June, 1933] Retailing Milk in Laconia 7 



Two classes of milk are commonly mentioned by the farmers — "regu- 

 lar" and Jersey or Guernsey. The usual price difference between these two 

 classes was two cents a quart. This explains a good part of the price range 

 given in Table 2 in selling retail or to the stores. When a detailed analysis 

 is made of these prices according to the content, however, only a small rela- 

 tionship exists between the range of fat and the price of "regular" milk. 

 Or expressed another way, the percentage of fat in "regular" milk varies 

 from 3.2 up to 4.7 per cent with only a slight dift'erence in the average 

 retail price. The samples which ran over 4.7 averaged about one and one- 

 half cents a quart more than those under this amount. This situation is to 

 be expected when so many individual producers do their own bottling and 

 selling. 



Some producer-distributors advertise high- fat milk for the same price as 

 their competitor's lower-fat product. On the whole the lack of accepted 

 price standards for milk of varying fat content is one of the reasons for 

 price demoralization in a local market. 



"Surplus price" is a partial explanation of the large number of local 

 producers distributing milk. This results from wholesale-market condi- 

 tions and is made up by zones on a butter fat basis. The apparent great 

 dift'erence between this price and the going retail prices is what attracts the 

 producer into the retail field. When the returns from w^holesaling drop to 

 low levels, more producers turn to retailing. This is especially true in sec- 

 tions where the farms are small and located close to a consuming market. 

 Milk producers about Laconia are fortunate, however, in having one or 

 more wholesale buyers in their local market to take the surplus milk away 

 to other consuming centers. 



Who Distributes Milk: 



The farm activities of the producer-distributors are planned so that the 

 owner generally performs the task of distributing milk, although in a 

 number of instances among the father-and-son combinations, the son pur- 

 chased the milk and took charge of the marketing end. This latter method 

 apparently was working out very satisfactorily to all concerned, especially 

 on the large farms where several hundred quarts were produced and sold 

 daily. The large volume made it possible for one man to secure fair returns 

 for his time. 



When asked how much the milk route was worth, the owners showed by 

 their answers how dependent they were on it in obtaining a livelihood. 

 Time and again the answer was "It is not for sale" or "It is my living." 

 The values placed on the retail milk routes varied from nothing up to $2.00 

 a quart. Actual route purchases of $1.00 a quart were reported. As to how 

 the route was obtained, various answers were given. Nineteen purchased 

 part or all of the route, 9 obtained it through friends and relatives, 24 said 

 they "picked it up," and three definitely stated that they "stole it." These 

 answers reflect the keen competition for customers whicli is continually 

 going on. 



The length of time each has been retailing milk varies from one to 47 

 years as follows: 33 less than 10 years, 14 from 10 to 20 years, and 7 over 

 27 years. 



