50 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 173. 



Some Obvious Disadvantages in Competitive Distribution of Milk. 



The investigation clearly indicates the very wide diversity of costs in 

 the retailing of milk. At the same time the milk-retailing serv-ice under 

 competitive conditions is faii-ly satisfactory. The consumer usually gets 

 his milk on time and in such quantities as he requires. If the quality of 

 milk delivered by one dealer is not satisfactory, several others are available. 

 It is questionable, however, whether the consumer does not pay roundly 

 for this competitive service. Several economic disadvantages may be 

 indicated. 



1. Overcapitalization. — The great majority of the plants visited are of 

 one or two wagon capacity. Eighty -four per cent, of them deliver 1,000 

 quarts or less daily; 59 per cent., 500 quarts or less; and 23 per cent., 

 300 or less. To meet the demands of his customers, comply with the milk 

 regulations and compete wuth other milkmen the progressive dealer in- 

 stalls machinery for washing, filling and capping bottles, clarifying, pas- 

 teurizing and cooling his milk. 



One recognizes that milk is highly perishable and that the time for 

 the processing is necessarily short. Some dealers, however, have installed 

 pasteurizers capable of disposing of 400 gallons per hour, although their 

 total quantity handled is but 900 quarts per day. Some have bottle-fillers 

 filUng 12 bottles at once when handling only 350 bottles daily. This means 

 running the plant below its capacity. A few dealers have buildings or 

 horses and wagons much more ample and expensive than necessary. In 

 some instances the total investment runs to 1.5 cents ($0,015) a quart 

 sold yearly, whereas the average investment for that size of business is 

 less than one-half cent ($0.0043) a quart; in other instances the invest- 

 ment is •?.4 cents a quart when the average is less than 1 cent ($0.0095) 

 per quart for plants of similar capacity. 



2. Small Daily Deliveries per Horse. — A load for a good horse over a 

 good road is 300 quarts of milk in bottles but the investigation disclosed 

 the fact that the usual load is much less. The average load of 10 dis- 

 tributors in Springfield is 216 quarts per horse (307 per wagon), and of 

 28 Worcester milkmen, 234.4 quarts per horse (346.1 per wagon), including 

 wholesale milk in cans. On the other hand, a rather large percentage of 

 dealers haul 300 quarts or more per wagon. More than 12 per cent, of 

 the milkmen retail 15 quarts or less per mile of travel in contrast to 

 nearly 14 per cent, who average more than 55 quarts a mile. The average 

 delivery is about 32 quarts per mile per wagon. That the size of load 

 bears a direct relation to the cost of deUvery is showm in Table XV. 



3. Long Hauls are usually Uneconomical. — Several instances can be 

 cited of distributors who traveled from 10 to 15 miles to retail from 100 

 to 200 quarts of milk. When the distributor is a long distance from his 

 market or when the distance between stops is great, there is a consider- 

 able waste both in man and horse labor through lost time. This is some- 

 what offset by the drivers making their daily entries during these intervals. 



