75 



tenth the investment. Furthermore, the risks and labor of the farmer 

 are correspondingly greater. 



There are some points about dairying, however, which the producer 

 cannot afford to overlook. The milk business is an all-year-round occupa- 

 tion for him. It keeps his labor constantly employed. It is a continuous 

 source of income; and when properly conducted, it adds to the produc- 

 tivity of his farm. If milk producers, instead of acting as a large number 

 of individual competitive units, each duphcating the labor and equip- 

 ment of his neighbor, were to co-operate and co-ordinate their efforts, 

 they could lessen both the cost of milk production and make it more 

 profitable. 



This can be done and, to a limited extent, is being done by the forma- 

 tion of cow-testing associations, co-operative associations for buying 

 feed, bedding and by the breeding of high-grade stock. Another material 

 saving could be made by estabhshing co-operative milk receiving stations 

 at convenient railroad points where milk could be received, tested and 

 paid for on the basis of quality and purity, where cans and pails could 

 be sterilized, thus doing away with expensive equipment of the farm, 

 and by the collection of milk on one or two trucks instead of each pro- 

 ducer hauling his fraction of a load to the railroad. In short, the producer 

 must study the economics of his business, he must check the waste and 

 the losses before the community will listen sympathetically to his plea 

 for more remuneration. 



In the city we find the business of distributing milk in the hands of 

 a large number of small dealers. There is a different dealer for every 

 200 famihes and a different milk wagon, horse and driver for every 125 

 families. If milk were economically distributed, one horse, wagon and 

 driver should be able to supply at least 400 families. On most of our 

 city streets we have a different milk company for every two to ten homes. 

 In many cases several milk men will be found supplying one home. In 

 one small home we discovered that nine peddlers were each leaving one 

 pint daily. 



This overlapping in routes means a tremendous waste in labor and 

 equipment. By actual computation we determined that the total travel 

 of these dealers is from ten to twenty times further than it would need 

 be were a single dealer to supply a given section in an economical manner. 

 The same wasteful method of delivery is employed in most of the cities 

 of the United States, as was determined by the writer in a recent investi- 

 gation of this subject. In the few very large cities of this country where 

 great milk companies are to be found, this waste is not so evident, but 

 in the smaller cities and towns it is quite common. (See Tables I and II.) 



The waste in milk distribution is by no means confined to street 

 equipment. Each of these small dealers operates a small milk room or 

 depot in which will be found the apparatus necessary for the bottling 

 and storing of milk. As a rule, these milk rooms are located in one section 



