12 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 173. 



nate year. Pungs or sleighs cost an average of $50 and last about fifteen 

 years, very little being spent on upkeep. 



Other Equipment. — Boxes worth 80 cents to $1.25 are good for five 

 years. There is a difference of opinion as to the relative merits of the 

 wooden and the steel boxes. Five complete sets of cans are necessary 

 for the average dealer, one set being replaced each year. This item, how- 

 ever, should be charged to transportation except in the case of the deUvery 

 of wholesale milk. 



Mamtenance. 



Maintenance includes the expenditure necessary for the repair and 

 upkeep of the buildings and equipment, including feed of horses and the 

 loss of bottles and cans. In general, the outlay necessary to maintain the 

 plant in working order is maintenance. Such items as grease and oil, 

 veterinary service, shoeing, stable sundries, brushes, brooms, blankets, 

 feed bags, carriers, hose, medicine, paint and other sundries required to 

 keep up the buildings and equipment fall under this head. 



Working Capital. 



Working capital (or overhead and current supplies) includes such items 

 as soap, ice, light, fuel, stationery, telephone, rent, insurance, taxes, 

 interest on investment, spoilage, surplus, shrinkage and bad bills. It was 

 difficult in many cases to separate these items, spoilage and surplus being 

 included by some in shrinkage and by others in bad bills; fuel was con- 

 sumed for other purposes than the dairy; the telephone included private 

 use; and insurance, taxes and water rates often covered the residence or 

 buildings used for other purposes in addition to the dairy. Assessed values 

 and tax rates vary greatly, but in general 2 per cent, of the actual value 

 was allocated to taxes and insurance. Insurance averaged about 1^ per 

 cent, for three years. Interest was uniformly computed at 5 per cent, on 

 the entire investment. 



Labor. 



Labor is classified as hired, home and personal. Home labor is labor 

 provided by members of the family, such as assistance in the dairy or on 

 the milk wagon, but more often in keeping the books. Usually home 

 labor does not represent an expenditure, but is charged at the prevailing 

 rates. Personal labor is the labor of the proprietor himself and is valued 

 at his own estimate, never less than 25 cents per hour. In no case was 

 the accepted estimate considered excessive or below a reasonable remun- 

 eration. 



There is much individual variation in each of these items, especially 

 among the producers who board the hired help. The wages paid varied 

 from $25 to $35 per month and board; the estimates for board vary from 

 $15 to $30 per month. The time, too, must often be distributed more or 

 less unequally and arbitrarily between farm work and the preparation and 

 delivery of milk. In all instances these adjustments were made carefully, 

 but except as averages they cannot be considered in all respects infallible. 



