June, 1933] 



Retailing Milk in Laconia 



15 



On the basis of six cents a mile, delivery cost per quart varied directly 

 with the amount of milk sold and the distance traveled daily. The produc- 

 ers selling between 50 and 100 quarts daily have the greatest range because 

 the distance traveled daily varies from less than two miles up to forty miles. 

 It would be possible apparently to combine the supply of several of those 

 selling less than 100 quarts daily, thereby making savings in delivery costs. 

 See Figure 2. 



Quarts Sold Daily 



Figure 2. Distribution of truck delivery costs per quart (exclusive of 

 labor) in relation to the number of quarts sold daily. 



A further disadvantage of the distributor with small volume is shown in 

 Table 8. Those selling less than 50 quarts daily traveled an average of 21 

 miles for every 100 quarts of milk sold ; those selling over 100 quarts daily 

 averaged less than 10 miles per 100 quarts. The average for all was 13.7 

 miles at an average cost of 80 cents per 100 quarts. 



Labor distribution: 



The time required by the 54 producer-distributors to perform all of the 

 necessary tasks pertaining to retailing milk was 185 hours for every 100 

 quarts sold. This time was distributed for the group as follows : bottling 

 15.4, delivering 61.3, and washing 23.3 per cent. See Table 9. 



The greater efficiency of the men selling over 100 quarts daily is an espe- 

 cially noticeable feature of this study. These larger producers used more 

 and better labor-saving equipment (see Table 3) to make the most of their 

 time. It is also possible that the large producers are naturally faster work- 

 ers. The small producers had a surplus of time and were not forced to use 

 it as efficiently. 



Apparently the few men selling between 100 and 150 quarts daily have a 

 better balance of labor and equipment in relation to volume, than any of 



