16 MILK SURVEY OF THE CITY OF ROCHESTER 



"(1) What is needed is comprehensive and expert public oversight that will 

 study the needs of a city as a whole and co-ordinate the work of producers and 

 distributers so as to eliminate inefficiency and waste, and insure prices based on 

 the value of the services rendered ; 



(2) What is needed in San Francisco Bay cities is the creation of some expert 

 authority to study whether the present location of our dairying districts makes 

 possible the provision of a milk supply as cheaply as it could be furnished from 

 some other district or districts where land is cheaper even if farther removed. 



(3) The economies of distribution should be studied, not to determine in what 

 direction the distributers have failed, but what could be saved by a carefully planned 

 distributing system which would eliminate duplication of routes, needless pasteur- 

 izing plants, and overhead charges." 



1917, New York City. (Report of Mayor's Committee on Milk; 

 Dr. Charles E. North, Chairman.) 



Methods of enquiry included : Public hearings of dealers, producers, 

 consumers; examination of dealers' books by expert cost accountants; 

 examination of dairy farm costs by cost accountants ; questionnaires to 

 dealers, producers and consumers ; field work by farm inspectors on farm 

 costs ; by city inspectors in house to house canvass. 



Subjects of enquiry included : Statistics of New York City supply ; 

 cost of freight ; dairy farm costs, including the cost of labor, cost of feed, 

 other farm expenses; country hauling; prices received by the farmer; 

 milk dealers' costs, including investment in the country; investment in 

 the city; average daily sales; cost of handling, labor; cost of handling, 

 other expenses; cost of delivery, labor; cost of delivery, other expenses; 

 loss on surplus. 



The house to house canvass covered 2,200 homes by 250 investiga- 

 tors, including a population of 12,439 people, showing the milk consumed 

 by children of different ages and by adults. 



This survey included studies of the cost of production on dairy 

 farms in all the states shipping milk to New York City, and on the city 

 end of the line a careful study of the cost of distribution of milk in quart 

 bottles from retail wagons, of the sale of bottled milk from grocery stores 

 and milk stores, and the sale of wholesale milk in cans. The investigation 

 gave much consideration to the food value of milk and received the testi- 

 mony of the leading authorities on this subject. The conclusions of this 

 survey were : 



price's 1 ' Milk ^ thC m St ValUablC and thC heaPeSt f human foods even at P resent 



2. For drinking purposes New York City now uses only about 700000 am 

 duly The aty should use about 2,000,000 quarts daily for drfnking in anneal dYet 



Is J OSt u I ? l ! Ik Pr ductlon at P resent P"ces is 7 cents per quart and he 

 prices asked by the Dairymen's League are justified. 



4. The cost of distribution as shown by the dealers' accounts is justified and 

 not large enough to prevent business losses. 



