FROM FARM TO CONSUMER 243 



almost no increase in expense. It is not necessary to have 

 marble stables, onyx barns, and silver-plated stanchions: 

 simply cleanliness and cold are enough. An intelligent 

 appreciation of the problem and a knowledge of the sources 

 of bacteria will eliminate ninety per cent of the farmer's 

 troubles. 



Cooperation is one of the ways by which the small 

 farmers can help each other. Through cooperative dairies, 

 mutual helpfulness, and modern methods of combination 

 much may be accomplished to save the situation. 



The attitude of the farmer must be taken into account. 

 It is difficult for the farmer to understand why the milk he 

 produces can be as harmful as is sometimes claimed. He 

 uses the milk for his own family; his own baby, red and 

 rosy, is raised on it. Still, he is told it makes the city baby 

 ill. He naturally cannot understand it, and in many cases 

 refuses to believe it. The farmer forgets that the milk he 

 uses is not the same when it reaches the city. He also for- 

 gets that the city baby is not the same as the country baby. 

 On the farm the milk is fresh twice a day, and the baby is 

 nurtured by God's sunshine and fresh air and has all the 

 advantages of country life. The country baby has greater 

 powers of resistance than the baby bred in the tenements. 

 Again, the farmer is apt to forget that between the time 

 the milk leaves his place and when it reaches the consumer 

 in the city many wonderful things have taken place. The 

 milk has passed through a number of hands, is two days 

 older, the bacteria have grown, undesirable chemical sub- 

 stances have developed. It has received additional dust, 

 dirt, and perhaps infection on its trip. It is no wonder that 

 the fresh milk of the country may agree with the farmer's 

 baby while the same product, stale and bacteria-laden, 

 may disagree with the city baby. 



The attitude of the farmer is often unfortunate, but he 

 cannot be blamed for getting out of patience with the sub- 

 ject. He is made the butt of the cartoonists and is ham- 



