THE FUTURE OF CLEAN MILK
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Under the new Regulations by which Tuberculin-Tested milk comes under the aegis of the Milk Marketing Board, a Committee is to determine the minimum retail price. At present the usual practice in the provinces is to charge an extra penny per quart for it, but in London the usual charge is double that of pasteurised milk, and it will be humiliating for those in authority to have to admit that the provincial margin is adequate. Nevertheless, figures prove it is so. Experts have determined that T.T. milk costs twopence more than ordinary milk to produce wholesale. Non-returnable cartons, the rail-transit rate for which is precisely the same as for milk in churns, can now replace the old-fashioned bottles. The cost of the cartons, threepence per gallon, is largely offset by the saving in bottle collection, washing, and replacements, and also a saving of over 35 per cent. in the journey-load owing to the lightness of the cartons. Therefore, Sir, in London as in the provinces, a fourpenny premium per gallon is reasonable.
I understand it is unlikely that the retail minimum will be published before the third week in September, and since we are, I believe, the only producer-retailers in London of this milk at a reasonable price, the matter affects us vitally. I hope it will be closely watched by the general public, as the present price is unfair to producers of T.T. milk, whose market is price-blocked, and to consumers who are deprived of the benefits of the finest milk in the world.—Yours faithfully,
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