Issued September 28, 1911. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY.— Bulletin 138. O ■ . A. D. MELVIN, Chief of Bureau. 25? THE A4ILK SUPPLY OF CHICAGO AND WASHINGTON. BY GEORGE AI. WHIIAKER, M. A., Sc. D., Iti Charge of Market Jfi/k Inventigafiorts, Dairy Di~eisio7i. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1911. Book C^t)M(, 7 Issued September 2S, m. y. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY.— Bulletin 138. A. 1). MELVIN, Chief of Bureau. /I- 5 THE MILK SUPPLY OF CHICAGO AND WASHINGTON. BY .^; GEORGE M: WHITAKER, M. A., Sc. D., /« Charge of Market I\Iilk Investigations, Dairy Division. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1911. fa ) p ^< V ^ THE BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. Chief: A. D. Melvin. Assistant Chief: A. M. Farrington. Chief Clerk: Charles C. Carroll. Animal Husbandry Division: George M. Rommel, chief. Biochemic Division: M. Dorset, chief. Dairy Division: B. H. Rawl, chief. Inspection Division: Rice P. Steddom, chief; R. A. Ramsay, Morris Wooden, and Albert E. Behnke, associate chiefs. Pathological Division: John R. Mohler, chief. Quarantine Division: Richard W. Hickman, chief. Zoological Division: B. H. Ransom, chief. Experiment Station: E. C. Schroeder, superintendent. Editor: James M. Pickens. DAIRY DIVISION. B. H. Rawl, Chief. Helmer Rabild, in charge of Dairy Farming Investigations. S. C. TnoTAFSoa, in charge of Dairy Manufacturing Investigations. L. A. Rogers, in charge of Research Laboratories. George M. Whitaker, in charge of Market Milk Investigations. Robert McAdam, in charge of Renovated Butter Inspectioii. 2 n. nr n. LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. U. S. Department of Agricultuee, Bureau of Animal Industry, Washington, D. C, April 5, 1911. Sir: I have the honor to transmit the accompamdng report on The Milk Supply of Chicago and Washington, prepared by Dr. George M. Wliitaker, of the Dairy Division of this bureau, and to recommend its pubhcation in the bureau's bulletin series. Kespectfully, A. D. Melvin, CJiief of Bureau. Hon. James Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture. CONTENTS. Part I. — The Milk Supply of Chicago. Page. Amount of the supply 7 Source of the supply 8 Transportation and freight 11 Freight rates 12 Methods of handling the milk 13 Methods of the large dealers — "country bottling" 13 Methods of the small dealers Ifi Handling of milk in stores 17 Brokerage 18 Organizations 19 Producers' organizations 19 Dealers' organizations 20 The milk drivers' union 20 Wliolesale and retail prices 20 The official inspection 24 Existing conditions 27 Infant mortality 29 The production of high-grade milk 29 Part II. — The Milk Supply ok Washington. Amount and source of the supply 31 Transportation and freight 31 Freight rates 33 The producers 33 Methods of handling milk in the city 34 Dealers' and producers' organizations 35 Wholesale and retail prices 35 Laws and inspection 35 A milk-standard decision 39 Federal cooperation 39 5 ILLUSTRATIONS. Part I.— CHICAGO. PLATES. Page. Plate I. General view of a high-class Chicago milk-bottling plant 14 II. Interior views of plant shown in Plate 1 14 III. Undesirable Chicago milk plants 16 IV. Chicago city milk plants of the better class 16 TEXT FIGURES. Figure 1. Map showing source of greater part of Chicago's milk supply 9 2. Map showing location of country milk-bottling plants supplying Chicago 15 3. Monthly range of wholesale milk prices at Chicago 22 4. Summer and winter wholesale milk prices at Chicago 23 Part II.— WASHINGTON. PLATES. Plate V. Handling milk for Washington 32 VI . Unloading milk at railroad stations in Washington 32 VII. Undesirable Washington milk plants 34 VIII . Views in high-class Washington milk plants 34 TEXT FIGURES. Figure 5. Map showing source of most of Washington's milk supply 32 6. Chart showing decrease in death rate from diarrhea and enteritis in children under 2 years of age in the District of Columbia, following enactment of milk law of 1895 38 6 THE MILK SUPPLY OF CHICAGO AND WASHINGTON. Part I.— THE MILK SUPPLY OF CHICAGO. AMOUNT OF THE SUPPLY. Exact figures as to the aniount of milk consumed in Cliicago are difficult to obtain because of the peculiar reticence of the railroads regarding the amount of milk transported by them. Fortunately a similar condition does not exist in other largo cities. One of the best examples is Boston, where the railroads make monthly reports to the State railroad commissioners of the amounts of milk shipped into the city. These figures are then furnished by the commissioners to the newspapers and other interested parties. In Chicago none of the railroads make any such reports; some absolutel}^ refuse information, even to an ollicial inquirer, and some make partial or guarded statements on the pledge that no use shall be made of them except in general compilations. But though official figures are lacking, some estimates can be made from which an approximation of the amount of milk used in Chicago can be reached. It has been estimated that the average daily per capita consum])tion of milk throughout the United States is 0.6 to 0.65 of a pint.* Applying the larger figure to 2,500,000 people gives 812,000 quarts a day. The consumption of milk accordmg to all records available is greater in the North than in the South ; hence it is fair to assume that the consumption in a northern city is above the average. It is also fair to assume that the tran- sient hotel population of a large metropolis like Chicago would materially swell the consumption. In 526 replies to 2,000 cards mailed to physicians, lawyers, business men, and laborers in Chicago by the Dairy Division the writers reported on an average a per capita consumption in their own families of 1 pint a day. That rate carried 1 Kenry E. Alvord, Statistics of the Dairy, Bulletin 55, Bureau of Animal Industry, p. 48, 1903. 7 8 MILK SUPPLY OF CHICAGO AND WASHINGTON. through the whole popiihition would give as the total consumption 1,250,000 quarts. This figure is probably too large, as 800,000 is too small. Various local authorities estimate the daily railroad receipts at between 25,000 and 30,000 cans, each holding 32 quarts. The health department in 1910^ estimated the daily milk receipts at 31 ,245 32-quart cans. This would be about 1,000,000 quarts. Prob- ably the daily consumption of milk is not far from this amount. The health commissioner estimated that 152,000 cows furnished the city's milk supph^ in 1908, which would make the average produc- tion 6.3 quarts per day per cow. The census of 1900 estimates the average j^ield of milk for each cow in Illinois at 5 quarts a day, and there is no doubt that tlie cows now producing milk for Chicago do better than the average for the State in 1900. His estimate for 1910 was 120,000 cows. SOURCE OF THE SUPPLY. Most of the milk supply of Chicago is produced within 60 miles of the city, and a 100-mile circle about the city would include nearly all of the dairies producing its supply, though in times of excep- tional scarcity in the summer sweet cream is shipped 200 miles. The production of Chicago's milk within such a short distance of the city is in marked contrast wdtli conditions in Boston and New York. Greater Boston has a population only one-third that of Chicago, but most of its milk su})ply is produced outside of a 50-mile circle, and some milk cars start 200 miles from the city.^ New York City, with a million more population than Chicago, receives practi- cally no milk from within 50 miles, and some of its supply comes from points as far away as 400 miles. The Chicago milk supply is chiefly produced in 24 counties, of which 11 are in Illinois, 8 in Indiana, and 5 in Wisconsin (see fig. 1). Occasionally a little milk comes from Michigan. Fully three- fourths of the total supply is produced in Illinois. Another peculiarity of the source of the supply of Chicago milk is that production has extended to the northwest much more than in other directions, and is not evenly distributed over the milk- producing territory, but is largely bunched in two counties m northern Illinois, which more than equal the combined production of the other nine milk-producing counties of that State. McHenry County, 111., is the third largest market milk producing county in the United States, being credited in the census of 1900 1 Report of the Chicago Board of Health, 1907-1910, p. 317. 