354 CITY MILK SUPPLY 



The Boston Chamber of Commerce report of 1915 takes up the cost 

 of distributing milk and cream in New England. The report states that 

 milk is delivered: (1) to family trade in bottles; (2) to retail stores, gen- 

 erally in cases of 12 quart bottles or 20 pint bottles; (3) to wholesale 

 customers in cans. This class includes hotels, restaurants, boarding 

 houses, institutions, delicatessen shops, drug stores, bakeries, ice cream 

 manufacturers, etc. In Greater Boston the milk and cream is appor- 

 tioned to these three classes of consumers as follows: to family trade in 

 bottles, milk 20 to 25 per cent., cream 5 to 15 per cent.; to retail stores in 

 bottles, milk 20 to 25 per cent., cream 10 to 20 per cent.; to wholesale 

 consumers in cans, milk 50 to 60 per cent., cream 50 to 75 per cent. It 

 is estimated that since there are fewer hotels, restaurants, boarding houses, 

 etc., in cities of 100,000 inhabitants, a larger percentage of the milk goes 

 into family trade and that in cities of 5,000 to 25,000 the family trade is 

 80 per cent, of the total. 



The cost of each operation in the progress of the milk from the pro- 

 ducer to the consumer, the report sets forth as in Table 112. 



The report discusses the cost of the several items as follows: 



Collection. The cost of collection from the producer and delivery to the 

 country plant or car varies from Y to 1> cts. per quart, depending on the length 

 of the route, the character of the roads, whether hilly or level, the regularity of 

 amounts collected per day throughout th entire year, and the total amount per 

 day the entire route will average. Local conditions govern this entirely. 



Country Plant. Expenses vary here from Y to 1% cts., depending almost 

 entirely on the number of quarts put through the plant, and the number of oper- 

 ations necessary before loading on the car, and the great variation in the monthly 

 receipts of milk and cream (since the overhead expenses remain practically the 

 same throughout the 12 months, and in many sections there is an extreme varia- 

 tion in the monthly receipts; receive more in April, May, June and July than in 

 the other 8 months). 



Transportation on Railroads. This varies from Y to \y cts. in* leased cars, 

 according to the distance, the number of railroads the car uses, the number of 

 days the cars fail to carry the minimum number of quarts which must be paid for 

 per carload, the number of days the milk and cream has to be iced, and the 

 number of stops necessary to complete a carload (this requiring the services of 

 one or more caretakers). 



Rates on milk and cream shipped by express and as "excess baggage" are 

 not given in the table or compared, as this will be found under the head of " Rail- 

 road Transportation." 



City Plant. The cost varies from ^ to 1}^ cts., depending on the overhead 

 charges of the plant, the arrangement and machinery in operation, the regular 

 amount of the milk put through and the cost of labor and ice. 



DISTRIBUTION 



Family Trade. The cost here varies from 2> to 5 cts. in bottles, depending 

 on the loss in bad bills (average monthly bill of 30 qt., $2.70; many move or 



