Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-11-29
III HASKIN LETTER
THE MILN SHORTAGE.
BY Frederic J.. Haskin.

WASHINGTON, ID. C., Nov. II
Milk supply is just now a pressing
problem in many cities.
Dairy farmers say that they do
not know how they r to continue
milk production at their present
rate of profit The Bu-
reau has for some time been urging
that children between is months
and ~ years of age should drink a
pint and a half of milk a day. This
Is much more than is now being
| consumed, and the mothers OF poor
families, and even those In ordinary
circumstances. say they cannot con-
tinue to buy even 70 much milk as
they do now, If the price scars high
| err. And while the price and exist
ence of the milk supply is argued
| over and made a subject for strikes,
| health officials are busily ~fghtingfor
greater sanitation in milk handling.
OF all the angles of the milk prob
lem only the question of price seems
to impress h ultimate
He hears that the health depart
ment Of his town has banned milk
that is not subjected to the tubercu-
lin test. and he is vaguely pleased,
IL he reacts at all. a week later he
finds that the price of milk is TO ad-
vance two cents a quart, and he Is
stirred to indignation, language, and
occasionally action.
The price difficulty. as in other
branches of agriculture, Is that the
farmers claim that they have not
had a square deal. The dairyman
never knows. when he sends his milk
to market, exactly what he will get
in return. If the demand for con-
densed milk is cut down, as It is now
because less is exported, the con-
denseries take less milk or shut
down entirely, and dealers in the To-
cality have so much milk offered
them hat the price to the farmer is
lowered. In such cases there is Oft
en- nothing for the dairy farmer to
do but take the proffered rate. MIX
Is purely a local commodity. 1t can
seldom be shipped with profit more
than a hundred miles because OF its
bulk and tendency to spoil. So
when condenseries in New York re-
lease so many gallons of milk IL does
not mean that a milk shortage in
the South Is to be helped at all.
Farmer Organizations Help.
Whore the milk producers are or
gained, as in the greater part of the
Northeast and around the Great
Lakes, they are better able to find an
outlet for their product in such n
stances, and to get a fair share OF
profits. They claim that co-opera-
tive associations of dairy farmers are
the main hope for the business. The
farmer working alone and unassist-
ed will always be at a disadvantage
in dealing with the middlemen. and
the dairy farmers in particular are
rapidly getting discouraged.
" No.. UA.I l.. ,.t.. -
another way to use cooperation to
make the farmer and milk
contented. The milk problem has
been made a political issue in
jamestown, and, as a result. plans
are under way to set up a munich
pal milk plant-a city ownership
proposition. With duplication of eff
fort eliminated and efficiency in full
swing, jamestown hopes to cut
down the consumers milk bill and
give the farmer a fair return.
But while the rest of the country
waits for jamestown to show what
a city milk plant a do, producers
and consumers continue to squabble
over prices and conditions, with the
prospect for the consumer that
while milk is still rising in price, it
has about reached a peak. If 1t
SUES iiiuCH lliSileI, Shlts VIII Dc cut
down more than the business can
should be almost doubled to give
everybody in the country a fair
share of milk. will be reduced be-
cause of the lighter demand for milk.
Since milk prices began to rise in
New York, the health department
announced hat the total supply OF
milk used by the city dropped rs per
cent, and in the tenement districts
milk consumption dropped so per
cent.
With price wars going on in vari-
u cities, it is difficult to push san
itation campaigns. They mean more
careful attention to production, and
often more expense for equipment.
and, consequently, the already har-
raised dairymen are not enthusiast
tic. Still. health departments are
trying to impress the public with
the fact that while it is desirable
that milk should be cheap enough to
be within the reach of everyone. it
is equally important that milk, of
all foods, should be clean.
Washington is of the cities
where an argument ove clean milk
is TO- in progress. The capital has
fought for good milk from the time
when people began to understand
that there was such a thing as pure
and impure milk. Children of Pres
idents. Congressman, diplomats, and
Federal employees are dependent
on the purity of the Washington
milk supply. and the health officer
of the District is insistent hat the
Government workers and their fam
lilies shall not have to worry over
epidemics caused by milk.
Twenty-Five years ago nobody
save a few scientists thought very
much about milk as a disease EAR
rier. but about that time Mr.. Emile
Berliner. inventor of important de-
vices connected with the telephone
and talking machine. and for many
years president of the tuberculosis
Society of Washington, began to be
interested in milk.
Mr.. Berliner's baby nearly died.
and the inventor was convinced that
impure milk was responsible. He be-