EXTENT AND IMPORTANCE OF THIS INDUSTRY 29 



fact, in turn, is particularly important because milk is an 

 important article of diet of infants, children and many 

 invalids, all of whose bodies have but slight power to re- 

 sist the inroads of disease germs. 



The city of New York in 1908 consumed 438,000,000 

 quarts of milk, which was produced in the States of New 

 York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Vermont, 

 Massachusetts, Ohio and Maryland. Some of it traveled 

 350 miles by rail to reach the city. Over 5000 wagons were 

 employed in distributing it to the consumers. 



The milk supply of Philadelphia is obtained from 5473 

 dairy farms located in four states. 



Because of the consumption of great quantities of milk 

 from such widely scattered sources, because of the use of 

 milk in the uncooked state, because of its place in the diet 

 of infants and invalids, because of the ease with which it 

 may be contaminated with disease-producing germs, and 

 because of the fact that milk forms a favorable medium 

 for bacterial growth, the city milk supply is a subject of 

 great importance to the entire public. The problem of 

 how to insure a sanitary milk supply for a large city is 

 one of the greatest with which food and health officers 

 have to deal. 



Condition of the City Milk Supply in Past Years. — The 

 realization of the important role that this subject plays 

 in the public welfare has come only in recent years. In- 

 vestigations into the condition of the milk supply of cities 

 were seldom, if ever, made until about two decades ago. 

 These first investigations showed conditions to be bad in 

 many places. Later and more thorough investigations 

 have brought out some very startling facts. 



Investigations in Illinois Cities. — An investigation of the 

 milk supply of Chicago and other Illinois cities in 1905, 



