150 THE MILK QUESTION 



a certified milk in rather large quantities almost free of 

 bacteria. This is an achievement which ten years ago would 

 have been said to have been impractical, if not impossible, 

 by laboratory workers.^ 



The middleman. The statement is often made that the 

 agents of the middleman or large contractor try to wean 

 his customers away from certified milk and induce them 

 to buy some cheaper milk. In any event, the impression 

 is abroad among the producers of certified milk that the 

 attitude of the middleman acts as a brake upon the wheel 

 of the certified milk wagon. 



Price. The average price of certified milk is about six- 

 teen cents a quart. In a few instances certified milk is sold 

 at twelve cents a quart, and the price may be as high as 

 twenty cents or more. We should not grumble at the extra 

 cost of certified milk. We should remember that it requires 

 a bacteriologist, a veterinarian, a chemist, a clinician, and 

 a skilled technician familiar with the dairy industry to pro- 

 duce this special class of milk. The extra price paid for 

 certified milk is one of the cheapest forms of insurance 

 against disease. 



Amount. The amount of certified milk is now but a drop 

 in the bucket. In Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and 

 our other metropolitan centres the amount of milk certi- 

 fied is less than one per cent of the total supply. Many of our 

 large cities, such, for example, as Washington, D. C, have 

 no certified milk at all. This does not discourage us, for 

 although the amount of certified milk is not large, its in- 

 fluence is great. The inevitable result of introducing cer- 

 tified milk into a community at once tends to raise the 

 standard of quality of the common market milk. 



The following states have laws concerning certified milk, 

 namely, Kentucky, New York, New Jersey, and Massa- 

 chusetts. 



' See page 73 for Mr. Stewart's own description as to how he accom- 

 plishes these results. 



