214 TRANSPORT QUESTIONS 



in operation, and applying to actual existing conditions, 

 are unduly high, and calculated to impede the further 

 development of the particular industries dealt with in 

 the earlier chapters of the present work. 



Taking, first, the carriage of new milk, the rates 

 per imperial gallon for rail transport are as follows : 

 Up to 20 miles, Jd. ; above 20 and up to 40 miles, f d, ; 

 above 40 miles and up to 100 miles, id. ; above 100 

 miles and up to 150 miles, id. ; above 150 miles, I Jd. 

 The average distance that milk is carried on both the 

 Great Western and the London and North-Western 

 Railways is, as already mentioned, 80 miles; so that, 

 taking those two lines for the purposes of illustration, 

 the average rate paid on the milk brought, say, into 

 London is one penny per imperial gallon. 



In return for that one penny per gallon, the railway 

 companies provide, where necessary, special milk trains 

 running express between certain points (some of the 

 companies also provide special milk waggons) in order 

 to bring in the milk ; and they run special trains to 

 take the empty milk-churns back, no charge for empties 

 being made. At the principal London termini special 

 milk platforms are provided, and I may here say that 

 both in London and at large stations in the provinces 

 the railway-station has become the recognised ' milk 

 market.' The wholesale dealers get in more milk than 

 they have actual orders for, and the supplementary 

 churns, received any time during the morning, may 

 remain on the railway-station platform until noon (the 

 dealers or their representatives being in attendance), 

 on the off-chance of some retailer running short and 

 wanting a further supply. The provision of this con- 

 venience is regarded as included in the one penny per 

 gallon, though I need hardly say that if the farmers 

 or dealers were to build a milk depot of their own in 



