118 THE MILK SITUATION IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 



milk is received. It may not be generally known that every consumer 

 of milk is privileged to consult at the health office the record of his 

 individual dairyman, affording an available and easily accessible 

 means of protecting himself and his family from greater imminence 

 of danger from infection through the agency of milk than may other- 

 wise be necessary. It has been the practice for some years past to 

 maintain, by the use of score cards, a tangible record of the intelligent 

 cleanliness exercised by each local dairyman in the conduct of his 

 business, and the committee recommends, especially where there are 

 children in a family, that the parent avail himself by consulting the 

 health office records of this means of ascertaining whether his family 

 is securing the quality of milk to which it is entitled. 



As previously indicated, the committee is disposed to recommend, 

 as suggested by the Washington milk conference of 1907 and by the 

 special committee on the Straus Laboratory recently appointed by 

 the District Commissioners, that these records of the health depart- 

 ment be periodically published in the daily press. 



OBSERVANCE OF PRECAUTIONS BY CONSUMERS. 



An inquiry propounded by the committee as to whether, in the 

 view of persons consulted, requirements could reasonably be made by 

 the District authorities compelling consumers to exercise caution in 

 handling milk when received at the home, develops an expression of 

 the belief that such a proposal would be impracticable. Borden's 

 Condensed Milk Co., however, offers the suggestion, in this connec- 

 tion, that consumers be compelled to thoroughly clean and scald any 

 and all utensils containing milk, which containers are to be returned 

 to the dealer. The Chief of the Bureau of Animal Industry ob- 

 serves that educational work is believed to be the best method of 

 inducing consumers to exercise caution in handling milk, and invites 

 attention to the recently published bulletin of the Department of 

 Agriculture, above referred to, which is well adapted for this pur- 

 pose and which is being widely circulated. 1 



X. INFANT FEEDING AND INFANTS' MILK DEPOTS. 



The dairy cow fills a unique place under the conditions of our 

 present civilization, since her living body is the source of milk, the 

 most important of all human foods and absolutely essential for all 

 infants during the first few years of life (except while nursed at the 

 mother's breast). Even when children have matured beyond the 

 period during which milk is an essential article of food, its use as a 

 beverage and in the manufacture of butter, cheese, and ice cream is 

 an almost indispensable element in their dietary. 



The complex demands of modern living and the necessity on the 

 part of many mothers of earning a livelihood, often making it im- 

 practicable for them during the hours of daily toil to nourish their 

 offspring, has created in recent years an essential demand for cow's 



i " Care of Milk and Its Use in the Home," Farmers' Bulletin No. 413, U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. 



