APPENDIX E 321 



APPENDIX E 



THE MILK DEPOTS OF ENGLAND 



IT seemed advisable to add a short note upon the existing milk depots 

 in this country. It is not necessary to enter into any detail of the 

 history of milk depots in general, which has been already dealt with 

 by numerous authors. 1 



A list of the milk depots and their condition in 1913 was given 

 by the Medical Officer to the Local Government Board in his second 

 report on Infant and Child Mortality. It was then shown that there 

 had been in England thirteen depots, the first established being at 

 St. Helens, opened in 1899. Of these milk depots three had been closed 

 before 1913, the remainder being still open. Of the remaining ten, 

 two were conducted by voluntary agencies and eight by municipal 

 authorities. Since that date a voluntary milk depot has been estab- 

 lished in Sydenham and arrangements for supplying milk in various 

 forms are now in existence in connection with certain municipalities and 

 with a number of voluntary agencies. 



Until the introduction of dried milk, the milk supplied from milk 

 depots was almost universally prepared from raw milk. This milk 

 was obtained as far as possible from a farm where the methods of collec- 

 tion were believed to be satisfactory, and was delivered once a day at 

 the milk depot. Here it was prepared in several set modifications for 

 children of different ages, and in bottles considered to be of suitable size 

 for the ages of children for whom the milk formulae were prepared. 

 The bottles were then subjected to heat in a steam steriliser, the tempera- 

 ture usually being kept somewhat below that of boiling water. After 

 heating, the milk was rapidly cooled by passing cold water through 

 the apparatus, and the milk given out in a small crate capable of holding 

 a number of bottles corresponding to the number of feeds prescribed 

 for the infant. 



This method of dealing with milk still obtains in six milk depots in 

 this country. Apart from these, in one case the milk is not subjected 

 to heat but is given raw, and in the remaining three dried milk is now 

 exclusively used. 



In addition, as has been already indicated in several chapters, a large 

 amount of dried milk is utilised in connection with the infant consulta- 

 tions in Sheffield and elsewhere. 



Cost of the Milk Depot. The method of preparing boiled or pas- 

 teurised milk in small bottles is a very expensive one. The cost of the 

 nu nipulation and establishment charges for the milk depot far exceed 

 the actual cost of the material. It is usual to obtain, as far as possible, 

 a payment from the mothers for whose children the milk is available, 

 which would cover the actual cost of the milk, the difference between 

 the total cost and the sum obtained being borne by the rates. The 

 cost per head does not appear to diminish appreciably with the increased 

 number of children for whom the milk is prepared. The actual cost 



1 Cp. McLeary (Milk and Milk Depots) and others. 



