6 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 366 



Springfield, with a population of about 150,000 in 1935, although located 50 

 miles west of Worcester, was large enough to bear a relationship to the Worcester 

 market. This relationship is seen in a corridor area comprising Hardwick, New 

 Braintree, West Brookfield, and Warren, where wholesale dairymen were about 

 equally divided between the two milksheds.^ Although producers were so sit- 

 uated in this overlapping area that they could shift from one market to the other, 

 the markets were sufficiently isolated to prevent many shifts even when conditions 

 in the two were radically different. One dealer with a plant in Spencer operated 

 in both markets but was not representative of other dealers as the total business 

 was special milk at special prices. One large Boston dealer with a branch plant 

 in Worcester operated another branch plant in Springfield. One producer- 

 selling cooperative with main offices in Springfield operated a branch plant in 

 Worcester. 



These instances constituted all of the direct inter-market relationships in 1935, 

 which, after all, were very few indeed. Worcester is really in the heart of Massa- 

 chusetts. When one considers that the modern milk industry grew like Topsy 

 with no central guiding organization, it is decidedly interesting that there is so 

 little overlapping among the markets of this area. Overlapping means dupli- 

 cation of services and hence from the beginning it is seen that Worcester has 

 little duplication in the general market setup. 



Dealers 



In January, 56 regular dealers handled 95 percent of all fluid milk in the market, 

 while 23 producer-dealers and producer-distributors combined handled the 

 remaining 5 percent. Eleven intermediate dealers purchased 2.7 percent of the 

 total supply for resale. 



These dealers varied from small producer-distributors selling less than 100 

 pounds of milk daily, to the market's largest distributor who sold approximately 

 15,000 pounds daily. Table 1, which contains the distribution by size groups 

 of dealers in the market, shows that the 79 dealers purchased an average of 

 2,185 pounds of milk daily. The average for 23 producer-dealers and producer- 

 distributors was only 342 pounds daily, compared with 2,942 pounds daily for 

 56 regular dealers. Of these 56 regulars, 38 were below the average in daily 

 purchases and collectively handled only about a quarter of the total market, 

 while the four largest dealers accounted for a third of the total market. These 

 four dealers were the only distributors in Worcester with daily sales of more 

 than 10,000 pounds each. 



Of more significance than distribution of total milk in the market among 

 dealers according to size are the variations among dealers in price plans for paying 

 producers for milk. Previous to the inception of the Massachusetts Milk Control 

 Board, dealers were free to devise their own payment plans, and some small 

 dealers paid on a straight volume basis, allowing no differential for fat content. 



From 1917 to 1931 the New England Milk Producers' Association^ employed 

 a straight use plan of payment for its members in the Boston milkshed.^ Probably 

 the expansion of that organization from 1922 to 1930 to include in its membership 

 many producers in the Worcester milkshed was the greatest stimulus toward the 

 adoption of the use plan of payment in the Worcester market. 



^See figures 1 and 2. 

 'Hereafter called NEMPA. 



^Schoenfeld, VV. A.. Some Economic Aspects of the Marketing of Milk and Cream in New Eng- 

 land, U. S. D. A., Circular 16, Oct. 1927, p. 54. 



