The cookbook Why and How to Use Milk was not written by a specific author but, rather, was compiled by the Department of Agriculture in 1936. Likely, it was created to promote the benefits of dairy and, especially, why children and infants need milk. The Department of Agriculture was established in 1868, primarily to oversee and control livestock diseases in Canada. Over the years, the Department of Agriculture's mandate expanded to include the growth and development of a sustainable Canadian agriculture sector. The Department of Agriculture was restructured and, today, exists as Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Along with Why and How to Use Milk, the Department of Agriculture published other cookbooks in the early-20th century that focused on utilizing Canadian agricultural products, including Honey and Some of the Ways it May be Used and Beef: How to Choose and Cook It.