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time and labor more than sufficient to reduce the price of 

 milk to the buyer half a cent a quart and give the farmer 

 who raises it another half cent. It is like one's carrying 

 his own mail or express packages. It also gives too much 

 opportunity for dishonesty, for among so many dealers 

 there is more room for rogues and cheats. 



We shall look in vain for any reformation in this line 

 until the city people rise up in their might and demand 

 strictly pure milk delivered to and distributed from cen- 

 tral stations, subject to inspection, and condemnation with 

 penalty, as far back as the stables and the condition and 

 feed of the cows which produce it. 



This is a matter of vital importance to the cities, the 

 lives of their children may depend upon it. It is of equal 

 moment to that of the purity of their water supply to 

 which they devote millions of money, while for the milk, a 

 poorly paid quack doctor with a political bias and a tin 

 dipper is considered all sufficient. 



Milk is a necessity in every family, and if an average 

 price of four cents a quart will make milk raising a profit- 

 able business for the farmer, then five cents a quart should 

 be the average price to the consumer. With proper reg- 

 ulations, one cent a quart is all it ought to cost to carry 

 milk from the country barn to the city table. Under a 

 rigid system of inspection we should hear of no more 

 cases of deaths in the city being traced back to the use of 

 milk from diseased cows. Cleanliness about the stable, 

 greater care in handling the milk, and more intelligent 

 feeding would follow and the whole tone of the business 

 be raised, the demand enlarged and the profits increased. 

 Farmers living at a distance from cities would be emanci- 

 pated from the dominion of the contractor and be able to 

 sell all the milk they could make, without danger of loss 

 through a rebate on the surplus, for at the lower price, 

 when ihe children of every poor man could use it freely, 

 the demand would always keep ahead of the supply. 