2 The Milk Supply of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, Bulletin SI, Bureau of Annual Industry. pp. 8, 41, 1905. MILK SUPPLY OF CHICAGO. with sales of 29,194,198 gallons. It is excelled only by St. Lawrence and Orange Counties, N. Y., with sales of 39,795,642 and 29,617,072 gallons, respectively. Kane County is the second milk-producing county in Illinois and the fourth in the United States, with 24,244,532 gallons. The significance of these figures will be more fully appre- ciated when it is realized that according to the 1900 census there were only eight counties in the whole United States where the sales were in excess of 20,000,000 gallons. That the milk supply of a city as large as Chicago is produced so near the place of consumption is somewhat remarkable, especially ~ZT^. ^\ RACI I- J" COOK / — ^ ^ ^ I— -i WILL i ■jcooK ; ' Ilake 'JOSEPH I I Fig. 1.— Map showing source of greater part, of Chicago's milli supply. when we remember that its lakeside location cuts off the possibility of any milk production to the east and much of the north and reduces the field of supplies to the western and southerly sections. In spite of these conditions there is one reason for so large a pro- duction of milk comparatively near the city, namely, the fact that Chicago is not surrounded by a circle of suburban towns and cities or by large areas of land used by city people for rural residences and held at comparatively high buildmg-lot figures. As compared with New York, Philadelphia, and Boston there is in the case of Chicago a somewhat abrupt transition from the thickly settled portion of the city to farming land. This is true to such an extent that some milk 92431°— Bull. 138—11 2 10 MILK SUPPLY OF CHICAGO AND WASHINGTON. cars take on milk within 15 miles of the city, and there are two milk- shipping stations in Cook County, where Chicago is located, which sold 14,500,000 gallons during the census year 1900. So much terri- tory has been annexed to develop the ''greater Chicago" idea that some dairying is carried on within the city limits, about 1,400 cows being kept for this purpose. The extraordinary development of production to the northwest is largely due to the energetic pushing work of the railroads running through that section in securing shipments of milk. The possibly accidental locating in this region years ago of some dealers who have become the largest in the locality may have been another element. Land values and dominating crops may also have had an influence. Traveling southerly from Chicago, one reaches in hardly more than an hour vast stretches of level fertile land admirably adapted to dairying, but largely devoted to corn. This land is so valuable that it is considered by many farmers as more profitable for corn raising than for milk production. The assertion is frequently heard that a farmer can not afford to produce milk on such high-priced land. The extension of the milk-produchig territory to the north- west has carried it into the southern tier of Wisconsin counties. More recently, however, the business has been pushed in a south- easterly direction into Indiana, and most of the increase of late j^ears has been in that direction. There has not been much extension of milk mileage in Illinois for several years. From 1906 to 1908 milk was rather scarce. During the winter of 1908-9 there was an oversupply, attributed in part to the number of people out of emplojmient, m part to the cry of ''trust," many persons refusing to help fill the coffers of those whom they regarded as extortionists, and m part to the talk about unclean milk due to the agitation for more rigid uispection. This oversupply continued into the early summer of 1909, when a severe and continued drought curtailed the supply and caused an uncomfortable scarcity. Durmg the fall and winter of 1909 and the spring of 1910 the milk supply was normal, with no excessive shortage or surplus, but the drought in July and August created a record-breakmg shortage, to be followed by a comfortable ratio between supply and demand during the winter of 1910-11, which was a fairly prosperous one for the producers, one authority calling it "the most profitable period m local history." Durmg the fall of 1910 the increased use of condensed milk m other places proved a benefit to the producers for the local market by creating a greater demand for then- product, which made considerable inroads on the market milk supply and restricted the surplus. MILK SUPPLY OF CHICAGO. 11 TRANSPORTATION AND FREIGHT. In spite of the aversion of the raikoads to stating the amount of their milk shipments, the report of the Chicago health department for 1907-1910, page 317, publishes the following: Number of 8-gallon cans of milk delivered in Chicago by various railroads, 1S9S-1910. Railroads. 1898 1899 1900 1902 1903 Chicago & North 'Westprn Chicago, Milwaukee & SI. I'aul. Illinois Central Chicago Great Western Wisconsin Central Chicago, Burlington & Quincy.. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe. . f irand Trunk Rock Island Erie Wabash Pennsylvania Pittst5urg, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis. Monon Chicago & Eastern Illinois Baltimore & Ohio Chicago & Alton .\urora, Elgin & Chicago Electric Bottled milk 5,400 2,600 1,500 ],r,00 800 800 550 450 450 400 350 300 200 1,^)0 200 250 100 5,400 2, 6fi0 1,550 1,600 800 800 5.50 450 450 400 350 350 200 1,50 200 250 100 6,000 3,500 1,500 1,200 700 700 500 400 500 300 300 400 6,500 4,000 1,900 1,550 1,000 900 600 500 700 400 420 550 200 200 200 200 200 250 300 250 8,500 5, 500 2,300 1,700 1,000 950 650 500 600 4,50 400 300 300 250 .300 300 300 9,000 5,500 2,300 1,700 1,000 1,000 600 500 500 500 400 300 300 300 300 300 300 10.000 6, ,500 2,500 1,800 1,000 1 , 000 600 500 500 500 400 300 300 300 300 300 200 200 Total 16, 100 1,300 3,325 4,130 17,560 20,125 21,150 24,300 24,800 27,200 Railroads. Chicago & North Western Chicago, Milwaukee . li.j .70 .70 .8.5 . 87 SO. 90 .90 . 75 .70 . 05 . 75 . 75 .80 .85 .SO SO. 80 . 75 .70 .70 . (55 .(io .70 . 75 .S5 .85 1.00 1.00 81.00 .80 .80 . 80 . (k) . 05 . 75 .85 .90 .90 1.15 1.10 SI. 00 1.00 . 90 .90 . 75 . 75 .85 .>5 . 95 1. 15 1.15 SI. 10 1.10 .95 .90 . 75 . 75 .So .90 .95 .95 1.15 1.15 SI. 10 1.10 1.00 .95 . 75 . 75 .85 .90 . 95 .95 1.15 1.15 SI. 15 1.15 1.10 April 1.0.5 May ■ - ■ .80 .SO Julv . 90 l.lX) 1.00 1.00 1.15 1.15 Months. 1904 1905 1900 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 January SI. 15 1.1.5 1.1.5 1.0.5 !s5 . 85 .05 . 95 1.15 1. 15 SI. 15 1.10 1.10 1.00 .80 .SO . 8,5 . 85 . 95 .95 1. 15 1.15 SI. 10 1.10 1.05 1.05 .80 .80 .90 .90 1.00 1.00 1.20 l.-JO SI. 20 1.15 1.10 1.10 . 90 .s5 1.00 1. 05 1.10 1.10 1. 45 1. 15 SI. 45 1. 45 1.30 1.25 . 95 .90 1.00 1.10 1.10 1.15 1. 35 1.35 SI. 30 1.30 1.25 1,25 1.00 .90 1.00 1.10 1.15 1. 15 1.45 1. 45 SI. 40 1.35 1. 30 1.30 1.00 1.00 1.10 1.15 1. 25 1. 25 1. (iO 1.00 SI. 55 1. 50 1.45 1.40 May :.. 1.40 .95 July 1.05 1.20 September 1.25 1.25 Price paid per 100 pounds for milk dclircred at bottling establishments in the coiuUry. Mont lis. January February.. March April May June July August September. October November. December.. ?1. 35 l.,35 1. 30 1.05 .85 .80 1. 05 1. 15 1.30 1.40 1.45 1905 i 190(; SI. 55 1. 45 1. 35 1.30 1.00 .90 1.00 1.20 1.30 1.55 1. (.5 1.05 190S I 1909 1910 1911 ?1. 05 1.05 1.55 1..35 1.05 .95 1.05 1.25 1.35 1. 45 1.55 1.55 SI. 55 SI. 75 1.55 1.70 1.45 1. 55 1.40 1.45 1.10 1. 20 .95 1.05 1.05 1.20 1.25 1.30 1,35 1.40 1.55 1.70 1.70 1.90 1.75 2.00 ?2. 