of 400-gallon capacity and over. But even here the use is still considerably 

 below capacity. 



The following table estimates the percent of farm tank capacity used 

 by some of the producers supplying Massachusetts dealers who have in- 

 vested in farm tanks. 



Table 4. Farm Tank Utilization for Operations by Two Dealers In Massachusetts — June, 1953* 



DEALER A 



Size of Tank No. of Producers Percentage Use June 1953 



43.1 

 50.1 

 56.8 

 64.0 

 65.1 



Total 23 54.9 % average use 



DEALER B 



100 gal. 2 31.6 



150 gal. 4 34.2 



200 gal. 7 42.3 



300 gal. 5 51.3 



400 gal. 2 50.7 



Total 20 45.2 % average use 



*Information for this table was obtained by personal interview with the dealers 

 concerned. 



Seasonal variation in production will accentuate the problem of acquir- 

 ing the most economical size of tank. If June is the month of peak produc- 

 tion, then the above producers will own and pay for considerable unused 

 capacity during the rest of the year. 



Assembly 



The farm assembly of milk in New Hampshire is predominantly practiced 

 by independent truckers. Some little selfhauling is done by producers and 

 by producer-dealer cooperative trucks. 



The cost of haulage is paid by the producer. Following daily truck 

 routes, the trucker calls at the farm, loads the cans of milk onto his truck, 

 and returns empty cans washed and sterilized by the dealer. Sometimes the 

 producer owns the cans but more often they are owned by the dealer and 

 rented to the producers. The milk is then hauled to the processing plant, 

 weighed, sampled, tested, and the payments to producers calculated. 



The distance milk is hauled in relation to the size of load governs the 

 rates of haul. Assembly from larger producers and those densely settled will 

 increase the milk picked up per mile of travel. Therefore to evaluate the 

 assembly problem it is necessary to examine the distribution of dairy farms 

 in relation to size. 



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