378 CITY MILK SUPPLY 



Municipal Control of the Milk Supply. Local control of the milk sup- 

 ply becomes increasingly difficult as a city grows. A village or small 

 city can, if it will, exercise successful supervision over the dairies that 

 supply it. So long as they are few in number and near at hand the health 

 officer can keep in close contact with the producers and the dairymen 

 themselves have personal interest in their customers but when the pro- 

 ducers become so many that they are in a sense strangers to the health 

 office and their trade and when much of the milk comes from a distance, 

 control becomes general instead of personal and loses much of its effective- 

 ness. Some cities grow to such size that close inspection of the dairies 

 is not to be thought of because of its prohibitive expense. Thus, New 

 York City in 1912 consumed 2,500,000 qt. of milk daily. It was pro- 

 duced by about 350,000 cows on 44,000 farms in six States and 127,000 

 people were estimated to be engaged in the daily handling of the milk. 

 In 1915 over 80 per cent, of the milk came from points over 200 miles 

 from the city and the longest haul was 460 miles. 



Control of the Milk Supply by the Contractor. Reflection on such 

 figures as these suggests inspection of dairies by the contractor, as help- 

 ful and necessary. The law usually makes a dealer in foods responsi- 

 ble for their quality. So, as a business proposition it is good policy for a 

 milk dealer to inspect the dairy farms that supply him. Indeed, some 

 profess to believe that ultimately the dealer will assume the responsibility 

 of furnishing adequate inspection and that official inspection will become 

 less important. However, official supervision of the dealer's inspection 

 will probably always be necessary because in most dairy districts there is 

 competition for the farmer's milk which tends to make the dealer adopt 

 lenient standards of inspection in order to hold the farmer's business. 

 Indeed, some authorities are inclined to believe that one of the first moves 

 in improving the quality of milk furnished any community should be to 

 secure an abundant supply for, so long as there is only enough barely to 

 meet the needs of the community, the dairyman who produces inferior 

 milk can market it. 



So then, while both Federal and State Governments exercise control 

 over the milk supply, each community is largely dependent on its own 

 initiative and energy for securing an adequate and safe supply of milk. 

 A milk policy must be adopted and this policy must be stated in the form 

 of an ordinance. 



Milk Codes. The variety in milk ordinances is almost endless but 

 they can be grouped in two classes, namely : (1) those that, though they con- 

 form to legal usage, are verbose, vague in meaning and provide inadequate 

 or unworkable standards; and (2) those that are concise, easily interpreted, 

 in accord with modern standards and adapted to the needs of the commu- 

 nity that is to use them. The cardinal points to be provided for are that : 

 (1) An officer or board shall be designated to enforce the ordinance and be 



