FROM FARM TO CONSUMER 287 



goes by rail, special refrigerator cars designed to carry 

 milk and nothing else must be provided. In fact, large 

 cities require not only special cars, but special milk trains 

 that are run upon an express schedule. The railroads find 

 it advantageous to employ a milk agent with assistants, 

 just as they employ a general baggage agent with assist- 

 ants. Further, the railroad should provide special sheds in 

 the country and a milk yard in the city with facilities for 

 rapidly handling the goods. The milk trains usually arrive 

 in the city about midnight and bring milk of the morning 

 and previous evening. It is delivered the following day, 

 and is therefore at least twenty-four to thirty-six hours old 

 when it reaches the consumer. The Lackawanna Railroad 

 runs solid milk trains into New York. These trains run on 

 passenger schedules with cars of standard equipment, ven- 

 tilated and iced. This system has been a gradual evolution 

 from the time when a few cans of milk were carried in the 

 baggage car. Other progressive railroads have similar 

 equipment and service. 



The milk wagon has undergone changes with the evolu- 

 tion of the business. The present milk wagon is well 

 designed to carry the glass bottles and a sufficient quantity 

 of ice to keep the milk cold until delivered. The process is 

 an expensive one. The cost of distribution is more than 

 the price of milk plus the cost of bringing it to the city. 

 The drivers of the milk wagons have much more power 

 than is ordinarily understood by the householder. The 

 common arrangement is to give the driver a percentage 

 share of the business. This makes them keen for trade and 

 has the advantage of improving the service. It has the 

 disadvantage of favoring underhanded methods which 

 drivers occasionally use, and is a constant source of irrita- 

 tion and friction between the different dairymen. Some of 

 the other faults and dangers from drivers in improperly 

 handling milk have already been dwelt upon. 



The transportation question is cleverly settled in Italy 



