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of the barn or in a wing attached to the family dweUing. The apparatus 

 is usually of the crudest character, and yet in the aggregate it represents 

 an investment far in excess of what would be needed to equip a sufficient 

 number of model sanitary plants were the business of distribution cen- 

 tralized. It is scarcely necessary to refer to the unsanitary character 

 and unfitness of the majority of these milk depots. For most of the 

 small dealers the margin of profit is so slender and the risks and losses 

 so great that it may be said to be a most precarious business. (See 

 Table III.) 



When a milk business is unprofitable there is a great temptation on 

 the part of the dealer to repair his losses by adulterating his milk, 

 abstracting cream from it, selling left-over milk as the fresh article, steal- 

 ing bottles and so on. Milk dealers, as everyone knows, sometimes yield 

 to these temptations, and they should not be too severely censured there- 

 for because they are the victims of a badly organized industry. 



The loss from the present uneconomical and wasteful method of 

 milk distribution in the majority of American cities is very great. It is 

 safe to say that in Rochester it amounts to at least half a million dollars 

 yearly, which means that the consumer pays nearly two cents per quart 

 more for his milk than he would need to were sensible methods employed. 

 Were this great yearly loss to benefit even a few individuals in the com- 

 munity, it might, in a measure, be condoned. However, except in the 

 instance of the very large companies, the business has not proven to be 

 very remunerative. 



It may be said that the present system of milk distribution has a 

 three-fold evil effect on the municipal supply: 



It leaves the business of marketing milk in the hands of a lot of 

 untrained men who have no idea of sanitation, no adequate sanitary 

 equipment, all of which is directly reflected in the quality of the milk. 



It affords such a meager living to the majority of small dealers that 

 it tends to make them dishonest and to employ unscrupulous methods in 

 their business operations. 



It imposes an unnecessary tax on the whole community. 



If this extravagant method of delivery were to be supplanted by 

 one in which a single efficient agency were to have control, it would bring 

 about three desired ends. 



It would make it possible for the consumer to get pure milk for at 

 least one cent per quart less than he now pays for questionable milk. 



It would enable the farmer to get a half cent more per quart for his 

 product, and this additional half cent to the farmer would make it worth 

 while for him to rid his herd of tuberculosis and to do many things which 

 are now neglected because of the scanty profits in milk production. 



It would make a profitable business for one distributing agency, 

 besides giving it a dignity and standing in the community that would not 

 be exceeded by any other public utility service. 



