

52 THE MODERN MILK PROBLEM 



dividualist, too ready to tolerate disadvantages. But 

 if he is to hold his own under modern competitive 

 conditions, he must, as a class, learn the lesson of or- 

 ganization and collective action. Signs of a changing 

 attitude are to be seen, as, for example, in the present 

 efforts of organized producers in New England and the 

 New York district to secure better milk prices (see 

 Appendix E), but there is much to do in this direction 

 if the individual farmer is not to continue to be forced 

 out of business as a milk producer under present-day 

 pressing conditions. 



The sympathies of a disinterested observer would 

 likely be with the consumer, who is in darkness, and 

 with the farmer, who suffers most under economic 

 pressure. But the difference is that the consumer must 

 look to the authorities for his protection, while the 

 farmer can, if he will, better his own conditions. 



Agricultural Aid 



The chief external reliance of the fanner for the 

 improvement of his status must be the agricultural 

 authorities who are studying his problems on scientific 

 principles. State and Federal departments, of agricul- 

 ture with their experiment stations, not to mention 

 various agricultural colleges, are constantly carrying on 

 investigations and publishing data and advice of ad- 

 vantage to the farmer. A great deal of this work is 

 specialized on the dairy industry. The following para- 

 graph by Mr. H. N. Parker sketches the part played 

 by such authorities: 



The agricultural experiment stations naturally see the 

 farmer's position and, perhaps, only less clearly, the con- 