00 1.90 1.70 1.30 1.10 1.10 1.30 1.45 1.45 The bottlers contract for milk for six-niontlis' p(M'iods in April and October; the shippers fix their prices in May and November. Figure 3 gives a graphic view of the prices paid beginning with 1903 by the two systems, reduced to the cpiart as a unit. The upper line represents the sliippers' price and the lower line the bottling-plant price. In the former case the fanner pays the freight, which aver- ages half a cent a cjuart (see p.- 12). The dotted line shows the net return to the fanner who ships can milk to Chicago. Figure 4 shows the maximum and minimum prices for each year since 1896. The prevaihng retail price in the autumn of 1907 was 7 cents a quart, and had been for some time. An attempt to raise the price to 8 cents was made in the ^\'inter of 1907-8. Tills was followed by 22 MILK SUPPLY OF CHICAGO AND WASHINGTON. _ dd^ — ■dt//^ C ■ff33 A/t/r ^ 1 /■ ^ ^- /* ^^ ' /" ^ 030 AOA/ IDO ld3S _ -o/Jt/ O A7/?r a)3A//7r — ^trW ■ddy dVIA/ 333 ■A/vr f ^ ^ .^ ~- _ ^ __ ■* -1 ■^ ** = - 1^ ..^ ^ — ' "~s ^ "• '^ ^s "- «., -^ ^ ■^ -, > _- _ ^ i^ — ' H — 1 --J ^ "■ J ' ff ^ -' ^ V < ■03a AOA/ IDO Iri3S m onv }>.A7/?r ^3/vnp ^Ab'iV dd>/ 333 ■A/!^r t '1 ^x - k "* "—I <— r = ^"^ - S -- ^. ■*-4 ' -^ _. •^ - -^ --^ "2 > ^■^ > ^ _^ -- - ■:_ ^ ' -* -MJ "1 - — ■ — 1 . ^ • ■33a ■AOA/ IDO lo3S oO ■o/iv A7/?r (^3A/r>r — A>/1^ ■ddV ■dvtr/ 933 A/wr y* L, '-. ■■ -< ta \ ^ L ' ■ ■-- ^ ^ -- -, --> * > % > --: ^ „- _ h- :::j - — — '*'/ -■ - ^ ■— ■^ y y f" -' ^ oya AOA/ 100 la/3S (^ O/iV r\A7/?r f^3A//?r — At/lV 'ddt/ dP'i^ ■033 A't/P ^ -- _ s ^ ■"* -1- -f-:: :^- — Is - ~n pv^ N sj ^ '^ '^ ^ - _ — ^ ** — -- > 1 ^ ,^ ■•« ' H-J ^ f , .- >J -- \~_ > r^ ' .' ^ :' f- r'r ' 03a AOA' IDO ■ld3S ID S/)l/ QA7A?r K\3A/r)r — At/M ddV dt/t^/ 333 A/irr U ^ '-ii n ■^ ■-n -, L "t ^ * 1 > __ L ^ *, ■" -^ ^ •i ■- •^ > _ „ =J= -- r "-" r ^ " ,r y / r> }\ ^ 030 AO'V 100 ld3S IT) or)!;/ Q)A7/?r (y)3/v/yr — At/i^ ■i/t/tA/ 333 r ' j 1 ■ -»- '-^ -^ - - ■, 1 t I _ ^ ■V ^ 1 < ft Is '^ ^ " > ^ ^ _ J -^ ' ^f ^ _ ^ >= — ^ f" - r^ ^ ^ • ( r ■ ^ 030 ■/\0A/ IDO Id3S i>/7' -^A't^/^d MILK SUPPLY OF CHICAGO. 23 cries of "trust" in some of the newspapers and 13 grand-jury indict- ments. It was charged — That defendants were engaged in a conspiracy to crush out competition; that de- fendants conspired to form a pool; that defendants conspired to commit an illegal act against the public administration of justice; that the conspiracy was not only to con- trol prices charged to consumers, but to regulate prices paid to producers. The bill of particulars fded by the Commonwealth alleged — That defendants advanced the price of milk to consumers 1 cent per quart in the fall of 1907 almost simultaneously. 5 4^/k 4V2. 4V4 ^ 2'/2 kj ZV^ 2 /^ /'A / /\ / y \ h \/ / A / \ \ t 1 / / \A \ J 1 \/ 1/ rV / / 1 • / \ c A /s 1 J/ / "• / f ,/" ^ x^ / s a i / a' y ^y ^ -^ ^ V / / 1 / / 6' a' / k /^ \/ / > ,y^ ' d /" ^> -/ / / / y / b-^ / — .^^ v^ / / /" * / / ^'^^^ ^^ ^ / \ — ^ r Fig. ■!.— Summer and winter wholesale milk prices at Chicago, a, Price of can milk in November and December; a', same loss freight; h, price of can milk m May and June; 6', same less freight; c, winter price of milk at coimtry bottling plants; d, summer price at bottling plants. That customers received notice from defendants about the same time regarding the increase in milk prices. That defendants increased the price given to farmers in order to drive out competi- tion in the dairy-produce country. As a result of tliis agitation the retail price was dropped to 7 cents and remained at that price during the winter of 1908-9. When the 24 MILK SUPPLY OF CHICAGO AND WASHINGTON, ease was reached on the court calendar it was dismissed by the judge without trial. In the winter of 1909-10 an effort was again made to raise the price to 8 cents, but much milk was sold at 7 cents, and daily newspaper agitation finalh^ reduced the price to 7 cents. THE OFFICIAL INSPECTION. ]\Iilk inspection in Cliicago is under the general supervision and direction of the health commissioner and is directly in the division of food inspection. This division has a chief, and also a cliief of dairy inspection. Under the latter there are at present 10 milk inspectors for city work and 10 dairy inspectors for country service. The salaries of these 21 officers aggregate $22,500. The health department has a laboratory with 3 bacteriologists and 6 chemists for general work, and in addition 2 officers speciall}" designated as milk testers. These latter are paid $2,400, increasing the direct expense for milk inspection to S24,900, no account being taken of other office and supervisory expenses, wliich might properly be chargeable to milk inspection. The milk ordinance now in force was adopted early in 1908, and the score-card S3^stem of inspection was soon after inaugurated. There are used one form of score card for dairy farms, substantially Hke that of the Dairy Division. Bureau of Animal Industry, United States Department of Agriculture, another form for city milk depots, and a third for stores selling milk. The health department has also devised a form of score card for the inspection of bottling plants. In addition to the official inspection, the largest bottlers have regu- lations looking to clean, pure milk, and employ tlieir o^\al inspectors to see that these regulations are complied with. A question has been raised, g■ro^nng out of the increased activity of the health office, as to the legal rights of citv inspectors when mak- ing investigations outside of the municipal limits, an eminent authority having said that these inspectors — have no more authority upon your fVvm or mine than the burglar that seeks to break into our house at night. On the other hand, the ordinance sa^^s that — Milk produced on larms * * * where the rules of the department are violated shall be declared unclean, unwholesome, and infected. The sale of or offering for sale of such milk is prohibited. All unclean, unwholesome, or infected milk shall be condemned for human food. Such milk is to be returned to the shipper, and on a second offense is to be so denatured that it can not be used as food. Hence, without raising technical or academic points, it will be seen that the pro- ducer vnW save himself annoyance and inconvenience by allowing an inspection of liis premises. MILK SUPPLY OF CHICAGO. 25 The milk laws in effect in tlie city are for the most part mnnicipal ordinances. Where the health officer or other interested party desires a new law or the modification of an old one, he goes to the city council rather than to the legislature. The present Chicago ordinances are very specific as to all details of production and han- dhng. The sale of milk over 70° F. or containing over 3,000,000 bac- teria per cubic centimeter is proliibited. In July, 1908, the city council passed an ordinance wliich pro- vided that all milk sold in the city should be from cows that had satisfactorily passed the tuberculin test; but, realizing the difficulty of putting such an ordinance into immediate effect, the ordinance allowed pasteurization as an alternative for five years. The theory upon which the ordinance was passed was that five years would be required to test the cows and exclude the tuberculous, there being about 125,000 cows producing milk for the Chicago market, owned by some 12,000 farmers. When the ordinance was passed it was to take effect January ], 1909, but bitter opposition developed and it has been fought with persistency for several years. The time for its going into effect has been postponed from time to time, until ffiially it became effective January 1, 1911. After that date no license has been issued to any dealer unless liis supply was properly pasteurized or obtained from a dairy the cows of which had been properly tuber- culin tested within one year. Growing out of this agitation, a city conmiission was appointed to investigate conditions