466 THE CONTROL OF THE MILK SUPPLY 



the cowsheds are, for the most part, dark, ill-ventilated, and either 

 badly drained, or not drained at all." ^ 



In Derbyshire and Staffordshire : " The conditions show no 

 improvement. The cowsheds are, on the whole, decidedly worse 

 than those in Cheshire. In many cases the cubic space per cow 

 is only about 200 cubic feet." 



The above facts illustrate the need there is for placing in the 

 hands of Local Authorities greater powers of control in respect 

 to cows and cowsheds outside their boundary. They afford justi- 

 fication for the Milk Clauses of Manchester, Liverpool, and other 

 places in self-defence, and they reflect little credit on country 

 sanitary authorities. 



(b) Conditions under which Milk is sold. 



The milk trade is now a very complex one, largely owing, as 

 we have pointed out, to the growth of the towns. Instead of a 

 man owning his own cows or obtaining his necessary milk from 

 neighbours in small quantities as required, it is now necessary to 

 transport milk long distances in large quantities. Thus there has 

 arisen the opportunity, or necessity, for the milk contractor. He 

 is the middle man between the farmer and the milk vendor. The 

 attached chart, which represents an actual state of affairs occurring 

 in Finsbury, makes his position clear : — 



The blue squares represent the 37 towns or villages in 

 various counties in which the contributory farms are situated. 

 The purple block in the middle represents the contractor through 

 whose hands the milk passes on its way to the 32 milk-shops. 

 These are represented by the round red spots, and are of two 

 kinds. Some shops receive their milk supply direct from the 

 contractor {e.g. Nos. i, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 24). These are small 

 retailers. Other similar retailers {e.g. Nos. 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, etc.) 

 receive their supply from other milk-shops in the district which 

 receive milk from the same contractor {e.g. Nos. 3, 5, 7, 10, 13, 19, 

 etc). These last-named shops do a wholesale and retail trade 

 in the district. So it comes about that this one contractor sup- 

 plies directly 10 wholesale and retail milk vendors, also directly 

 six retail milk vendors, and indirectly 16 retail milk vendors 

 Thirty-two shops, in all, therefore, in this district get their milk 

 from this contractor. But the 10 wholesale dealers carry on a 

 retail trade inside and outside the district. For example : No. 28 



* Report on Health of City of Manchester ^ 1902, p. 143. See also Report on 

 Health of Liverpool, 1902, p. 156. 



