COST OF DISTRIBUTING MILK. 11 



charged, since they usually disposed of their horses after three or four years 

 for more than they cost. Other animals eighteen and twenty years of age 

 were giving good ser\ice. 



Rate of Depreciation. — For these reasons each individual case was 

 dealt with on its merits under this general formula: first cost of animal, 

 less the selling price or the present worth, divided by number of years of 

 service equals the annual depreciation. This method of calculation takes 

 no account of losses by death; only horses now in service are considered. 

 Where such losses had occurred in recent years some allowance was made, 

 however. The figures obtained show that the depreciation of horse flesh 

 increased in proportion to the size of the town or city, and also of the load 

 hauled. In Amherst and Walpole annual horse depreciation averaged 7.5 

 per cent. In Worcester the average was 9.5 per cent. 



Buildiyigs. — To compute the investment in buildings and the necessary 

 allowance for depreciation was also a source of some difficulty. In Walpole 

 and Worcester a number of dairies were housed in basements, some in 

 basements of residences. Moreover, the majority of the country dairies 

 visited are in the barn, stable or shed, a partitioned space in these buildings 

 being all that is considered necessary for the plant. In all these instances 

 an estimate was made of the value of the whole building; this was multi- 

 plied by the fractional space occupied by the milk plant and to this was 

 added the outlay for fitting up the plant itself. When the valuation was 

 arrived at, 3 per cent., as a rule, was charged off for depreciation; 2 per 

 cent, for taxes and insurance; and 5 per cent, for interest. This may be 

 a trifle high, but in some cases the actual charges for taxes and insurance 

 were more than 2 per cent. 



Equipment. — The equipment varied exceedingly, but without exception 

 fairly reliable data were obtained. No arbitrary rule was followed in com- 

 puting the depreciation, since each individual item has a different period 

 of service and these periods vary with the different plants and users. 

 Many distributors had experience sufficient to enable the investigator to 

 arrive at a fairly exact figure; in other plants estimates were necessary. 

 In a number of cases the equipment was very meager and the methods 

 employed crude; filling bottles by hand, heating water over a small gas 

 burner, and washing bottles by hand were not unusual. Except in the case 

 of the large dealers in the cities and a few of the more progressive pro- 

 ducers who distribute, live steam was not used for washing or sterilizing 

 and in several cases the heating apparatus was entirely inadequate. 



Harness. — The almost unanimous opinion was that the life of a set 

 of harness costing from $35 to $40 is five years, provided it is kept in 

 good repair; the repairs usually amount to $5 a year. This bears out the 

 statement of harness makers that harness costs $1 a month. 



Wagons and Sleighs. — There was very little difference of opinion re- 

 garding the upkeep and life of wagons and pungs. The price of wagons 

 ranged from $175 to $275, with a Ufe of approximately eight years. They 

 are usually varnished every year and painted and overhauled every alter- 