and a . State commission was ap})ointed to make an investigation as to the accuracy of the tuberculin test. The first commission has made a preliminary report critical of the city milk supply, and the State commission has reported to the legis- lature a recommendation to the eft'ect that municipalities should not have the right to enact tuberculin testing ordinances. Meanwhile the work of testing cows progressed. Animals were tested with tulierculin as follows: In 1908, 10,860; 1909, 29,499; 1910, 6,302. But the recent session of the legislature enacted the foUoAving: "It shall l^e unlawful for an}' city, village, incorporated town, county, or other corporate authorit}^ in the State of Illinois by ordinance, rule, or regulation other than may be estabHshcd by the law of tliis State to demand, fix, estabhsh, or require the tuberculin test to be applied to daiiy animals as a means or measure of regulating and purif^'ing milk, sldmmed milk, cream, and daily products of said animals in an}- manner whatever, and every such ordinance, rule, by-law, or regulation heretofore or hereafter passed, demanded, fLxed, established, or required by any such city, village, incorporated town, county, or other corporate authority other than the State of Iffinois is hereby declared to be void and of no efl'ect." 26 MILK SUPPLY OF CHICAGO AND WASHINGTON. The number of pasteurizers installed in the city is 210 and in the country 100 — 310 in all. Most of these have been put in during the past two years. The inspection of the work of pasteurization devolves upon the health department. The number of tests made in 1909 was 3,914; in 1910, 5,203. The tests show good results from the standpoint of reduction of the bacteria, but are nevertheless unsatisfactory and show much poor work done by the pasteurizers, wliich the depart- ment is laboring to overcome. The average bacteria count from August 1 to December 31, 1909, was 944,000 per cubic centimeter, and 2,219 of the 1910 samples averaged 1,702,000. The average of the city's raw milk for 1910 was 11,574,000 and during the summer months it was 13,932,000. During the seven weeks ending the middle of September, 1909, the inspectors of the health department took 829 samples of milk for bacteriological examination, with the following results: Results of bacteriological examination of 829 samples of milk in Chicago. Bacteria per cubic centimeter. Less than 1,000 1,000 to 10,000 10,000 to 100,000 100,000 to 500,000 500,000 to 1,000,000. .. 1,000,000 to 5,000,000 .. 5,000,000 to 10,000,000. 10,000,000 to 20,000,000 Over 20,000,000 Total Pasteurized. Number. Per cent 0.7G 3.04 35.90 30.52 11.80 13.00 2.00 2. CO Raw. Number. Per cent 14 57 45 227 10(1 81 37 2.47 10.04 7.93 40.03 18.70 14.30 0.53 100.00 All of the samples of unpasteurized milk averaged 5,547,502 bacteria per cubic centimeter; the pasteurized milk averaged 944,465. One section of the ordinance rec^uires that drivers' seats on milk wagons shall be divided from the compartment where the milk and cream are kept. Milk for delivery in bulk must be carried in cov- ered pouring cans provided with a spout or faucet. It must not be dipped from carrier cans for delivery to consumers. All milk shipped into Chicago must be sealed. The last rule, in the esti- mation of the health officer, has almost entirely stopped the watering of milk. Sealing the cans has a tendency to fix the responsibility for adulteration, and therefore makes conviction and punishment more certain, which has had a decidedly deterrent influence. An average of 1,230 samples are taken each week. It is expected that, as a rule, a dairy-farm inspector will make 40 inspections per week, and that the city inspector will make 30 inspections with the necessary reinspections and take 100 samples. The following shows in detail the work of inspection: MILK SUPPLY OF CHICAGO. 27 1907 1908 1909 60, CSS 03, 084 41,853 7.4 4.8 4.2 1,473 2,089 1,312 SG67 $7,880 .$1,305 f), 038 16,S.-).5 10,566 47 352 1,442 S282 S2.112 S5, 846 7,374 9,805 10,211 468 350 SaJiiples of milk taken in the city for chemical analysis Per cent below grade Cases in court Fines imposed City inspections of stores and miUc depots Cases in court Fines imposed Inspections of dairy farms Famis whose supply was excluded from the city 34,739 3.5 1,201 S920 15,808 925 S4, 756 5,221 262 The falling off in samples taken for chemical analysis is due to the increasing attention given to bacteriological tests and is offset b}^ the increased number of such examinations. Increasing attention has been given during the past few months to filtering samples of a ]:)int each through a small disk of cotton. These arc preserved with the name of the dairy from which they were obtained and, if bad, usod as a lever to secure better conditions. EXISTING CONDITIONS. In discussing the cpuility of an insj^ection system which has to oversee 12,000 milk producers and 1,500 city milk dealers with 2,600 wagons and 2,400 stores, with only 20 inspectors, much will depend on the viewpoint and temperament of the critic. lie will find much to commend and mucli to criticize, and criticism of con- ditions may not imply criticism of the inspe(;tion service or the faithfulness and efficienc}^ of its work. Sucli a tremendous job can not be perfect in results, and there will necessarily be various grades of eiliciency where many inspectors are employed. As a result of some investigations made in 1905-6 by Prof. J. M. Trueman, of the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station,^ he reported that— The absence of preservatives was plainly noiieealile in Chicago milk; that of 413 samples of milk taken in the summer of 190G, 134, or 32 per cent, were below the standard (3 per cent of fat); 21 of these, however, had 2.8 and 2.9 per cent of fat, and were so near the line as not to be cases for prosecution. It was an exception to find a milk depot that was clean and sanitary. A great many of the markets are located in dark, dirty, and ill-ventilated basements where the sunlight never enters. They are never scrubbed, and many of them could not be because the floors are rotten wood or only of earth. Occasionally one of the.se small depots is found scrupulously clean . Conditions have improved since that time, as has been shown on previous pages, with a new law, new energy, and more inspectors; and evidence is abundant that steady ju'ogress is being made, though much remains to be done, and Dr. W. A. Evans, health commis- sioner, himself said, in March, 1910: "Chicago's milk supply is one of the dirtiest in the world." 'Bulletin 120, Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station. 28 MILK SUPPLY OF CHICAGO AND WASHINGTON. The writer of this bulletm spent a part of November and December, 1909, in some investigations, working a few days with each of the inspectors and seeing a Httle of each milk-prockicing section. In every place visited the Chicago inspector and the writer visited every dairy they came to so far as the time woukl allow, so that there was no selecting of dairies, and eack inspector asserted that a fair average of the conditions was seen. Speaking in a general way, conditions were bad, but everywkere tkere were evidences of improvement. Stating tke results of tke investigations in matkematical terms, resulting from the rating given on the score cards, 100 being perfect, there were found: In the twenties, 11.7 per cent of the places visited. In the thirties, 35 per cent of the places visited. In the forties, 43 per cent of the places visited. In the fifties, 9 per cent of the places visited. In the sixties, 1.3 per cent of the places visited. The average was 40.06. Seventy-three per cent were rated nothing for cleanliness of the stable yard; 59 per cent were given a score of nothing for light; and a score of nothing for ventilation was given to 42 per cent. In the majority of cases cows were allowed to calve in the stanchions. The milk room in most of the dairies