4 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 366 



total number of producers, who shipped 90 percent of the total volume of milk. 

 There were 31 additional producers' names listed in the files of the Massachusetts 

 Milk Control Board, but no data concerning them. These producers represented 

 such a small proportion of the entire market that their omission could have little 

 effect on the reliability of the study of variations of all Massachusetts milk enter- 

 ing the Worcester market. 



Figure 1. Location of Farms in the Worcester Milkshed, 1935. 



Worcester as Related to Other Markets 



Worcester is the third largest city in New England, being exceeded only by 

 Boston and Providence. The 1935 census reported a population of 190,471, a 

 decrease of 2.5 percent from the peak reached in 1930. The city is centrally 

 located, serving as a shopping center for approximately 400,000 people. The 

 population is further increased during a large part of the year by the presence 

 of four colleges and two preparatory schools. There are 600 industrial establish- 

 ments of such diversity that employment is fairly stable except in times of extreme 

 business inactivity. 



Worcester is 40 miles west of Boston, the only primary market in New England, 

 and about 190 miles northeast of New York City, another primary market. 

 Although 3.5 percent of Worcester's milk came from a country plant in Hoosick, 

 New York, on the eastern edge of New York City's supply area, the Worcester 

 market was not influenced to any great extent by this milkshed because of the 

 intervening secondary markets of Springfield, Chicopee, Westfield, Holyoke, 

 and Pittsfield. 



