FROM FARM TO CONSUMER 275 



form by drying it rapidly. In this process the milk is 

 sprayed into a warm chamber, where it is subject to a 

 current of dry air. Most of the water is thus abstracted, 

 and the milk falls as a fine powder to the bottom. Dryness 

 is one of the best preservatives known, and milk thoroughly 

 dried will keep well and is an entirely satisfactory food 

 for many purposes. Powdered milk resembles whole milk. 

 The heat required to powder it kills the bacteria, and if 

 made from good milk to begin with, it should prove a sat- 

 isfactory article for certain limited uses. 



The milk bottle 



We can all remember when milk was peddled from house 

 to house in a wagon having one or two large pails from 

 which the milk was dipped or drawn from faucets near the 

 bottom of the pails. In those days every corner grocery 

 store had a dip-tank or milk can from which milk was re- 

 tailed. 



i It is only within the past twenty-five years that the 

 glass milk bottle came into general use. So accustomed 

 have we become to the present milk package that we are 

 inclined to forget that it is a comparatively recent inno- 

 vation. When the glass bottle came into general use we 

 thought all our troubles were at an end, for here we had a 

 nice, clean-looking, transparent container that seemed the 

 acme of sanitary excellence. It was soon learned, however, 

 that the glass milk bottle might be a source of real danger 

 as well as a great deal of annoyance, so that now a serious 

 effort is being made to find a single service milk package; 

 one that can be used once and then thrown away. 



The most serious indictment against the glass milk bot- 

 tle is that it is apt to become infected and thus spread dis- 

 ease. Further, the bottles are difficult to clean. They are 

 very fragile, and in addition to the loss from breakage the 

 failure to return many bottles adds considerably to the ex- 

 pense. The collection of the empty bottles is a constant 



