44 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [P. D. 4. 



WHAT ORGANIZATION HAS DONE FOR THE MILK 



BUSINESS. 



RICHARD PATTEE, SECRETARY NEW ENGLAND MILK PRODUCERS' 

 ASSOCIATION. 



The successful operation of any plan or enterprise depends 

 largely upon two things: first, the opportunity or necessity 

 for the enterprise itself; second, the intelligence and enter- 

 prise of its management. 



Recently an effort has been made to perfect an organiza- 

 tion of milk producers on a New England-wide basis. Local 

 organizations dealing with separate markets have appeared and 

 disappeared. With a growing urban population, creating a 

 constantly larger market for dairy products, there has been 

 a decreasing rural population, a decreased proportion of dairy 

 products, and an actual decrease in the number of cows in 

 New England of nearly 20,000 per year, for a period of several 

 years. The market-milk industry has been going from bad to 

 worse. Attempts more or less successful in localities have been 

 made for improvement, but there has been no cohesion be- 

 tween these separate attempts, and most of them have died 

 aborning. 



There are three classes of markets for milk in New England: 



First. — That W'hich depends largely on a far-distant supply 

 brought by rail. 



Second. — That which depends in part on a local supply 

 supplemented by railroad shipments. 



Third. — That entirely relying on local production. 



Different conditions in different markets have led to differ- 

 ent business practices on the part of dealers. Until within 

 a year different dealers in the same market have had different 

 practices wuth respect to the purchasing of their supply, ac- 

 cording to the conditions in the locality where the supply was 



