FROM FARM TO CONSUMER 261 



We have frequently emphasized the fact that milk should 

 be as fresh as possible, especially for infants, but evidently 

 the city is no place for a milch cow. The keeping of live 

 stock within the city Kmits is expressly forbidden by the 

 health ordinances of almost all municipalities. This is a 

 wise measure, for animals are a nuisance and may even be 

 a menace to health. They favor the spread of flies, rats, 

 and other vermin, and are a factor in the dissemination of 

 parasites. It is practically impossible to keep a cow in a 

 healthy condition for any length of time in a city, which is 

 the worst imaginable place in the world for a diseased cow. 

 While it is -very important to bring the teat nearer the 

 baby's mouth, we can hardly consider that the proposition 

 of bringing back some of the cows into the city will meet 

 with favor. A better and simpler method would be to im- 

 prove transportation facilities so that the morning milk may 

 be at our door within a few hours from the time it is ob- 

 tained. 



Classification of milk — the grades of milk 



There are only two kinds of milk; good milk and bad milk. 

 We would all welcome the day when this simple classifica- 

 tion becomes effective. It is very easy to set up a theoreti- 

 cal ideal, but it is quite a different matter to establish this 

 ideal upon a practical working basis. Thus it is with the 

 milk question. It is very easy to say that all we want is 

 fresh, clean, and safe milk, and that no other shall be al- 

 lowed upon the market. If those who make these demands 

 would start a dairy farm they would find the hill a very high 

 and rugged one to cHmb. For practical purposes, therefore, 

 milk is divided into a number of different grades. 



The grades of milk refer either (a) to its sanitary qual- 

 ity, or (b) its nutritive quality; or a combination of both. 

 From the nutritive standpoint, milk is graded largely upon 

 its butter-fat content. From the sanitary standpoint, milk 

 is graded as certified, inspected, or ordinary market milk. 



