6 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 315 



of milk and cream in all the important secondary markets of the State, including 

 27 cities. Information was collected from every dealer and producer-distributor 

 operating in the surveyed territory as to the daily receipts and sales of milk and 

 cream, retail and wholesale prices for different grades, milk purchase plans in 

 relation to producers, number and location of producers, and quality of product. 

 All the data obtained in this survey were tabulated and summarized, and are 

 now being used as a practical working basis in some operations of the State Milk 

 Control Board. 



Competitive Factors Influencing the Supply of Market Milk and Cream. 



(A. H. Lindsey and A. E. Cance.) A mimeographed report has been published 

 of the sources and consumption of fluid milk in 27 secondary markets in Massa- 

 chusetts. 



Under this project a historical study of milk sources and quality was made 

 in the Lowell market. Complete records were available for a 10-year period. 

 There have been many changes in areas which furnish milk to Lowell. These, 

 however, may be largely accounted for by changes in supply made by large 

 dealers. Quality, as measured by bacterial count, sediment tests, and percentage 

 of fat and solids, has constantly improved throughout the 10-year period. 



Preliminary investigation, based on 25,000 samples over a 10-year period, 

 indicates that the seasonality of fat and solids content of milk is not related to 

 the quantity of milk produced by cows as affected by pasture and feed conditions. 

 The low point in fat content is normally in August and not in May or June as 

 commonly supposed. Fat and solids content appears to be more closely related 

 to temperature than to pasture conditions or quantity of milk produced. The 

 low point for solids may or may not coincide with the low point for fat. It is 

 very important that producers know the true seasonal curves for fat and solids. 



Further work remains to be done to establish an adequate basis for any con- 

 clusions to be made. 



Sources and Uses of Credit in Massachusetts. (A. H. Lindsey.) The primary 

 purpose of this study is to secure dependable data for the Farm Credit Adminis- 

 trators and for extension workers, so that the present credit facilities can be made 

 more adequate, useful, and convenient. The survey was planned to determine 

 the credit needs of different type-of-farming areas. Records for the Connecticut 

 Valley are adequate, but a further study of dairy, poultry, and market garden 

 areas in the eastern part of the State remains to be made. 



A summary of the data gathered follows: 



1. Of the 340 farmers included in the survey, only 5 were tenants; the re- 

 mainder owned their own farms. 



2. In the Connecticut Valley area the farmers who were less than 40 years 

 of age borrowed, on the average, one and a third times the amount of short-term 

 credit per farmer borrowed by farmers who were 60 or more years of age. 



3. The average amount of short-term credit borrowed per farmer included 

 in the survey was $774. The average amount borrowed per farmer who obtained 

 short-term credit was $1,315. 



4. Sixty percent of bank credit was due on demand, and 17'^ percent due 

 in six months. 



5. Not quite one-half of the bank credit outstanding August 1034 had been 

 renewed more than twice. 



6. About 70 percent of the farmers who owned their farms owed mortgage 

 credit. 



