That British children at any rate ought to drink more
milk is beyond dispute ; but apart from this half-medical question, there has been a revolution in the production and sale of milk during the last twenty to thirty years. The handicap of distance has been almost annulled and whole counties, notably Wiltshire, have thereby been enabled to surrender corn production for milk production. Through various accidents this revolution has put the control of this immense industry— much the moat vital to farmers, in spite of all the talk about quotas--into the hands of a few wholesalers who have " nothing to do with production and no very great deal to do with retailing." After a brief "triangular duel" between producer, retailer and wholesaler, the wholesaler won hands down. This has resulted in gross injustices, fathered and endorsed in their ignorance by the producers themselves. Thousands of farmers do not receive the agreed price. The bargain fixed with the National Farmers' Union only affects those who "supply the big towns and are already benefited by juxta- position." In parts of West Cornwall, for example, "not 1 per cent. of the milk output is consumed liquid."
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