96 PRIMARY RESULTS 



cost of milk production on three farms, two for the year 

 1917-18, and one for a more recent period. 



The accounts are charged with the value of the dairy stock 

 of all ages at the beginning of the year, to which is added 

 the cost of stock purchased during the year ; the manual 

 and horse labour costs ; the cost of purchased and home- 

 grown foods. From the cost of foods is deducted the value 

 of the food residues chargeable against the Farm-yard 

 Manure or the Pastures, according as to whether the foods 

 were fed to housed stock or to stock on grass. The addition 

 of the cost of grazing, calculated as already described (see 

 p. 88), completes the food costs. Then follow sundry cash 

 disbursements, and General Expenses which include the 

 share of the establishment expenses chargeable against the 

 cows. The composition of this item and its distribution 

 have been dealt with already (see p. 54). 



Thus the gross total cost of the milk production is arrived 

 at, and by deducting the sales of draft cows, calves, &c., 

 and also the valuation of the stock at the end of the year, 

 the net cost is got. The milk record-sheets provide the 

 number of gallons of milk produced during the year, and so 

 the cost per gallon is got by division. 



In the case of the Gloucestershire farm a number of cows 

 were taken in to graze at a weekly charge. The grazing and 

 other foods given to them were included with those of the 

 farm cattle, and thus it was necessary to give the dairy 

 account credit for the receipts from the agisted stock. 



(c) Distribution of Milk 



From the consumer's point of view the cost of distribution 

 is an essential part of the cost of production. Except in 

 dairy farming, however, the producer -retailer is rare in 

 agriculture, and opportunities for examining costs of distri- 

 bution of farm produce are not often met with. In 

 Table XXVI is given the cost of retailing milk for a series 

 of years from a midland-counties farm situated in the 

 suburbs of a large industrial town. A dividing line in the 

 total cost of milk was drawn at the point where the milk 



