116 EQUIPMENT 



supply to large towns requires special measures. 

 The present system in India is that of the town 

 dairyman who keeps a herd of milk animals in or 

 near the town for which the milk supply is required. 

 This system was once in force in England, but has 

 now disappeared as a result of effective arrangements 

 for the transport of milk. It is fairly suitable for a 

 small town which is essentially rural in character. 

 The supply of the local gaoli (milkman), supple- 

 mented by small quantities carried in from the im- 

 mediately surrounding villages, will meet the demand 

 fairly well in such a case ; but for a city like Bombay 

 with over 1,000,000 inhabitants such an arrangement 

 is quite inadequate, apart from the other disadvan- 

 tages involved. The town gaoli has his merits and 

 his defects, but in the absence of effective arrange- 

 ments for the transport of milk he is a necessity. His 

 merits are that he meets a demand for milk which, 

 with present arrangements, could not otherwise be 

 met, and makes it possible for a customer, who takes 

 the trouble to see the milk drawn, to satisfy himself 

 that he is getting pure milk. His defects are as 

 follows : — 



(a) By keeping a large number of animals in a 

 densely populated area, his operations are in some 

 cases inimical to the sanitary requirements of the 

 locality and conduce to the contamination of his 

 milk by pathogenic bacteria. 



(b) Being a dairyman, pure and simple, and not a 

 farmer, he has to purchase all the fodder and concen- 



