THE ECONOMIC FACTORS 123 



force; to him the additional trouble and expense of 

 complying with sanitary regulations are the latest ag- 

 gravating factor In the situation. 



Since the above statement seems to sum up the com- 

 plaint of the producer, it must be examined in some 

 detail, especially as it runs counter to the impression 

 of many householders that the price of milk to the 

 consumer has risen at a rapid rate and is partly respon- 

 sible for the increased cost of living. 



THE PLIGHT OF THE FARMER 



In many regions the cry goes up from the dairy 

 farmer that he is being " forced out of business. " It 

 is asserted that many farmers to-day are producing 

 milk at a loss and that many more are going through 

 the processes of dairy farming with little or no return 

 for their investment and labor. "It is claimed/ 7 says 

 an official of the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture, "that only about one-third of the dairy cows in 

 New York State are kept at a profit. If this is true of 

 New York, it is probably true of many other States/' 1 

 Testifying at a Federal hearing on milk rates, at Boston 

 in 1916, Professor Frederick Rasmussen of the New 

 Hampshire State College of Agriculture, is reported as 

 asserting from computations that the "average rnilk" 

 in that State was produced at a slight loss. 2 (This 

 statement, though indefinite as reported, may ap- 

 parently be taken to mean that more farmers produc- 

 ing milk in New Hampshire do so at a loss than at a 

 profit.) Several years ago a farmer, "reported to be 

 the most successful in New England, in a public address 

 stated that the price received by him for milk during the 