was simply a tank room where the milk is cooled. In man}^ cases this was badly located, being at the corner of the barnyard or a hog 3"ard or both. In practically every case the milk utensils were washed in the kitchen of the house. No cooler was found in any instance, milk being cooled by being set in a tank of well water. Not a single narrow-top milk pail was found in use, or a single instance where milking suits were used. Eighteen per cent of the cows were given a score of nothing for cleanliness. Forty- six per cent of the dairies inspected were scored nothing for cleanliness of the stable air at the time of milking. A score of nothing for clean- Imess of milk house was given in 41 per cent of the places visited. Eleven per cent of the dairies received a score of nothing for care and cleanliness of utensils. The external appearance of the barns in the milk-producing terri- tory is much better than in some other sections of the United States. A large proportion of them are in good repair and well ventilated, but many appear to be deficient in light. The department of health a few years ago waged a vigorous contest against the feeding of wet malt to dairy cows. Powerful interests attacked this ordinance, but the appellate court of Cook County affirmed the validity of the ordinance October 8, 1906. The court said that power to enact ordinances for the preservation of the public health is inherent in a municipality, and ciuoted an opinion of the Supreme Court of Minnesota (66 Minn., 166), which said that — MILK SUPPLY or CmCAGO. 29 Any public regulations that did not provide means for insuring the wholesomeness of milk * * * for sale and consimiption would furnish very inadequate protection to the lives and health of its citizens. * * * f\^Q presumptions of the law are in favor of the reasonableness of the ordinance. * * * It is therefore incumbent upon anyone who seeks to have it set aside as unreasonable to point out or show affirmatively wherein such unreasonableness consists. INFANT MORTALITY. The health commissioner reported in February, 1909: The infant death rate of the last few weeks shows a material improvement. This may be due to an improvement in general sociologic conditions. Possibly life is not quite so hard as it was a year ago. Nothing responds so accurately to the financial conditions of the poorer people as does infant mortality. And possibly also all of this agitation for a better milk supply is showing in an improved baby death rate, as it has been shown in the statistics of chemical and bacteriological examinations of the milk division. In his annual report for 1909, published in January, 1910, Commis- sioner Evans said: A most noteworthy development of the year has been tlie pronounced reductions in deaths among milk-fed babies — in spite of an unusually hot summer. It is believed that a purer milk supply has contributed most in this reduction. With GO per cent of the city's supply now pasteurized, and with regulations for the sanitary handling of milk more universally enforced than ever before, our babies' milk has, within the last year, become a much safer and better article of food. Under ordinary conditions itisacertainty that greater reductions would have been recorded. As it stands there were 641 fewer baby deaths as compared with 1908, a reduction that is not only grati- fying but is regarded as hopeful for much better things in the future. The followino; table shows the decrease in infant mortality between the ages of 1 to 5 years for four decades: Decade. To 1,000 population. Per cent of total mor- tality. 1871-18Sn 4.09 3. Sf) 2. 00 1.42 29 84 ISSl-lSWl 18.07 14 ''0 1891-1900 1901-1910 9.09 THE PRODUCTION OF HIGH-GRADE MILK. Milk of high grade is produced })y a number of dairies and sold at several cents a quart above the price of ordinaiy milk. A few dairies have sold for several years what they called certified milk, but the term in its strict sense has been a misnomer. The expression "certi- fied milk" is correctly used only when the milk has been produced under conditions prescribed by a committee of some regular medical 30 MILK SUPPLY OF CHICAGO AND WASHINGTON. association and when this committee certifies that its rules or recom- mendations have been comphed with.^ Usage has given the name of "commission" to these committees. The earhest commission of a medical society in the field was the Essex Comity Milk Commission of Newark, N. J., which copyrighted the term "certified milk,' but offered it for use by any medical milk commission organized to influence dairy work for clinical purposes. The use of the word "commission" as applied to the milk committee of a medical society is liable at times to give rise to confusion, as was the case in Chicago for some time. This city had no milk commis- sion, in the sense mentioned above, until recentl}^, and hence no body which could certify milk, though large amounts of so-called certified milk were sold. To increase the confusion, an organization adopted the name of "milk commission," to "distribute pasteurized and modified milk among sick children of the poorer parts of Chicago at prices far below cost." This philanthropic body did not exist for the purposes of certifying to the satisfactory production of milk, and only a minority of its officers were physicians. However, it did most excellent work in its way. For instance, in January, 1909, it dis- tributed 59,360 bottles of milk from its own laboratory and from 21 other stations. This was an increase of 12,545 bottles over the amount distributed during the corresponding month of the previous year. A regular medical milk commission for certifying milk was appointed by the Chicago Medical Society early in 1909 and is now certifying to the milk produced by seven dairies. The certified milk is sold for the most part by regular dealers, who also handle the common market milk. Dr. J. W. Van Derslice is president and Dr. Julia D. Merrill is secretary of this commission. 1 Certified milk in the strict sense of the term is milli produced under a legal contract between a medical milk commission and a dairy and which conforms to its requirements.— C. B. Lane, U. S. Dept. of Agri- cultm-e, Bm-eau of Animal Industry Bulletin 104, p. 9. "Certified milk "is a term * * * coined by the -wTiter and first used in connection with a plan brought to the attention of physicians * * * in iggs. * * * It provided for a commission of medical men who should by voluntary supervision, paid expert inspection, and final certification, endeavor to influence a supply of milk produced under regulations imposed by themselves.— Henry L. Coit, M. D., Kentucky State Medical Journal, May, 1908. No person shall sell or exchange or ofler or expose for sale or exchange as and for certified milk any milk which does not conform to the regulations prescribed by and bear the certification of a milk commission appointed by a county medical society, organized under and chartered by the Medical Society of the State of New York, and which has not been pronounced by such authority to be free from antiseptics, added preservatives, and pathogenic bacteria or bacteria in excessive numbers.— New York Laws, sec. 22, amended April 30, 1907. Part IL— THE MILK SUPPLY OF WASHINGTON. AMOUNT AND SOURCE OF THE SUPPLY. The District of Columbia consumes about 76,000 quarts (19,000 gallons) of milk a day, or about 0.4 of a pint per capita. This is produced on 1,091 dairy farms, from 17,688 cows. A few j^ears ago when the number was 16,272, they were located as follows: Cows. District of Columbia ' 734 Maryland 8, 448 Virginia 6, 428 Pennsylvania 137 New York 525 Total 16, 272 The District is surrounded on all sides by good farming country, and if dair}dng were intensively developed the entire milk supply could be easily produced within wagon haul of the District. As it is, about one-third is brought in by wagons and two-thirds by steam and electric railroads. Of the milk brought into the District by the latter conveyances 59 per cent comes by the Baltimore & Oliio Railroad, 30 per cent b}' the Southern lines, and 11 per cent by electric lines. ^lost of the supply is produced within 55 miles of the city. The bulk of it comes from Loudoun and Fairfax Coun- ties, Va., and Montgomery and Frederick Counties, Md. (See fig. 5.) The near-b}^ supply of cream is insufficient, and considerable quantities are received regularh' from Philadelphia and New York. The dealer can, in an unforeseen emergency, telegraph to some city depot or country creamery at these places and receive a supply within a few hours. TRANSPORTATION AND FREIGHT. