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279
[1909
selection of his cows and in management, he will be liable to what the report
calls" unjust prosecution" if he sells the milk from one or a few cows separately,
while the evidence that he may escape conflict with the authorities by
mixing the milk of the whole herd is equally convincing. This proceeding
comes as near as possible to ensure absolute safety.
Thus it will be seen that farmers, if they are careful in their business, can
supply milk of a very high standard. There can be no doubt that the mixing of
milks at the farm is very necessary. Some time ago a consignment of three
churns of milk to a public institution in Islington showed that two of them
had a percentage of fat very much above the standard, while in the third the
fat was very much below it, but the average amount of fat in the three churns
was good. Now if only one sample of milk had been taken, and that from the
churn containing the poor milk, it might have appeared that the milk was of
an inferior quality, but as three samples were taken, and the average of the
three worked out above the standard, the vendor escaped punishment. Or again
if the three churns had been consigned to different persons, and the one that
was deficient had been officially sampled, he would have been summoned and
rightly fined.
The human animal, like a cow, does not always give good quality milk, and
therefore, when a doctor is consulted as to the state of the health of the infant, he
inquires into the health of the mother and the quality of her milk, and if he finds
that it is not good, even though the quantity may be more than ample, he
stops the supply. But does a farmer, if he finds a cow's milk is not of good
quality, stop the sale of the supply, so much of which goes to feed infants? It
is to be feared that he does not; nor does he get rid of the cow so long as the
quantity is all right. He is content to assume that everything that comes
from the udder of a cow is milk, whereas it is nothing of the kind, but only a
serous fluid when it does not contain a minimum amount of fat, which the
Board of Agriculture practically say is 3 per cent. The sooner farmers understand
this fact the better it will be for themselves and for the public, but
particularly the public, who should not be required to pay a high price for a
fluid which is not milk, even though it may be mixed with the genuine article
to conceal its inferiority.