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86
This unsatisfactory state of affairs mainly arises from
the low standard of 3.0 fat percentage laid down by the Sale
of Milk Regulations, 1901. It is of course recognised that,
in practice, the fat percentage in milk as delivered by the cow
varies between wide limits and that it will occasionally be
as low as 3 per cent. or even lower. Possibly it was equitable,
when the milk trade was mainly in the hands of small producers
and traders unable to mix a large quantity of milk from
different herds to maintain a good average, that such a low
level should be permitted without constituting an offence.
Now, however, that the trade is organised on such a large
scale that it should be readily possible to maintain the milk
supply at its natural average level of about 3.6 per cent.
of fat, there seems no reason why the limit should not be
raised accordingly for the protection of the public.
While changed processes in the milk trade may be part
of the reason for the unsatisfactory composition of the milk
supplied in the borough it cannot be the whole explanation.
These changes apply to the whole of London, but as will have
been seen from the figures given above, Bethnal Green
milk appears to be not only poorer than in the past but much
poorer than that of other London boroughs at present. The
reasons for this are obscure, but may have some connection
with the character of the local milk trade.
It will have been noticed that the figures given, although
too small to establish any conclusion, suggest that the shop
samples are on the whole better than the street samples
and although the cowkeeper-dairymen samples were slightly
under the average in 1925 and 1935 they have kept a more
consistent level than the others and were in 1936 above the
general level. This somewhat points to the street trade
as requiring special consideration. The outstanding features
of the local milk trade may be summed up as follows :
(a) the large number of persons registered for the sale
of milk, which number is actually increasing;
(b) the acute competition between them for"trade;
(c) the difficulty in controlling the operations of
itinerant vendors who trade in several boroughs.
In 1925 there were 245 persons registered for the sale
of milk in the borough or 2.04 per 1,000 of the population.
By 1935 this had increased to 326 persons or 3.26 per 1,000.
In other words while in 1925 there was a milk business to
every 500 residents, in 1935 there was one to every 300.
While it is true that a large number of the additional persons
on the register only sell a small quantity of bottled milk,
nevertheless the fact that they find it necessary to take on