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad delivers from 6,000 to 6,500 gal- lons daily. It has about 20 milk stations, mostly on the ]\Ietropoli- tan Branch, the most distant shipping point being 57 miles away. The largest amounts are shipped from Germantown, Boyds, and Frederick, all in Alary land. 1 The total number of cows in the District, including the cows kept by public institutions and by indi- viduals owning only one cow for family use, is 1,762. 31 32 MILK SUPPLY OF CHICAGO AND WASHINGTON. The Southern Railway transports about 3,300 gallons daily. This road has 38 shipping stations on the main line and two branches, the most remote point of taking milk being 92 miles distant from the city. The largest shipping points in its territory are Herndon and Purcellville, in Virginia. The milk is brought to the stations by the fai-mers in their own cans and is shipped in baggage cars attached to the passenger trains. Plate V, figure 1, shows a common morning scene at one of these Fig. 5.— Map showing source of most of Washington's milk supply. Heavy dots indicate points from which milk cars start. Five largest shipping points arc shown by dots inclosed by cu'cles. railroad stations. The farmers have unloaded the milk from their wagons to the platform before the arrival of the train, and while the train waits they rush the cans into the car. This picture is, in fact, characteristic of market-milk production in many other parts of the country, similar conditions and scenes being found in every State where milk is produced for and shipped to a city market. In the construction of the new Union Station at Washington pro- vision was made for the convenient and prompt handling of milk by a siding and platform 600 feet long at the rear of the station, to BuL. 138, Bureau of Ammal Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Plate V. Fig. 1.— Loading a Milk Car Before Sunrise in Virginia. Fig. 2.— Unloading Milk from an Electric Car in a Washington Street. HANDLING MILK FOR WASHINGTON. BuL. 138. Bureau or Animal Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agric jltl Plate VI. Fig. 1.— Scene at Milk Platform at Old Baltimore & Ohio Station. Fig. 2.— Milk Platform at New Union Station. UNLOADING MILK AT RAILROAD STATIONS IN WASHINGTON. MILK SUPPLY OF WASHINGTON. 33 which the cars can be quickly shifted on arrival. (PI. VI, fig. 2.) The cars are for the most part due to arrive between 8 and 9.30 o'clock a. m., although, on account of the lack of refrigeration, afternoon shipments are sometimes made in summer. Electric railroads are utilized for milk sliipments into Washington more than in many pltices of this size, and one road brings in milk by the carload. (PI. V, lig. 2.) FREIGHT RATES. Most of the milk shipments are in 40-quart cans, though some twenties and thirties are used. The freight rate on the steam roads is from 2 to 3 cents a gallon, according to distance. ]\Iost of the miUc comes from the 2^-cent zone, making the average freight a little over half a cent (0.6 cent) a quart. On the electric roads the rate ranges from one-half cent to H cents a gallon. The custom prevails of making the same charge for cream as for milk. Freight is paid by tickets attached to the cans. THE PBODTJCERS. The 1,091 farmers who produce milk for the District of Columbia have herds averaging about 16 cows in each. Only 32 exceed 50 cows, and only 4 farmers have herds exceeding 100 cows each. On the other hand, 230 farmers have 10 cows or less. The great majority of the herds number from 10 to 30 cows each. The tendency, how- ever, is to increase the size of the herds. The statistics show that there is a decreasing niunber of producers, while the growing needs of the city call for the product from an increasing number of cows. Conditions attending the production of milk are improving. The District health department, although hampered by limitations which will be referred to later, has done commendable work in eliminating some of the worst features connected with the production of the local milk supply. In 1900-7, 241 cows were condemned as unfit for milk production, and in 1908-9, 220 were condemned. The farms sup- plying the milk were scored b}^ the Dairy Division in 1906-7, the average score being 43.44, and 300 scored in the thirties or below, the latter scores indicating conditions which would warrant exclud- ing the product of such dairies from the market. Ventilation was the condition which scored lowest; next to the lowest was removal of manure; and next, light. Other noticeably bad conditions related to cooling the milk, cleanliness of milking, cleanliness of stable yard, and construction of stable. ]\Iarked improvement has been made since then, but Dr. W. C. Woodward, the District health officer, says: The improvement Becms slow. The public, however, which ha3 been for many years so tolerant of insanitary conditions on the dairy farm, must realize that existing 34 MILK SUPPLY OF CHICAGO AND WASHINGTON. conditions are due to its own ignorance and neglect quite as much as to the ignorance and neglect of the farmer. Sixty-two dairymen, keeping 734 cows, reside within the District hmits and retail their product without the intervention of middle- men.^ Milk is also brought into the District by wagons from about 25 villages, 18 miles being the longest haul. Much of this wagon milk is retailed by the producer, though a considerable proportion of it is taken to the city milk plants and handled the same as railroad milk. METHODS OF HANDLING MILK IN THE CITY. The District of Columbia has about 79 middlemen who have regu- lar milk plants. Tliis is a larger number than is usual in places of this size. By a localism these dealers are called "dairymen" and their plants are called "dairies." The latter include a wide range of conditions, from the establishment in the rear basement of some dwelling with meager light and air to the up-to-date place with a full equipment of modern machiner}^ (See Pis. VII and VIII.) The dealers do a business ranging from 50 to 2,000 gallons a day. An unusually large proportion of the milk business of the city is done by small dealers, and there is less of a tendency to concentration than is noticeable in some other places. Although 4 per cent of the dealers do one fourth of the entire business, the smallest dealers (69 per cent of the whole) do another fourth. Between these there are 9 per cent that do a fourth, and the remaining 18 per cent another fourth of the business. In other words, 13 per cent (the larger dealers) do one half the business, and the smaller dealers (87 per cent of all) do the other half. Some of the small plants are open to criticism from the sanitary standpoint, a prominent fault being the intermingling of domestic and business life on account of the small business done. Yet all are constantly improving, and the good work of the health depart- ment is noticeable on every hand. All milk rooms are required to have clean cement floors, tidy, well-whitewashed walls, and good dramage, being connected with city sewers. Four per cent of the dealers score 90 or above; 16 per cent score 80 or above; 49 per cent score 70 or above; 25 per cent score 60 or above; 6 per cent score 50 or above. Milk on reaching the dealers' plants has in the great majority of cases been from four to seven hours in transit, frequently without any refrigeration. It is usually cooled to some extent on the farm. It reaches the city plants between 10 and 12 o'clock a. m., and is cooled at once. In most cases this is done by placing the cans in tanks of ice water. Some of these tanks are primitive wooden boxes » The total number of separate premises in the District upon which cows are kept is 561. BuL. 138, Bureau of Animal Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Plate VII. Fig. 1.