88 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



MARKET MILK, FROM PRESENT-DAY STANDPOINT. 



BY ME. C. B. LANE, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



There is scarcely a subject that is of interest and impor- 

 tance to so large a number of people as market milk. The 

 five million or more dairymen who keep cows are of course 

 interested, as they are dependent upon the production of milk 

 for their livelihood. Almost every family in the land is in- 

 terested, for the reason that they consume milk in some form 

 every day. There is no more wholesome food for old or 

 young than the product from the cow. The nutrients con- 

 tained in it can be purchased at about one-third the cost that 

 they can be obtained in beef, and they are almost entirely 

 digested. The dairy cow gives us the most animal food at 

 the least cost, and I might say further that the dairy cow is 

 the only animal that will return a good profit on high-priced 

 land. This is well illustrated on the islands of Jersey and 

 Guernsey, where land is worth $-±00 to $500 an acre, and 

 where the dairy cow is making the farmer rich. The same 

 is true in Denmark and Holland. 



I have said that the dairy farmer and the public are inter- 

 ested in market milk. Now, unfortunately, there seems to 

 be a general impression that the interests of the farmer and 

 <>f the public are diametrically opposed, — an impression 

 which I believe has little basis in fact. The farmer wants 

 a good demand and a good price for his milk ; and I believe 

 that it has been shown, particularly during the past few 

 months, that the more intelligent public is beginning to want 

 clean, pure milk, and that it is willing to pay more where 

 the increase is shown to be reasonable and necessary. There 

 is something radically wrong with the relation between the 



