THE MILK SUPPLY OF CITIES, 629 



hold him responsible. But it is questionable whether the milk 

 supply of the large city is not more reliable. The milk supply 

 in the city is handled by organizations, and these, on the whole, 

 are rather more likely to exercise care in the treatment of the milk 

 than are the small dealers. The advantage of handling the matter 

 through companies is well shown in many European cities. In 

 the large cities of England and the continent the milk business 

 is commonly handled by concerns that distribute great quantities 

 daily. Now, many of these companies deal with the subject in a 

 very intelligent manner. They exercise a very considerable con- 

 trol over the individual dairy farms. Some of them keep inspectors 

 traveling constantly among the farms, spending $10,000 to $15,000 

 yearly in such inspections. They will receive no milk from a farm 

 until after an inspector has visited it and looked into the hygienic 

 conditions of the dairy, even sometimes going so far as to make 

 an analysis of the water used in the dairy. Only after such inspec- 

 tion has been declared favorable is the milk received in the city. 

 These inspections are repeated monthly. The appearance of a con- 

 tagious disease on the farm is noted at once and the milk no longer 

 received, although still paid for. These companies employ chem- 

 ists and bacteriologists to study the character of the milk received. 

 They educate their men into their business, and consequently em- 

 ploy more intelligent help than small concerns can. They can fur- 

 nish a more uniform product than can be expected of smaller deal- 

 ers. They soon acquire a reputation for their milk, which they are 

 very careful to preserve. Such firms can exercise a much more 

 satisfactory control over the individual farmer than can even pub- 

 lic statute, since, with their systems of inspection, it is possible to 

 have an accurate knowledge of the actual conditions under which 

 the milk is produced. It is plainly within the power of firms deal- 

 ing in large quantities to control the character of its milk more ac- 

 curately than can small dealers. 



Results, too, appear on the whole in favor of the large dealers. 

 In the cities where there is a system of rigid milk inspection it is 

 comparatively seldom that the milk furnished by such companies 

 is found below the standard. This milk is kept up to the stand- 

 ard, and the companies having a chemical laboratory and having 

 milk from many sources can keep the quality of the milk much more 

 uniform than can a dealer whose supply comes from a single farm. 

 The milk inspectors usually find that it is the small dealers that 

 fail to meet the standard. Moreover, it is a fact that where epi- 

 demics have been traced to milk it has always been in communities 

 where individual milkmen bring in milk from one or two dairies 

 and distribute it personally. All the epidemics of typhoid that have 