— Place in Rear of BAbEMENT, with only One Small Window, Shown at Rear Wheel of Wagon. UNDESIRABLE WASHINGTON MILK PLANTS. BuL. 138, Bureau of Animal Industry. U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Plate VIII. Fig. 1.— Interior of a Large, Clean, Well-Equipped Plant. Fig. 2.— Cement Cooling Tank in Cold-Storage Room of Large Plant. VIEWS IN HIGH-CLASS WASHINGTON MILK PLANTS. MILK SUPPLY OF WASHINGTON. 35 more or less worn and decayed, musty, and moldy. Others are clean and thoroughly constructed, made of cement with metal edges (PI. VIII, fig. 2). After the milk is cooled it is bottled and then put in cold storage until time for the morning delivery. Only a few years ago most of the milk was bottled by hand, even in some of the largest establishments, but more bottling machines are being intro- duced. During the summer some dealers prefer to hold the milk on ice in the receiving cans and bottle early in the morning just before delivery. Icing on delivery wagons is not common. Some of the milkmen have machinery for fdtering and pasteurizing, and some have refrigerating outfits; man}" have boilers furnishing an abundance of hot water and steam for cleansing purposes. The tendency to pasteurization is on the increase, and six of the largest dealers now pasteurize most of their product. DEALERS' AND PRODUCERS' ORGANIZATIONS. The milk dealers of the District have an organization known as the "Dairymen's Association of the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia." The producers, of whom there are about 1,000, also have an organization called "Milk Producers' Association of Mary- land, Virginia, and the District of Columbia." WHOLESALE AND RETAIL PRICES. The price to the farmers is made for six-months periods, Novem- ber 1 and May 1. The ordinary summer price some time ago was 12^ cents and 13 cents a gallon, and the winter price 17 to 18 cents. During the winter of 190G-7 as high as 20 cents was paid in some instances. The wholesale price for the summer of 1909 was 14 to 16 cents a gallon, and the producers' association fixed a price of 22 cents for the winter of 1909-10. More is paid for milk produced and handled under special sanitary conditions. The farmers pay the freight, furnish the cans, and sell the milk "dehvered in Washing- ton in good condition." In dealings between the producer and the dealer there are as a rule no written contracts, only oral agreements. In most cases the trade is for a stated amount daily. The retail price ranges from Z to 10 cents a quart, according to quality. Ordinary milk sells at 8 cents in summer and 9 cents in winter. LAwS AND INSPECTION. A milk law enacted by Congress for the District of Columbia became effective in March, 1895, and milk inspection in the District dates from that year. 36 MILK SUPPLY OP CHICAGO AND WASHINGTON. Concerning this law Dr. William C. Woodward, the health ofRcer, says : ^ Experience soon revealed defects, and efforts were promptly made to correct them. * * * The result has, however, not been encouraging. Bills introduced on recommendation of the health officer and receiving the indorsement of the Com- missioners and of the Medical Society of the District of Columbia have been uniformly opposed by milk interests. The fight to obtain better legislation to regulate the sale of milk has always been carried to the committee room at the Capitol, and the fight has always been lost. In spite of its defects, the law has proved very helpful in raising the quality of the District milk supply and reducing infant mortality. The health department had no milk bacteriologist until 1910 and up to that time had made no bacteriological inspections of milk, while many cities had had a bacteriological laboratory for several years and considered a bacteriologist fully as important as a chemist in the inspection of milk. The appropriation act approved May, 1910, provided $500 for the equipment and maintenance of such a laboratory and authorized the bacteriologist who had been employed for contagious diseases service to undertake the bacteriological exam- ination of milk and the water supply of dairy farms. The law of 1895 contains many provisions ordinarily found in such laws. A system of licenses or ])ermits is provided for. A pro- ducer who retails his own product is required to have two permits, one as a dealer and one as a producer. If he lives outside of the District liis producer's permit is known as an "importer's" permit. The dealer's permit is known as a "dairy" permit. The law contains the unusual provision that grocers, bakers, and otliers selling milk sliall post the names of dairymen from whom the milk is obtained, but does not recjuire them to have a license. A person applying for a license can commence business at once pending the issuing of the license. A general food law for the District of Columbia, passed a few years after the milk-inspection law, establishes a milk standard of 3^ per cent of fat, 9 per cent of solids not fat, and 12|^ per cent of total sohds. The standard for cream is 20 per cent fat, IS per cent being the enforceable figure. This quality is usually called table cream. Dou- ble cream has 40 per cent fat. Xot much of the latter is sold, although considerable of the shipments from a distance have 40 per cent fat to save freight and on arrival it is reduced with milk to standard or 20 per cent cream. By an order issued November 5, 1910, relative to applications for new permits if all cattle on the dairy farm to which any such applica- 1 "The municipal regulation of the milk supply of the District of Columbia," in Bulletin 56 of the Hygienic Laboratory, Public Health and Marine-Hospital Service, p. 747, 1909. MILK SUPPLY OF WASHINGTON. 37 tion relates are not free from tuberculosis as shown by tlie tuberculin test the application will be rejected. The enforcement of the dairy laws is placed in the control of the District health department, but no provision is made for a distinc- tive milk division with a chief responsible for the milk and dairy inspection. In the roll of officers and employees of the health department there is no indication of anyone givin^^ his exclusive attention to milk work. The department has 17 "sanitary and food inspectors/' and one of these gives most of his time to inspecting city milk plants, while another is assigned to collecting samples. There are five veterinarians acting as inspectors who give most of their time to farm inspection, although they have to do also with rabies, glanders, and abattoir inspection. They are also permitted to engage in private practice on account of their small salaries, hence their undivided energies can not be given to dair}' work. The pro- ducing territoiy is divided into districts having from 123 to 205 milk-producing farms in each, according to their location, and a veterinar}^ inspector has charge of each district. The general super- \dsion of the country work is intrusted to the chief clerk in the health office, and that of the city work to the chief inspector. The general chemist of the liealth office makes all of the milk analyses. The national pure-food law gives the United States Department of Agriculture autliority to enforce it in the District of Columbia, in the Territories, and in interstate and foreign commerce. The District health ollicer and his assistants have therefore been appointed col- laborating offiicials of the Department of Agriculture, to collect samples, conduct