CH. XV CONDITIONS OF MILK SUPPLY . 267 



and Newman ^ give the following table as to the distance which 

 the milk supplied to London has to travel. 



The table is compiled from evidence brought before the 

 Committee on Food Preservatives (1901). It appears that 

 the average distance from which these railway companies bring 

 the milk supply into London is more than 200 miles. During 

 1899 the G-reat "Western Eailway, the largest carriers of milk, 

 conveyed 23,495,925 gallons in 1,642,380 cans. 



D. The Purveying of Milk 



In London and many of the great towns the distribution 

 of milk is in the hands of large dealers, who receive regular 

 consignments of milk from the farmers, store it in cold storage 

 upon their premises, frequently pasteurise it, and distribute it 

 to their customers as soon as possible. The large milk dealers 

 are usually impressed with the need of cold and of cleanliness 

 in connection with the vending of milk, and from the time 

 the milk reaches them there is but little to complain of They 

 usually insert clauses in their agreements with the farmers 

 which aim at securing a clean milk free from the risk of con- 

 veying infectious disease. While these agreements mark an ad- 

 vance, and are a recognition of the need for special precautions, 

 they are of doubtful efficiency as carried out, and until some 

 more stringent powers are available are largely ineffectual. 



Milk is vended either delivered direct to the consumer, 



1 Bacteriology of Mill; Text-book, 1903. 



