342 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



302,004 gallons. The receipts for 1872 were 3,910,328 gallons, showing 

 an increase of 32 per cent, over those of 1871. February was the niontli 

 of smallest receipt ; July that of the largest. Dundee, forty-seven 

 miles from Chicago, furnished more than one-quarter of the amounts 

 of the two years. The freight auditor of the Chicago, Burlington 

 and Quincy road reports receipts by that road in Chicago for 1872 at 

 847,008 gallons. 



Mr. W. S. Yv'eightmau, of Huntley Station, tifty-five miles from 

 Chiongo, writes that producers incur much expense through improper 

 management in the matter of cans, especially in delays in return of cans. 

 Shippers find it necessary to provide three or four sets of cans, and often 

 five or six sets ; thus an outlay of 820 to $25 is required to secure the 

 regular daily shipment of one can of milk. In cases within his knowl- 

 edge, loss of cans has averaged one can i^er year for each daily shipment 

 of one can. "Wear of cans is rendered unnecessarily large by the rough 

 and careless handling of railroad employes. 



Mr. V. Fredenhagen, of Downer's Grove, twenty-two miles from 

 Chicago, writes that dealers generally agree to furnish one-half of the 

 cans, but even under this arrangement farmers are often obliged to pur- 

 chase an extra supply on account of detention of cans. He complains 

 that, through want of sufficient police surveillance at city depots, many 

 cans are stolen, often full of milk. As to retail x)rices, while milk of good 

 quality brought six and seven cents, swill-fed and adulterated milk sold 

 at lower rates. 



SHIPIirENTS TO ST. LOUIS. 



The first regular shipments of milk to St. Louis were from the neigh- 

 boring counties of Saint Charles and Warren, on the line of the Xorth 

 Missouri road, in the latter part of 1870. Colonel N. J. Colman, of Col- 

 man's Kural "World, writes that the city receipts by rail now reach an 

 estimated proportion of one-eighth of its total supply. " The business 

 by rail is still in its infancy, owing to the large number of swill-milk 

 dairies in the immediate vicinity, the owners of which arc able to pur- 

 chase brewers' grains at 2 cents per bushel, and distillery-slops at a pro- 

 portionate price. Perhaps no citj* in the United States is so favorably 

 situated for receiving its milk-supply directly from the country. jS'umer- 

 ous railroads, radiating from Saint Louis in every dii-ection, j^enetrate 

 sections of country admirably adapted to milk-production." City retail 

 prices are 5 cents to 8 cents per quart throughout the year. [In 1870 

 the price was 10 cents per quart.] 



Eailroad returns indicate ninety -five miles as the extreme distance of 

 shipment. Price per quart generally received by farmers at stations of 

 shipment, clear of freight, 3 J cents throughout the year. Freight-charges 

 on the diiferent roads range from | cent to ■} cent, without regard to dis- 

 tance. The correspondent at Sandoval, Illinois, sixty miles from Saint 

 Louis, reports prices averaging fully § cent lower, and adds that the cans 

 contain more than their nominal measure. Only about six mouths had 

 elapsed since the commencement of shipments, which would not exceed 

 on an average 30 gallons per day. 



Shipments by the Ohio and Mississippi Ilailway for 1871 amounted to 

 157,350 gallons, all from stations in Illinois. Freight ^ cent per quart. 



OTHER jMARKETS. 



Theophilus Wilson, secretary of the Hamilton County (Ohio) Agri- 

 cultural Society, informs us that very little of the milk-supply of Cin- 



