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no prosecution can ensue unless a warranty of the consignor is produced by the
consignee, because the law does not assume that the milk is intended for human
consumption, or that it should necessarily be pure whole milk that has been
purchased unless explicitly shown. When sold retail, samples may be
purchased over the counter or from the cart, barrow, or can, and then the law
does not question whether the milk is sold for human consumption, but
assumes that it must be pure whole milk.
Sampling Milk sold by Fanners or Producers.—As far back as the commencement
of 1891, experience was gained of the genuineness of milk delivered at
the railway stations in St. Pancras. In addition to the samples taken from
specified churns at the request of the milk dealers, other samples were taken
promiscuously from amongst the churns sent up by farmers from the country.
The result was that, of 100 consecative samples taken, prosecutions followed in
live cases. Of the 100 consecutive samples, 83 were taken promiscuously, and
17 specially at the request of wholesale dealers; from the 83 promiscuous
samples there followed only one prosecution, equal to 1.2 per cent.; amongst
the 17 wholesale dealers' special samples there were four prosecutions, equal to
23*5 per cent. During the whole of 1891 there were altogether 35 samples
taken upon the requests of wholesale dealers at railway stations, and these
resulted in 10 prosecutions, equal to 28.6 per cent.
It must be remembered that wholesale dealers only request, samples to be
taken when they have already ascertained in rougu and ready tests or by
analysis that they are receiving adulterated milk, and that doubt was thrown
only upon 35 of the many thousands upon thousands of churns passing through
the railway stations in St. Pancras in the course of a year showed that farmers'
milk was seldom adulterated.
Daring the whole of the same year 48 samples of milk were purchased from
retail vendors, and were followed by 11 prosecutions, equal to 22.9 per cent.
Therefore it was evident at that date that whereas the milk delivered by
farmers at the railway stations only yielded 1.2 per cent. of prosecutions,
the milk sold by retailers yielded 2.29 per cent., and that sampling milk at
railway stations was no protection to the public.
Dr. Harris, of Islington, carried the inquiry at railway stations further, and
in his annual report for 1902 showed that whereas only 2 per cent of the
samples of milk taken at railway stations were adulterated, 12 per cent of
those taken elsewhere were found adulterated in 1902, and he said "it is
clearly evident that the adulteration of our milk takes place not at the hands
of the farmer, but at those of the wholesale and retail vendors." He further
added, "milk purveyors in Islington, as elsewhere, are not satisfied with the
Official Standard when contracting for their milk with the farmers. They
require whole pure milk with all its fat, not 3 per cent., and woe betide the
farmers who send such a low percentage of fat., Why, the former would at
once break the contract, for they know full well that this percentage does not
represent a farmer's genuine milk."
It may be added, that it is usually only when the farmer finds his contract
unprofitable that he adulterates his milk so as to diminish his loss, or induce
the wholesale milk dealer to break his contract; but the latter has the power