EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 



531 



TABLE SHOWING MONTHLY COSTS OF PRODUCTION FOR 3.5%MILK —AVERAGE 



OF 25 FARMS NEAR HOWELL— AND PRICES PAID FOR 3.5% MILK AT THE 



HOWELL CONDENSERY DURING THE SAME MONTHS. 



Date. 



1016. 



March 



April 



May 



June 



July 



August 



September 



October 



November 



December 



1017. 



January 



February 



March 



April 



May 



June 



July 



August 



September 



October 



November 



December 



Cost of 



Production 



per cwt. 



$2.19 

 2.20 

 1.63 

 1.39 

 1.83 



2.31 

 3.18 

 2.67 

 2.70 

 2.39 



2.21 

 2.17 

 2.24 

 2.36 



1.78 

 1.49 



1.76 

 2.44 

 3.16 

 3.46 

 3.42 

 3.28 



Paid by 

 the Howell 

 Condensery 



per cwt. 



$1.59 

 1.51 

 1.30 

 1.21 

 1.32 



1.36 

 1.46 

 1.71 

 2.01 

 2.01 



2.01 

 2.20 

 2.07 

 2.00 

 1.70 

 1.75 



2.10 

 2.40 

 2.40 

 3.00 

 3.00 

 3.10 



Since as shown by these data, there was an acute rise in all costs to 

 the dairymen during these months, it was soon clear that there must be 

 a boost in the selling price of milk, or dairying would be abandoned. 



Several plans for getting bettered conditions were used by the milk 

 producers, all of whicli offered hope but none of Avhich were wholly 

 satisfactory. The milk dealers themselves could do nothing in the way 

 of relief. The rapidly rising costs of labor, machinery, horse feeds, 

 bottles and other necessary supplies were as hard upon the dealer as 

 similar rising costs were upon the dairymen. The distributor had no 

 receipts with which to pay a higher price for milk unless he too were 

 content to carry on business at a loss. Co-operative creameries or 

 butter manufactories were started in some places as a means for giving 

 a new outlet to the dairymen's milk supply. But the dead level of 

 maximum prices beyond which the price of butter can not rise — owing 

 to the rivalry of substitutes — made this even a less profitable way of 

 selling milk than that of the city market. Co-operative distribution 

 by themselves of city milk was loudly advocated by many dairymen and 

 was tried in some instances. But a peculiarity of milk distribution is 

 that it requires a very costly city^ plant and a very costly delivery 

 equipment for its success. Dairy farming itself is one of the most costly 

 types of agriculture and to require milk producers to provide capital 

 for both branches of their industr}' was a load beyond reason and too 

 heavy to be carried. 



Everywhere gatherings of dairymen were held to talk over common 

 wrongs and it was soon plain that united action of some sort would 

 be the chosen remedy. Among tlie first striking moves along this line 



