1920.] 



Distribution of Milk. 



1005 



the next bout, the last plough on the frame on the inside 

 of the turn completes the open furrow by turning a furrow 

 away from the land already ploughed. 



It may be mentioned, in conclusion, that this plough can 

 only be used for ploughing stetches of one standard width, 

 and that if wider stetches are required to be ploughed by this 

 process, a new model of the plough would have to be built 

 for the purpose. 



The Report of this Committee, just issued (Cmd. 483), is 

 the fourth and final Report submitted. The first and second 

 Interim Reports (issued in June and 

 Report of tke November, 1917*) dealt almost entirely 

 Committee on the ^.-^^ questions of immediate urgency, and 

 Production and n 1 x w 4.1, ii f 



Distribution of Milk, were chiefly devoted to the problems of 

 keeping up the milk supply and for pro- 

 viding for equitable distribution in the winter of 191 7. In 

 the third Interim Report (November, I9i8f ) attention was given 

 to problems which, though not mainly arising through war 

 conditions, had nevertheless been disclosed and emphasised 

 during the \'\'ar. The present Report deals chiefly with matters 

 affecting the milk industry and its development in the future. 



I. — Present State of the Milk Supply. — {(i) Production. — ^The 

 Committee submit figures which show that although there 

 has been a slight increase in the number of cows and 

 heifers in milk since 1912, yet the statistics available 

 for the United Kingdom suggest that the production of 

 milk, after rising from 1,895,000,000 gal. (1909-13 average) 

 to 1,910,000,000 gal. in 1914, has since steadily decreased to 

 1,505,000,000 gal. in 1918. 



This decreased production is ascribed to — • 

 (a) Scarcity of the proper feeding stuffs. 

 {b) Deterioration in the quality of cakes and meals. 

 (c) Lessened efficiency of milkers. 

 (b) Consumption. — The Committee record their opinion that 

 the average consumption of milk in the United Kingdom is 

 much lower than is desirable in the national interest. They 

 emphasise the importance of the growth- promoting substances 

 (vitamines) which exist in common to milk and butter, and the 

 great value of these vitamines, especially to young children. The 

 present daily average consurnption per person for Great Britain 

 is estimated at 0*25 pt. of Hquid milk, varying from o*io pt. in 

 Inverness-shire to (r3i pt. in London. This average consumption 



* See this Journal, January, 1918, p. 1133, and July, 1918, p. 452. 

 t ,. u „ 1919, pp. 1^06-1214. 



