tion of only a little more than 5
pounds of food for each pound produced, so that the waste of food in the
production of milk is less than one-fifth as much as in the production
of meat. This has led the food economists to recommend the reduced use
of meat and the increased use of milk as a source of the complete
protein required for sound nutrition. McCollum and other authorities,
including representatives of the United States Department of
Agriculture, have within the last four years persistently urged upon the
public the importance of using more milk and less meat, and not simply
as a matter of economy but as a matter of health as well, for it has
been shown that the protein of milk is even superior to that of meat. It
was found, indeed, that by the use of a few ounces of milk daily, a pint
and a half, in connection with a dietary otherwise consisting wholly of
foods derived from the vegetable kingdom, the body will be amply
supplied with complete proteins, the milk not only furnishing protein of
a superior character but serving also to supplement the proteins of the
cereals, roots and other vegetable foods, supplying the amino-acids
which they lack so as to render them also available for tissue growth
and reconstruction.

This discovery respecting the important place which milk is capable of
filling in the solution of the great and pressing problem of human
nutrition is a highly important one, and its value has led to very
active efforts on the part of the U. S. Department of Agriculture to
enlarge the dairy interests and increase the milk production of the
country as one of the best means of food economy which could be adopted.
But even this is not a complete solution of the difficulty, for the
keeping of milch cattle involves still a very large waste of food
material, five pounds being consumed by the cow for each pound produced.
The evident reason for this is the fact that the cow requires the large
part of the foods she eats for her own use in maintaining heat
production, supplying energy for exercise, supporting the work of the
heart, lungs, digestive organs, etc. The food value of the milk produced
represents simply what is left over after the cow has made use of what
she needs for herself.

There can be no doubt that as meat production diminishes, as it is
certain to do, milk production will likewise decrease. There is even at
the present time a notable shortage of dairy products, and the average
per capita