528 



STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



MILK PKICES. 



Milk prices fall naturally into two well known classes — those received 

 by the farmer from the city dealer, and those gotten by the dealer from 

 the city consumer. The former is usually quoted in terms of hundred 

 weights, the latter in terms of gallons, pints and quarts. This last 

 amount is the customary quantity bought by the Detroit consumer, and 

 the price quoted for a quart of delivered milk is usually a computed 

 advance upon the price which the city dealer must pay the producer. 

 The hundred weight price, however, both because it deals with larger 



Fig. 2. Bottle filling department of a large milk plant. 



amounts of milk and also because it is arrived at by conference, is the 

 more important price of the two and will, therefore, be the one referred 

 to in the rest of this discussion. 



Commercially speaking, milk as an article of trade belongs to the 

 perishable class of foods. This means that it is marketable only in the 

 locality" where it is produced, needs vast and costly equipment in being 

 marketed, and is a part of that class of food stuffs which is fast taking 

 first place on the tables of consumers. The marketing possibilities 



for raw milk while steadilv widened 



during 



recent vears 



through 



the 



