50 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES 
GrapvIng MILK 
An accurate answer regarding the richness, safety, cleanli- 
ness, and sweetness of a sample of milk is the real beginning 
of successful milk inspection. However, inspection presup- 
poses the existence of standards of quality, and in every other 
line of merchandise these standards are arranged so as to 
recognize classes or grades corresponding to market demands, 
The idea of grading milk is not a new one, as in 1866 in 
England*® regulations were promulgated recognizing two 
grades of milk, one adapted to city trade and one to manu- 
facturing purposes. Suggestions for grading the city milk 
supply began to be made in New York City before 1907 but 
the first official grading of a municipal milk supply in this 
country was probably that at Geneva, N. Y. in 1907.°° A 
plan of grading the milk supply of New York City went into 
effect in January, 1912.°1. This plan established a number 
of commercial grades and required that each bottle of milk 
bear the designation of its grade. The Milk Commission 
appointed by a philanthropic organization called the New 
York Milk Committee in 1912 °° recommended a plan for milk 
grading which was essentially an amplification of the pre- 
vious New York City plan. The grading plans of the city 
of New York and of the Milk Commission have been based 
mainly upon the results obtained from dairy scores and the 
bacterial count of the milk. It should also be noted that 
both of these plans for grading recognize the importance of 
pasteurization. As already explained no relation has been 
demonstrated between the dairy scores as actually obtained 
and the quality of the milk while bacterial counts are at 
best only an indirect way of measuring the keeping quality 
of the milk. The city of New York has continued with its 
4H. N. Parker, City Milk Supply, p. 370. 
SoH. A. Harding, Publicity and Payment Bases on Quality as Factors in 
Improving a City Milk Supply, Bul. 337, N. Y. Agr. Exp. Sta., 1911. 
aW. H. Park, The Future Milk Supply of New York City, Ann. Proc. 
Amer. Asso. Med, Milk Com., 5, pp. 99-108, 1911. 
°2 First Report of the Commission on Milk Standards Appointed by the 
New York Milk Committee, Public Health Reports 27, pp. 673-700, 1912. 
