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BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



be sold as sale milk, and butter value for the surplus. Un- 

 der this trade they received two prices for milk, the average 

 price being a little less than the long price for sale milk ; 

 the amount of discount depended on the amount of surplus 

 and on the price of butter. The contractors, for conven- 

 ience in bookkeeping, figured all of the milk at the long price, 

 and then applied to the result a discount which would give, 

 as the balance, the proper amount to be paid to the farmers. 

 In this way the expression ' ' surplus discount " or " dis- 

 count on account of surplus " came into existence. That 

 way of doing business, in its practical operation, having 

 many evils and having become unpopular, the old-time 

 method of getting at the net average price has been abol- 

 ished, and the long price has been arbitrarily reduced 1^ and 

 2 cents, in lieu of a surplus discount, figured on the actual 

 conditions as to amount of surplus and value of butter. 



The price that the farmer received has been a fixed dis- 

 count from this, varying according to the distance from 

 Boston. We have included in the table the price which the 

 producer in the middle belt has received during this time, 

 the price being what he has received for all milk consumed 

 as such in Boston, and not the average income of his dairy 

 when both sale milk and butter value of surplus are con- 

 sidered and averaged. The figures are for Sy2 quart cans. 



Summer Price. 



* This is a nominal rather than an actual change. With the dropping of the Boston 

 price 2 cents the distance discount-schedule was also lowered 2 cents, so that producers 

 received the same price. 



