Part II.] ^^'HAT ORGANIZATION HAS DONE. 51 



success in " trimming " the farmers is not the measure of 

 success in handling milk, but rather it is efficiency in managing 

 their part in the operation of distribution. In the outside 

 cities contract periods have been shifted to correspond with 

 Boston practice, prices have followed very closely Boston 

 prices, and the relationship between Boston and the rest of 

 New England has been wonderfully cleared up by inter- 

 communication. 



In dollars and cents the increase of If cents per quart 

 brought to the producers of New England something like 

 $100,000 a week for the months of April, May, June and 

 July. Just how much of this was due to organization must be 

 a matter of conjecture. Intimate knowledge of the negoti- 

 ations and of the first offers of the dealers leads me to believe 

 that at least one-half the increase was directly due to the 

 producers being to some extent organized, ready to fight for 

 what they believed right, and represented by a committee they 

 were ready to back up. 



The slogan for the summer had been "winter price for 

 summer milk," and the advance of 1^ cents did not quite 

 make it in some sections, due to the readjustment of the 

 zones on a 20-mile basis. For example, the line between jNIan- 

 chester and Centre Barnstead, New Hampshire, had been in 

 a one-price zone. Under the 20-mile system it divided into 

 three, in that nearest Boston there was a slight increase in 

 price over the winter schedule; in the middle section the price 

 was practically the same as in winter; while in the outer 

 circle there was a considerable reduction. 



This breaking up of old price equalizations caused some 

 confusion and misunderstanding. Time and printers ink, how- 

 ever, did much to iron out the troubles. But during the late, 

 cold spring there appeared a very insistent demand for a price 

 revision upward. Even though much milk had been contracted 

 for on a six months' basis, and though the pastures were flush 

 and production higher than normal, the association opened 

 negotiations that resulted in an increase of practically a cent 

 a quart over what had been agreed on in the spring for the 

 months of August and September. But important as this in- 

 crease was, it was of far less value than the general revision 



