374 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



families. It is not unusual to find a family that takes milk from two milk- 

 men, the reason for this usually being that they want one kind of milk for 

 their baby but prefer a different kind for themselves. 



The personal element plays an important part. We must consider the 

 milk deliverjnnan the salesman for the company. Unlike other cormnodities 

 where the deliverj^man is a cheaper employee for the purpose of delivering 

 the sales of higher priced men, the milkman should be a high class salesman 

 who represents his employer. He must be able to give the necessary service 

 and account daily for all difficulties directly to the customer. This personal 

 contact often is the cause of dissatisfaction to the customer who finds a 

 more congenial milkman to deal with, thus calling an extra distributor to that 

 street. 



The policies of the distributor, such as requiring cash or tickets, return of 

 bottles, number of deliveries a day, delivering milk to front doorstep only, 

 early or late delivery, and washed bottles often cause consumers to change 

 milkmen. 



There are also some things which cause demand for extra distribution 

 which are unavoidable. Misunderstandings between consumer and dealer 

 or his employee are bound to occur even under the best of conditions. 

 Stolen milk, tickets, or money set on the doorstep are often a cause of trouble, 

 frequently resulting in a change of milkmen. Relatives or friends starting 

 routes in the vicinity usually results in a change. Absorbed flavors getting 

 into the milk unknown to the dealer, breaking down of the plant machinery, 

 and many other reasons that unavoidably occur cause a demand from the 

 consumer for new service with the result of added duplication. Without an 

 opportunity for the consumer to change when these things occur a great 

 amount of dissatisfaction is liable to result. 



Because of the fact that milk demands a great amount of work to get it to 

 the customer in a safe desirable form and one of the main requirements of 

 this service is frequent delivery, the milkman is constantly before the eyes 

 of the public. There is no other commodity on the market with so great a 

 demand for or requiring so great an amount of service. This one fact alone 

 should place milk distribution in a position of encouragement rather than of 

 constant antagonism. 



The fact that the milkman is so closely associated with the consumer 365 

 days of the year gives the consumer a more intimate knowledge of milk de- 

 livery than of the delivery of any other commodity. It is possible for this 

 reason that milk delivery, more than that of any other article, is unjustly 

 criticised. When compared with other articles we find that there is no logical 

 reason to criticise milk distribution more than the distribution of any other 

 food. 



COMPARISON OF THE DELIVERY OF MILK AND BAKED GOODS. 



Milk is only one of the commodities delivered to the household and stores 

 of the city. If we compare the service necessary to transport our other 

 food products from the storehouse to the household we shall find that milk 

 and bread are quite comparable in their service requirements. 



In baked goods we have an article which must be placed in the hands of 

 the consumer in a fresh condition which requires a daily delivery. Equip- 

 ment provided for delivery both wholesale and retail is similar. Method of 

 payment of driver is much the same. In general milk requires all the service 

 rendered for the distribution of baked goods and more. 



