248 THE MILK QUESTION 



cared for, often, for economic reasons, purchase the cheap- 

 est milk to be found on the market. As a rule proposals 

 are asked and bids invited and a contract issued to the 

 lowest bidder, irrespective of quality and other considera- 

 tions. In the course of my investigations I have found 

 this to be a very prevalent and serious custom. The con- 

 sequence is that such institutions which should have the very 

 best of milk often have the worst. The trustees of such in- 

 stitutions should not be satisfied unless their wards receive 

 clean, safe, and satisfactory milk. 



Up to 1890 milk was sold regardless of composition. In 

 that year Babcock discovered a practical test for determin- 

 ing the amount of fat contained in milk. Since then milk is 

 sold to creameries, at cheese factories, and to large contract- 

 ors on the basis of its butter-fat content. Only the small 

 consumers buy milk on the basis of bulk. As soon as eco- 

 nomic conditions require it, milk will be sold at a price de- 

 pending upon its nutritive value, just as coal is bought and 

 sold by its caloric value, and not alone by weight. 



As a matter of fact, the price of milk is based upon broad 

 basic principles beyond the power of any one individual 

 to control. This is largely due to the fact that milk is mainly 

 a by-product of the small farmer. He keeps a cow for fam- 

 ily use and has an excess. The excess goes largely into but- 

 ter and cheese. Butter and cheese are concentrated foods, 

 keep better than milk, and may be transported farther; 

 hence the price of butter and cheese is a very great factor 

 in controlling the price of milk. Other factors which loom 

 large in the cost of production are the value of the crops, the 

 cost of labor, the price of land, the cost of beef, and whether 

 cows may be fed on crops not otherwise useful or profitable. 



The price of milk has much more than a simple academic 

 interest, for it influences our entire social fabric. If the 

 price is too high, especially for the poor, less of it is used, 

 children are underfed, or bad milk is purchased. In any 

 event, we should remember that the price of milk is the key 



