178 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol. 4S 



The Detroit commission plan of city millc administration, W. O. Hedrick 

 anfl A. C. Anderson (Michigan Stu. iipec. Bui. 99 (1919), pp. SO, figs. 5). — The 

 authors discuss tlie milk situation in Detroit witli reference to demand, supplies, 

 prices, and the influence of the war, and review tlie activities of the Detroit 

 Milk Conunission organized toward the end of 1917 at request of both producers 

 and dealers. 



The commission consisted of a former governor of the State, the Dairy and 

 Food Commissioner, the State Market Director, and a representative each from 

 the Michigan Agricultural College, the State Board of Agriculture, the women's 

 clubs of the city, the Detroit Board of Commerce, and the Detroit Federation of 

 Labor. The commission had the duty of maintaining an adequate supply of milk 

 and of fixing just prices to producers and consumers. Prices were fixed on the 

 basis of cost of production and cost of distribution. Pi-oducers' prices in any one 

 season were made uniform throughout the Detroit area, and dealers' losses fi'om 

 paying market milk prices for surplus milk were prorated among the producers. 

 The authors hold that the price-fixing method adopted is superior to alternative 

 schemes of basing market milk prices on the current prices of butter fat, cheese, 

 or other dairy commodities. 



The commission introduced the practice of retailing milk by the "cash-and- 

 carry " plan at 3 cts. a quart below the price of delivered milk, but consumers 

 took so little interest that the expei-iment was soon abandoned. 



The first report of the commission is given in an appendix. 



Salient features in the testimony hearings of the Detroit milk commis- 

 sion, G. H. Beownell {Mich. State Dairy and Food Conuiir. Ann. Rpt. 25 (1918), 

 pp. IJ/Jf-lSO). — These pages include estimates of production costs furnished by 

 the Michigan Agricultural College and summaries of testimony regarding cost 

 of distribution. 



3Iilk prices in 1919 {U. S. Dcpt. Agr., Market Rptr., 1 {1920), No. 16, pp. 

 241, 253, fig. 1; also in Hoard's Dairyman, 1,9 {1920), No. 15, pp. 936, 937, fig. 

 1). — Producers' prices for milk sold for city distribution, condensing, cheese 

 rmiking, and Initter making during 1919 are tabulated by months and discussed. 



" The fallacy of basing market milk or condensary milk prices on the price 

 or value of milk for butter or cheese-making purposes is clearly emphasized, 

 by the month of February, when the bottom practically fell out of- the butter 

 and cheese markets and the price of creamery and cheese factory milk declined 

 automatically with the price of butter and cheese, while the supply and demand 

 for milk for condensing and market niilk purposes M-as entirely stable and in 

 no way alfected by unsatisfactory conditions existing in the butter and cheese 

 markets." 



Should milk for cheese making be paid for according to its fat content? 

 R. T. Akcher and G. C. Sawers {Jour. Dept. Agr. Victoria, 18 {1920), No. 3, pp. 

 178, 179, fig. 1). — The author states that a considerable number of Australian 

 dairy farmers do not realize that milk rich in fat yields more cheese per pound 

 than milk of low fat content, and he reports data from tests with five lots of 

 milk to demonstrate this point. 



Cold storage of cottage and other soft curd cheeses, H. B. ELLENBEajGEB 

 {Vermont Sta. Bui. 213 {1919), pp. 5-22).— This bulletin reports preliminary 

 cold-storage trials with soft-curd cheeses made in 1917 and noted from another 

 source (E. S. R., 40, p. 777), and more elaborate trials in 1918 planned as a 

 study of the influence of manufacturing methods, chem-ical composition, and 

 similar factors on the flavor, texture, and marketability of the stored product. 

 The 1918 lots of cheese were made in August, and most of these were taken 

 out of storage the following December. Estimates of changes during the 

 storage are based mainly on comparisons of judges' scores. 