hearings, and bring cases to the attention of the dis- trict attorney. The pure-food law also requii'es that analyses shall be made under tlie general direction of the Bureau of Chemistry. Con- sequently one of the chemists in the ollice of the District health officer has been appointed a collaborating chemist of the Bureau of Chemistry. The District health department has done commendal^le work in milk inspection with inadequate powers and means and under adverse conditions. The health officer himself has frequently called atten- tion to the weaknesses of the situation. In his report for 1907 he said: The work that the service has accomplished has been well done, but it could have been more intelligently and better done if provision had been made whereby some one person in the department could be, by the health othcer, held resj^onsible for the proper conduct of the service. The expense of milk inspection in the District can only be approxi- mated. Salaries aggregating S 10,900 are paid to inspectors who give most of their time to milk work, and it is estimated that a proper pro rata of other salaries and expenses chargeable to the milk service is $4,900, making the total expense of milk inspection $1.5,800. 38 MILK SUPPLY OF CHICAGO AND WASHINGTON. Congress has given the health department power to make regula- tions relative to water supply, drainage, ventilation, air space, floor space, and cleaning of milk plants and dairies within the District. Besides this, Congress requires that persons who bring or send milk into the District shall have a permit, which the health officer is given power to withhold or revoke for cause. He has therefore a lever with which he can do much in improving the methods of milk production. A most remarkable fall in the death rate among infants from diar- rheal diseases began with the establishment of milk inspection in 1895 and has progressed as the efficiency of that service has been increased. 230 /eeoTO/se^ ^ /eSSrv/eSd %,/8907O/e9'f '^/e9Sro/e99 % /SOOrofSO^ %/90S^ro/909% Z/0 ZOO \t90 tm /lO /OO 90 80 ..JO. 1 •c 1 (\l' 1 I 1 I j ►-* ^ j 1 — /- — 1 J y "l fsl — / y V , 1 \ \ / >5 \ \ 1 I ' / \ \ ' J- — J [-- -- \ / \ / V ^ \ / N ^, — - •A r 1 'Z s. \ / > - — t- — \ 1 \\ l_ Fig. 6.— Chart showing decrease in death rate from diarrhea and enteritis in children under 2 years of age in the District of Columbia, following enactment of milk law of 1895. Dotted lines show averages for five-year periods. This decrease in mortality is graphicall}^ shown in figure 6, which is reproduced from Dr. Woodward's paper in Hygienic Laboratory Bul- letin 56 and is brought down to 1910 with information furnished by the District health department. The improvement in the chemical quality of milk samples collected about the city is shown by the following table, which gives the per- centage of samples below the standard during a period of four years: Per cent. 1903-4 27.50 1904-5 20.32 1905-6 12. 37 1906-7 10.95 1907-8 16.41 MILK SUPPLY OF WASHINGTON, 39 During the fiscal year 1906-7, 883 farms were inspected, on an average, 4.4 times each; 4,960 samples of milk and cream were taken and analyzed; 77 milk plants were inspected an average of 22.8 times; 289 cases were prosecuted; and 139 requests for producers' permits were refused. During the year 1908-9 there were 4,294 inspections of farms upon which were 16,116 cows; 6,659 samples of milk and 101 samples of cream were collected and 135 cases were prosecuted, of which 130 resulted in convictions. Of the samples analyzed, 412 of milk and 45 of cream were found to be adulterated, and 243 of milk were below the standard (3,5 per cent) in fat. A MILK-STANDARD DECISION. As there is considerable agitation over the milk standard in various places, a decision of the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, rendered November 5, 1903, is of interest. The defense offered to show that 3.5 per cent of fat, " the standard prescribed, was unreason- ably high and could not by ordinary care be maintained through all seasons of the year." The trial court refused to admit this evidence. The court of appeals sustained this ruling, saying: If the proposition of the defendant were sustained, the question of the reasonable- ness of the statute would be one of fact for the jury, and we should likely have different juries determining tlie question in different ways. The court also said: To declare an act of Congress unreasonable and oppressive, and therefore void, is a power that the courts can not exercise except when the provision of the statute ia shown to be plainly violative of some provision of the Constitution. The subject matter of the act of 1898 [a statutory milk standard] is plainly within the power of Congress, and the courts can not amend or modify any of the provisions of that act so as to bring them within what may seem to be reasonable bounds. They can not examine a question as expedient or inexpedient, as politic or impolitic. The court also held that in case of food laws the question of intent is not involved; the party making a sale is bound at his peril to know what he is selling. FEDERAL COOPERATION. The milk supply of the District receives considerable attention from the Federal Government, and Federal officers are of material assist- ance to the District authorities. The Public Health and Marine- Hospital Service made an exhaustive study during the summer of 1906 of the prevalence of typhoid fever. (See Hygienic Laboratory Bul- letin 34.) Bulletin 56, "Milk and its Relation to Public Health," from the same laboratory also contains the result of much investiga- tion into local conditions. The Bureau of Animal Industry of the Department of Agriculture has also been greatly interested in the District milk supply and has issued Circulars 111, 114, and 153 relating to the local conditions. 40 MILK SUPPLY OF CHICAGO AND WASHINGTON. ^f". Since 1907 the bureau has gratuitously tested with tubercuhn coW& '( supplying the District with milk, the tests being made upon request of the owners of the herds. Out of 4,200 tests (including 1,729 re- tests) 12.93 per cent of the cows proved tuberculous. Of the animals tested for the first time 15.25 per cent reacted, and 9.16 per cent of those retested reacted. These tests include manj^ herds in Maryland and Virginia. In the latter part of November, 1909, the bureau began the sys- tematic testing of all cattle in the District of Columbia under a coop- erative arrangement with the District Commissioners and in accord- ance with an order of the commissioners, approved b}^ the Secretary of Agriculture, issued November 26, 1909, for the suppression and prevention of tuberculosis in cattle within the District of Columbia. Under this order the tuberculin testing of all cows within the District has now been accomplished, the reactors have been slaughtered, the owners indemnified for the loss of tuberculous animals, and the premi- ses disinfected. The number of cattle tested was 1,701, of which 321, or 18.87 per cent, reacted and were slaughtered, lesions of tuberculosis being found on post-mortem examination in all but 5 of the carcasses.^ Cattle are being retested after the lapse of six months in order to detect any cases of tuberculosis that may have developed since pre- vious tests. All dairy cattle brought into the District must be shown by the tuberculin test to be free from tuberculosis. ]\Iaterial assistance has also been rendered b}^ the bureau in inves- tigating a recent outbreak of typhoid fever. The Dairy Division of the bureau has examined and scored every dairy farm contributing to the District supply and every dealer's establishment in the District and has cooperated with the District inspectors in the use of the score card. 1 A report of this work is made by Dr. R. W. Hickman, ciiief of tire Qnarantine Division of the Bureau of Animal Industry, in a paper in tlie Yearbook of tlie United States Department of Agriculture for 1910. o -B