xvi REFORMS IN CONDITIONS OF SUPPLY 293 



its tare conspicuously stamped thereon outside. The Board of 

 Agriculture and Fisheries Leaflet, No. 110, "Carriage of 

 Milk by Eail in Locked Cans," makes clear these same facts. 

 Eegulations should be enacted prohibiting the transmission of 

 milk other than in locked air-tight churns. All churns should 

 have stamped upon them the name of the cowkeeper. The 

 railway companies reserve to themselves the right of opening 

 locked churns when there is any reasonable doubt as to the 

 accuracy of the consignment. In all such cases it should be 

 obligatory upon the railway company to seal up the can 

 again as soon as possible, and with their own seal, so that the 

 milk- vendor may know that the opening has been by some 

 authorised person. 



The need for rapid transit of the milk is generally recog- 

 nised, and appears to be fairly well met, but there is need for 

 more special transit. For carrying the churns special, well- 

 ventilated trucks are required. They should be limewashed, 

 and kept as cool as possible. Eefrigerator vans are, of course, 

 desirable, but it is doubtful how far they are essential, if the 

 other conditions are satisfactorily met. They would add con- 

 siderably to the cost of transit, and so make the rates higher. 

 To make special cooled vans obligatory would throw additional 

 cost upon the railway companies not only in capital expense, 

 but more particularly for cost of conveyance. If, however, 

 the milk trade were better organised, so that full consignments 

 could be counted upon, this might not be the case. 



As Newman l points out, viewed from the railway stand- 

 point, the milk traffic is not worth exceptional consideration. 

 From their point of view, to make it worth their while to 

 have special trucks, they must have not only a sufficient 

 number of churns to carry in them, but also a reasonable 

 certainty as to a regular supply of such churns. This is a 

 fact often overlooked, and is one illustration of the fact that 

 the cost of distribution can only be kept down by an organised 

 milk trade. 



In connection with railway transit, there is great need for 

 the provision of a proper shed or sheds for the storage of 

 churns on arriving at the urban railway centre. Such sheds 

 should be well ventilated, hygienically satisfactory, kept cool, 



1 British Medical Journal, August 27, 1904, p, 420. 



