Report on the Trial of Dairy Implements, Sec, at Bristol. 133 
new-milk trade from the country to the towns ; although in the 
large manufacturing centres of the northern counties, where a 
considerable percentage of the working classes are of Celtic 
origin, buttermilk had long been in demand, and until a short 
time ago was the only milk sent by rail. 
Ten years ago the Midland Railway had no milk traffic ; now 
special milk-vans are attached to the morning and evening 
trains running from Derby to St. Pancras. Between 7 and 8 
o'clock in the morning fifty milk-carts may be seen at Derby 
Station ; only a few days ago I counted 200 milk-cans on the 
platform, whilst intermediate stations, between Derby and 
Leicester, contribute their quota to swell the aggregate. Not 
only to London, but also to Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield, 
Nottingham, and even to Middlesborough-on-Tees, does Derby- 
shire furnish supplies. Manchester also draws large quantities 
of milk from Cheshire and Lancashire ; and many of the 
Manchester innkeepers are now first-rate customers. Milk at 
the present time forms no inconsiderable addition to the traffic 
on every line of railway having a terminus in the metropolis. 
It is estimated that from 100,000 to 120,000 gallons of milk is 
daily consumed in the metropolis ; taking the larger quantity, 
this gives a fraction over a quarter of a pint per diem for each 
of the four millions of human beings living in London and its 
suburbs. This being so, the question naturally arises, Does the 
trade admit of greater expansion ? Those best qualified to 
form correct opinions on the subject maintain that, at least for 
the present, consumption has nearly reached its limits. Yet the 
public require, so to speak, a sort of probationary education in 
order to dispel popular prejudice, and it is only by slow degrees 
that the current of established habits can be diverted into a new 
course. Milk is the only true natural food we possess ; it con- 
tains all the elements of nutrition in an easily assimilative form. 
Considered from an economical point of view, milk is relatively 
as cheap an article of food at 5d. per imperial quart, as beef at 
8d. per lb., with the further advantage that the former will 
sustain life for a lengthened period, whilst the latter is inca- 
pable of doing so for any considerable time. 
Professor Johnstone had clear ideas as to the comparative 
value of milk when he published his ' Elements of Agricultural 
Chemistry and Geology,' more than half a century ago. He re- 
marked, " if a vigorous economy of food ever becomes a national 
question, a milk diet will then become the daily subsistence of 
all classes." Although the literal fulfilment of the Professor's 
prophecy is still distant, milk, either in a raw or manufactured 
state, has now become a necessary adjunct to the bill of fare of 
every household, where, a few years ago, it was only introduced 
