142 PROTECTION OF THE CONSUMER. 



high price which it is necessary to charge in order to keep 

 up these precautions in the dairy makes such milk quite out- 

 side of the reach of the ordinary consumer, and the milk 

 from these special dairies is only bought by customers who 

 have plenty of money, or in special cases for the nourishment 

 of invalids or infants. These extreme precautions are so 

 expensive that it is hardly possible to hope that the general 

 milk supply of our communities will ever be produced under 

 similar circumstances. These special dairies must be looked 

 upon as isolated attempts to protect the milk supply and 

 capable, at best, of protecting only a small portion of the 

 total. They produce milk for the rich but not for the poor. 

 Certified Dairies ; Inspected Milk. A less expensive plan 

 has been adopted in the establishment of what are called 

 certified dairies. In this case there is appointed a board, 

 composed of experts, whose duty it is to visit certain 

 dairies and carefully examine the conditions surrounding the 

 milk production. A chemical and bacteriological analysis 

 of the milk, and an inspection of the conditions under which 

 the milk is produced, is made by the central board, and, if 

 they find that the conditions are of a high character and the 

 milk comes up to a high standard in purity, chemically and 

 bacteriologically, they give to these dairies their certification. 

 The milk from these dairies, therefore, called inspected milk, 

 has the stamp of the certifying board, and this certification 

 indicates that the conditions under which the milk is pro- 

 duced are strictly hygienic. Such a certification is val- 

 uable to the dairy in question, and enables the certified 

 dairies to obtain a better price for their milk or to obtain a 

 wider sale for the same. The matter is wholly voluntary on 

 the part of the dairyman. The expense of the central board 

 is shared by the dairies that receive the certification and must, 

 of course, be reimbursed to them by the customers who 

 receive the milk. This method of certifying dairies has not 

 been very widely adopted, but is one of the means which 



