CHAPTER XXXVIII 



THE RETAIL MILK TRADE — THE 



PRODUCERS' AND CONSUMERS' 



RESPONSIBILITIES 



r INHERE is no more remunerative method of dis- 

 ■*■ posing of milk and cream from the farm 

 than supplying the retail trade. At the present 

 time there are few businesses which, if viewed in 

 the proper light, present such a serious aspect. 



Milk is almost the sole food of the infant man 

 the first year or two of his life. He depends en- 

 tirely on it during his frailest and most helpless 

 period. A great number of babies have to de- 

 pend solely on cows' milk for their nourishment. 

 The purity of the milk has a marked influence on 

 the health of the child. Milk laden with bacteria 

 is always more or less unwholesome, and may to 

 infants be actually and actively poisonous, giving 

 rise to vomiting, diarrhoea, and gastro-intestinal 

 disturbances. I would not unduly alarm, but to 

 read statistics of the mortality of infants, and to 

 see the great number of deaths said to be directly 

 attributed to bad milk, makes one shudder at what 

 is going on. It appears like murder without in- 

 tent. These conditions exist most in large cities 



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