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



farmers have realized a small increase, — not entirely satis- 

 factory, but better than under the old conditions. 



The situation in Boston, where the milk comes from a wider 

 territory than either New York or Chicago, was not so tense, 

 principally because the organization among the milk producers 

 was not so strong. The agitation, however, served its purpose 

 somewhat in that an increased price was granted to most of 

 the producers. The smaller cities and towns of this State have 

 gone through similar troubles, and it is very difficult, looking 

 at the matter from the farmers' standpoint, to understand the 

 reluctance sometimes of the public to pay the slight increase 

 asked by the producers. With all foods reaching an un- 

 paralleled level, and in many cases increasing 50 per cent, which 

 the public pays without a great deal of complaint, there is little 

 reason why an increase in the price of milk should not prevail. 

 The consumer does not always seem to realize that the increased 

 cost of producing milk, in higher prices of feed, labor and 

 cows, should in any way be offset to the farmer in an increased 

 price for his product, nor does the consumer always realize that 

 he is getting in milk the cheapest food which his money can 

 buy. 



The past year has also seen the abolition by the Interstate 

 Commerce Commission of the so-called leased car system all 

 over New England, and the establishment of equal rates on all 

 lines of railroads, the rates increasing in every 20-mile zone. 

 This question of rates and the leased car system has been 

 agitating this section for many years, and now that it is 

 settled it is hoped that several evils of the milk problem have 

 been averted for the present. At the hearings before the Inter- 

 state Commerce Commission, both in Massachusetts and Wash- 

 ington, this Board was represented by the Attorney-General, who 

 also represented the State, and we feel sure that the interests of 

 the State were well looked after. Certain members of the Board 

 and Mr. Harwood of the Dairy Bureau have followed the hear- 

 ings closely. 



With the rate and leased car questions settled there is a 

 strong feeling among many producers that Massachusetts will 

 stand a more equal chance in the competition for the milk 

 market of our State. Certainly no great change can be looked 



