THIRTY CENT BREAD 29 



find so much prodigality and so much stupidity that 

 the very urgency of reform should inspire a force 

 big enough to make us see at last, even through the 

 eyes of fear and famine, the folly -of our present 

 ways. 



§ 10 DRY MILK 



We are now wasting 5,000,000,000 pounds of an- 

 other perfect foodstuff every year. 



In the centralizing plants and co-operative cream- 

 eries of the United States we produce annually more 

 than 1,500,000,000 pounds of butter. 



The butter or cream, shipped by rail to the cen- 

 tralizing plant or lugged on a wagon to the wayside 

 creamery, is separated back on the farm or in one 

 of the skimming stations which in recent years have 

 grown up in butter-producing centers. 



The cream is poured into cans for delivery to 

 the buttermaker and the skim-milk is disposed of in 

 one of three ways. It goes to the farmers' hogs, be- 

 comes commercial casein, or is dumped. 



The skim-milk tank of the average skimming sta- 

 tion is a thing horrible enough. It stands outside 

 of the station on a platform uncovered, full of flies 

 and other forms of dirt. 



The farmer drives up to the edge of the platform, 

 dips from the tank what belongs to him, pours it into 

 cans and goes back to his farm. He does not know 

 the priceless character of the degraded and so-called 

 worthless by-product which he treats as "slops" for 

 feeding hogs. 



The production of 1,500,000,000 pounds of butter 

 necessitates the production of 45,000,000,000 pounds 

 of milk. The exact figures for last year, 19 16, were 



