Norwich bulletin., 1917-08-30
THE DAILY PER CAPITA
 CONSUMPTION OF MILK
Estinn ated That It is Little More Than
 Glass Day.

While it is difficult to compile any accurate figures on the daily per capita ] consumption of milk, it is generally | conceded that the average for the | United States is about S of a pint. 1 This is a little more than glass a | day. That this is too small an amount | is beyond question.
 Adults in particular should remember the days of their. youth and use more milk than they do. Were it not for the infant, per capita consumption wouid be much less than it is. Ac- cording to Vermont bulletin 195, one sixth of the milk produced by our ] 22 .0O0, ,o01 cows is used a food for infants and young children. It has been figured that the infant consumes 530 quarts of milk during the first year of it's life.
 In order to study the per capita con- out the effect of the infant on the amount of milk used in various fami- lies. data were tabulated on 2i faml- lies living in Storrs. The college re- tails about 90 quarts daily to residents of Storrs and hence accurate records were available. The time covered was about three months when college was in session. Families in which the ex act numbers were known as well as the approximate age of children were selected. These families were divided into three groups and the summarized data is presented blow:
 Group I: Average number in family, 39; average daily consumption (pints), 5.54; average per capita consumption (pints), 1.42.
 Group II: Average number in family, 40; average daily consumption, 300; average per capita consumption .75.
 Group III: Average number in fam ilv 20: average daily consumption, 1.79; average per capita consumption,
 S95
 Average for 27 families: Average d.aiI Ix- consumption, 3.45;. average per capita consumption, TOT.
 Group I: Families with one or more children under 3 years.
 Group II: Families with children 5
 Group III: Families with no chill dren.
 It will be noted in Group that the Youngsters were the cause of nearly doubling the consumption over Group IT, and that it is a half pint more than in Group III. Tn Group III il can be seen that a quart of milk is about the standard amount for a family of two.
 There is no better food for growing boys and girls until they reach ma turity than milk It is plainly seen that it is not realized. or at least pra acticed. by families in Group II. having chil- dlen to 12 years of age. when the consumption is much less than Group I. The probable reason why the con- sumptoon is a little greater in Group TIT than in Group II is that pint of milk was not enough to accommodate the family of two and so quart had to he purchased and the milk used a little more freely.
 The daily consumption fer Storrs of 1.07 pints per capita Is considerably proba bly, is explained by the fact that the people have ali had some educa- tion to the importance of milk as a food and that they know the supply is
  age are also plentiful in Storrs.
 The population Of Connecticut in 1910 is given as 1,114,756. A recent estimate now places it at 1,100. .000- If this is the case and the average per ca pita consumption for this ss of people was the same as for Storrs, 1.07 pints, rather than 6 of a pint a day, it would mean a. demand for 799,- 500 more pounds of milk daily or 291.- e35 pounds yearly. While the recent survey on the cost of milk production showed that the average production for 3,238 cows was 6.009 pounds yearly, it is probable that the production for the state is bout $500 pounds. This being cows to take care of the increase in consumption of milk
 The writer was curious t. get some idea as to what was the per capita consumption of milk on farms where it was produced. A questionaire was sent out to 25 farms. most of them retailing milk. and 17 replies were received. It was found that the average per capita consumption on these r farms was l.30 pints daily
 While this is slightly larger than for those purchasing their milk 1t would seem that there was a chance for the farmer 70 use more of his own product to good advantage.
 All of the figures presented were obtained under winter conditions. Ii is probable that in the summer time the consumption is higher both in town and on the farm. Hot weather Is the "bread and milk" season and on the farm in particular the big pitcher of milk for drinking purposes has prominent place.-H. F. Judkins of Connecticut Agricultural College.