sooner we shall 

 get an article of food that meets the requirements of our pres- 

 ent day ideas of a food, namely a clean article, produced from 

 healthy sources, and handled and marketed in a clean manner. 



