OUR MILK SUPPLY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXXIII, Issue 35, 10 February 1899, Page 4

OUR MILK SUPPLY.

Milk being an indispensable article of food for children, and one of the chief necessaries of daily lifo for sick and healthy alike, the importance of having a pure and plentiful milk supply cannot be j exaggerated. Fresh milk from the farm is not always procurable, uor is it in most cases as reliable aa it might be; co that, in order to destroy any germs of disease which fresh milk may contain, it shonld always be boiled before being used. Most people nowadays have heard of condensed milk, but it ia probable that many know it only by name and have no idea of what ie really is, uor how useful it ig for making all kinds of milk puddings, blancmanges, / custards, etc. Genuine condensed milk consists of pure fall-cream milk reduced by evaporation to about one third of its original bulk, and preserved by the addition of the finest crystallisod eugar. The original " Milkmaid'" braad, introduced more than thirty years ago, is still unsurpassed. Nothing can be more cleanly than the method of its manufacture, as anyone who Las seen the process Oju testify. Care must be takea to avoid (he numerous brands of i skimmed or so-called " separated " condensed milk, against which ihe vestries in many districts are now warning the public. This Bkiinmed milk, though sold at a temptingly low price, is in reality excessively dear, the actual value of the milk in a tin costing 2d or 3d. being lesa j than Jd. This skimmed milk oomes chiefly from Ireland and Holland. Genuine condensed milk contains 10 or 12 per oent of butter-fat, which ia absolutely neceßsary for the healthy growth of children. The use of ekimmed milk produces rickets and other diseases. Although there are four large milk>condensing factories in England, and this count-y is quite capable of producing all the milk required for home consumption, large quantities of Swiss milk continue to be imported, owing to the unfortunate prejudice which j leads English ladies to prefer the I foreign articlo, thongh tho English is cheaper and just as good. It is a mistake to suppose, as some do, that Swiss milk is richer because it is goats' milk, or because it come 3 from cows that feed on mountain pastures, ho goats' milk is condensed, and condensed milk factories must necessarily b-< situated in tho plains .or valley?, where large quantities of milk can easily and quickly be collected from the surrounding farms. So far we have been speaking of sweetened condensed milk. 'Of the unsweetened brands, which are lesa numerous, thatknowo aa " Ideal Milk " is the best, being enriched 20 per cent by the addition of cream. It is pnt up by the same company that preparea the "Milkmaid " brand. This unsweetened milk is preserved by a stirilising process which destroys the germs that would otherwiie give rise to fermentation aud so cause the milk to turn sour. Tie use of unsweetened milk is attended with one d ssadvaruage —is compared with sweetened milk, but noc as compared with fresh milk —namely that it will not keep good more than two or three days after th« tin has been opened ; while sweetened condenseu milk, as id well-known, will keep almost any Jength of lime even when the tia is open. i ■ J