THE ECONOMIC FACTORS 141 



THE MILK DEALER 



In what may be called the semi-developed state of 

 milk industry the farmer produces and distributes his 

 own product, perhaps deriving a greater or less part 

 of his supply from his neighbors. In the developed 

 state the milk dealer is differentiated as a distinct in- 

 dividual. The dealer collects the milk brought in by 

 producers, either at a country bottling plant or, more 

 frequently, at a city plant to which the separate sup- 

 plies have been brought, usually by railroad. The 

 dealer thus specialized is not only able to carry on 

 milk processes on a large scale, but also can dispose of 

 surplus milk through the channels of the manufacture 

 of butter, cheese, etc. (Establishments for these last 

 uses are called " creameries," a term sometimes loosely 

 applied to milk depots or milk plants proper.) Urban 

 conditions not only make it difficult or impossible for 

 the farmer to distribute his product himself, but further 

 tend to force the small dealer either to go out of business 

 or to amalgamate with others in the formation of 

 businesses of economic size, hence the large dealer 

 of to-day. 



The dealer thus occupies a central point from which 

 he can see, and to a certain degree control, all the 

 ramifications of the industry. But, while he possesses 

 an advantage in being more of a business man than 

 is the farmer, and may use this advantage unscru- 

 pulously, his position is not always an easy one. Often, 

 as Dr. Charles E. North wrote several years ago, "he 

 finds himself opposed on the one hand to the public 

 health authorities in the city where he markets his 



