CHAPTER IX. 



BACTERIA IN MARKET MILK. 



Within the last decade attention has been especially 

 directed toward the quality of milk that is furnished to 

 the people in the cities. This has come about, in part, in 

 connection with the demands made for better and purer 

 food of every kind. These demands are reflected in the 

 pure-food laws enacted by the federal government, and 

 by the various states and municipalities. Another factor 

 that has focused attention on the milk supplies has been 

 the belief that it plays an important role in the produc- 

 tion and distribution of disease, especially among chil- 

 dren. The rapid growth of cities in all of the great 

 countries of the world, the higher standard of living, 

 and the greater demand for milk and other dairy pro- 

 ducts, has, of necessity, widened the zone from which the 

 milk supply of any particular city must be drawn. Milk 

 is now an article of export and of import; some of the 

 great cities draw a portion of their supply from farms 

 hundreds of miles away. This means that a longer time 

 must elapse between the time of production and con- 

 sumption, necessitating the exercise of greater care in 

 production and handling in order to preserve the milk 

 until it reaches the consumer. 



In the past in the cities, as in the smaller towns at 

 present, the supply was largely furnished by the pro- 

 ducer directly to the consumer. This direct contact af- 

 forded the consumer the opportunity of informing him- 

 self of the conditions under which his milk supply was 



