394 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



and that the next change will be an upward one. Prices quoted : 

 Wholesale. Best New England creamery, 25 and 26 cents ; fine 

 dairy selections, 20 and 22 cents. -Retail. Print, 33 and 35 cents ; 

 best tub, 30 and 33 cents ; good tub, 20 and 25 cents. 



In referring to the milk industry, it is necessary to con- 

 sider it from the Boston stand-point, as most of the surplus 

 milk produced is bought by contractors and disposed of in 

 said city. Last spring the contract agreed to by the com- 

 mittees of the milk contractors and the producers' union was 

 that the price of milk in Boston for the six months com- 

 mencing April 1, 1890, should be 32 cents per can of 8| 

 quarts. The contractors agreed to pay the regular price for 

 all milk for use as milk (or cream), and 5 per cent addi- 

 tional as a " margin ; " but for the excess beyond this 

 (known as " surplus milk") they were to pay its value for 

 butter purposes, the' price depending on the jobbing price of 

 fresh creamery butter and the grading of prices of milk 

 (owing to the varying conditions at different points) to be 

 arranged between each route (or car) and its own contrac- 

 tor. For the six months commencing Oct. 1, 1890, it is 

 thought the price will be 36 cents per can of 8^ quarts. 

 The producers want 38 cents, and offer to compromise on 

 37 cents ; but the contractors say that they can get all the 

 milk they need for 36 cents. The average freight on the 

 milk that comes to Boston is about 10 cents per can. Tak- 

 ing out one cent per can for surplus, leaves 25 cents per can 

 the winter average, and 21 cents the summer average at the 

 car. This gives the producer on the average about 3 cents 

 per quart in winter, and 2\ cents in summer. From this 

 must be deducted the cost of oettino- the milk to the car.* 

 The retail price of milk in Boston is from 7 to 8 cents per 

 quart from October 1 to April 1, and from 6 to 7 cents the 

 rest of the year. 



The following, condensed from the thirty-first annual re- 

 port of the inspector of milk and vinegar of the city of Bos- 

 ton, 1889, will be of interest in this connection : — 



" Estimated number of quarts of milk for average daily 

 consumption in 1889 was 207,493. It can be said that the 



* Bulletin No. 2, June, 1890. 



