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73
MILK SUPPLY.
For some time past the milk supply of Ilford has
received a good deal of attention, but in accordance with the
instructions of the Council, I am presenting a special report
on the subject.
The bulk of the milk that comes into the district, comes
from farms in Essex, direct to the retailer; that is, the
larger retail dairymen contract direot with the farmer, and
receive their milk direct from him, either by road or rail.
Thirty-two farmers in Essex and one in Norfolk thus deal
with 20 Ilford dairymen. The smaller dairymen obtain
their supply through a company which acts as an intermediary
between the farmer and the retailer. This company obtains
its milk from farms in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire,
and Hertfordshire. Every week some 3,300 churns of
milk come into Ilford by train, and in addition about 200
churns come in by road. Each churn, if full, should contain
68 quarts; 60 that one may reckon that about 238,000 quarts
of milk come into Ilford from outside sources, every week.
The amount produced and sold within the district is not
large. There are 7 cowsheds registered in the district,
containing 3, 35, 19, 14, 5, 44. and 120 cows respectively.
Thus the milk that is produced locally is small compared
with that imported from without. Taking 10 quarts a day
as the average yield of a cow about midway in her milking
period, will give 2,400 quarts per day produced in Ilford, or
16,800 quarts per week, out of the 253,680 quarts sold.