58 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



The report of the Board of Health for 1873 contains the 

 following : ' ' The price per can at the farmer's door has 

 been for the past few years from 33 to 42 cents in sum- 

 mer and about 45 cents in winter ; the price obtained by 

 contractors, 40 to 48 cents in summer and 50 cents in win- 

 ter." 



A Concord correspondent of the " New England Farmer," 

 in September, 1852, complains of the price of railroad milk 

 for Boston, which he states at 2|- cents per quart in summer 

 ■and 2| cents per quart in winter. 



Another peculiarity of the Boston milk system is what is 

 called grading the price. If the Dalton farmers, for in- 

 stance, were entitled to receive 25 cents per can for milk 

 for the six months from April to October, the contractors 

 might pay 27 cents for April and May, 23 cents for June 

 and July and 25 cents for August and September, so that 

 the average for the six months would be the price agreed ; 

 but less than the average would be paid during the months 

 of the most plenteous production. One of the grievances 

 of the contractors, from their side of the case, is that the 

 farmers produce milk in uneven quantities, flooding them 

 with an unsalable surplus one month and leaving them 

 short another, and the price is "graded" on this account. 

 The surplus this year has ranged from 59,000 cans in 

 September to 229,000 cans in March, and is graphically 

 seen on the engraving (see page 52). One firm of con- 

 tractors, in order to lessen the trouble of unequal produc- 

 tion, has ascertained from the records of its business which 

 farmers produce the most uniform quantity of milk the year 

 around, and is paying them the regular price without any 

 deduction for surplus. 



This is a just transaction, as under the other plan all the 

 contractors reported their receipts and sales to their organ- 

 ization, and the surplus was averaged over the whole terri- 

 tory. Hence, the farmer who took pains to have cows 

 come in at all seasons of the year, and to produce a uni- 

 form supply from month to month, had no advantage over 

 the former with a summer dairy, who let most of his cows 

 go dry in the winter. 



