126 THE MODERN MILK PROBLEM 



begin his day's work at 2 o'clock in the morning or some 

 other such heart-rending hour, to gather his product and 

 start it off to his customers for there is no middleman in 

 the dairy business. Rising in the small hours of the morn- 

 ing to begin work by lamplight, he sometimes knows no rest 

 until some hours after darkness has come again. 



Yet his profits on the nutritious article of food he sells 

 bear no comparison with those of the grocer, butcher or 

 baker. 



To demand food that is entirely free from suspicion of 

 carrying disease to ourselves and our children, and then to 

 quarrel because we must pay more for it is utterly childish. 4 



The foregoing was prefaced with the statement that 

 "pure milk, clean milk, cannot be sold at the price of 

 dirty milk," and was entitled "We must pay the cost." 



It is certainly worth examining how far the extra 

 costs that are putting the farmer out of business are 

 unavoidable and how far, therefore, "we," the con- 

 sumers, must pay them. 



Is the Farmer Getting a Fair Price? 



This burning question, which lies at the very root of 

 the economic problem, has been well discussed in a 

 paper by Mr. Ernest Kelly of the Dairy Division, 

 United States Department of Agriculture, who writes 

 as follows (italics inserted) : 



Within the last few years there has been much dissatis- 

 faction among both milk producers and consumers. The 

 dairy farmers claim that they are not receiving enough for 

 their milk, while consumers complain that they are forced to 

 pay exorbitant prices for the same article. It is apparent 



