Milk, though classed as a beverage, is in reality a food. However, milk alone, as a food, would not suffice for the average adult, who requires well-balanced food, in which the liquid does not exceed the other needful food elements, but when milk is taken with a meal, less other food is required. Raw milk should be sipped very slowly, and if a very little lime or barley water is added, it can be retained and digested by the most delicate stomach.

The question of cleanliness in the handling and storing of milk is as important in its relation to health as is the water question. Milking should be done under the strictest sanitary conditions. Negligence in this respect is positively criminal. That lawmakers have been obliged to force this issue is not creditable to farmers and dairymen, for in these days of enlightenment and free information and scientific researches, they cannot even plead ignorance as an excuse. Many a child has gone to an untimely grave because of some one's lack of conscience in this matter. However, it is not always the dairyman who is responsible-often the housewife or mother is to blame, for though the milk may come to her hands pure, her negligence may cause the greatest mischief.

Milk is one of the best soils for the growth and multiplication of certain disease germs-hence the great need of cleanliness, from the time it is yielded by a healthy cow, until it is consumed. It would take a full chapter to do justice to this question of the sanitary care and handling of milk, but anyone who is not an idiot can figure it out for himself and therefore, no more need to be said about it here. One more caution -remember that milk readily absorbs odors and flavors, so be sure to always keep it tightly sealed.