HOW SOLVE THE PROBLEM? 167 



local health authorities varies greatly. Information 

 collected by the Department of Agriculture in 1912-13 

 from 162 cities of the United States showed that the 

 amount of money spent for dairy inspection ranged all 

 the way from nothing to 19 cents per capita per annum, 

 with an average of 3.6 cents. But, beyond the mere 

 fact that the amounts were spent, we know nothing as 

 to the methods, efficiency, or results accomplished. 



Cooperative Local Supervision. In connection with 

 local work mention must be made of the fact that com- 

 munities which are too small to be able to afford ade- 

 quate milk control, and especially the laboratory at 

 which it should center, may cooperate in maintaining a 

 common laboratory and joint service. Such coopera- 

 tion is in effect at Wellesley, Mass., with a number of 

 neighboring towns, at La Salle, Oglesby, and Peru, 111., 

 where a common Hygienic Institute, or health depart- 

 ment, has been established; and among the munici- 

 palities centering about Orange, N. J. In the first two 

 cases the cooperation is for public health service in 

 general, while in the last case it is simply for super- 

 vision of milk supplies. It is obvious that such plans 

 not only simplify and economize the control of over- 

 lapping milk supplies, but also make it possible for 

 even the smallest of the towns concerned to obtain 

 expert service and adequate laboratory facilities at a 

 moderate cost. 



LEGISLATION 



What has been said in the preceding section fore- 

 shadows the remarks appropriate to this head. While 

 the sanitary function of milk regulation is "primarily a 



