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periods should be tabulated, whilst the numbers of deaths
that occur during any given period less than a year should
be increased pro rata, when dealing with rates for a year
or period of years. It is assumed that the rates that are
found to exist for short periods would be maintained during
longer periods—an assumption that, in practice, is found
to be warranted. It must be remembered that, as already
stated, the infants who are placed upon the Depot milk
are, as a rule, unhealthy and below par constitutionally, if
not actually diseased, at the time of commencing the milk,
and the longer they use the milk, the better their chances of
life. If children die during the first month of taking the
milk, it would be misleading to assume that all children
would die at the same rate during the succeeding eleven
months.
The most conclusive proof of the value of a Milk Depot,
in so far as the infants and children fed are concerned, is
to be found in the medical histories of individual cases,
which show again and again in the case of the Depot,
that those infants and children who appear to be seriously
ill and wasting, if not moribund, as the result of improper
or irregular feeding, at the time of commencing the milk,
actually recover and become strong and healthy.
The educational value, too, of a Milk Depot must not be
lost sight of.
The net expenditure upon the maintenance of the Milk
Depot, during the year ending December 31st, 1912, is
stated by the Borough Accountant to have been £256
13s. lid., viz.:—
(a) Expenditure £841 15 9
(b) Income 585 1 10
i.e., Expenditure in excess
of Income £256 13 11