54 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



siderably above my estimate, which is thus proved to be with- 

 in safe limits. In 1872 the State Board of Health estimated 

 the Boston supply at 96,000 quarts (1873 report, page 299). 

 Returns from milk inspectors and others in some of the other 

 cities and towns report the daily consumption as follows : 

 Holyoke, 12,000 quarts ; Worcester, 42,500 quarts ; Hav- 

 erhill, 8,500 quarts; Lynn, 12,750 quarts; Lowell, 30,000 

 quarts; Spencer, 1,550 quarts ; Hyde Park, 4,250 quarts. 

 The Springfield Milk Association last year received 2,746,- 

 574 quarts. The Pittsfield supply, as computed from the 

 milk inspector's books, is 5,200 quarts daily; this, at the 

 average price of 5| cents, would amount to about $3,000 

 per day, or $104,000 per year; of this sum $7,300 comes 

 into Dalton. By estimation, | of the Pittsfield supply is 

 retailed by the producers, and ^ is handled by middle-men, 

 who pay 2\ cents per quart in the summer and 3| cents 

 in the winter. 



Many milk inspectors do not require any statement from 

 peddlers who secure licenses, as to an approximate of their 

 business, and can give no figures with any degree of accuracy. 

 A very few paid no attention to my request for information. 



Outside of Boston all the towns and cities receive their 

 milk supply from teams driven to town every morning, with 

 two exceptions, — Lynn has two carloads a day and Lowell 

 has one carload a day, both from New Hampshire. Most 

 of the Boston supply is from the cars, and the method of 

 handling it deserves especial consideration by itself. 



Boston Milk Supply. 



Four large firms control practically all of the wholesaling 

 of milk and most of the car milk in the "greater Boston." 

 The routes over which their milk cars run and the places 

 from which they start are indicated on the accompanying 

 map. In most cases the milk is loaded at stations compar- 

 atively near the place from which the car starts. The milk 

 is bought and handled in 8|-quart cans furnished by the con- 

 tractors. It is forwarded to Boston in cars that can be 

 refrigerated in summer and warmed in winter. These con- 

 tractors have sheds, platforms and depots in Boston, at which 



