MILK SURVEY OF THE CITY OF ROCHESTER 103 



inspectors in the employ of the Survey, who personally visited all of the 

 large milk companies in the City of Rochester and a considerable number 

 of the small dealers and, by personal observation of the work performed 

 in these milk plants, took notes of each operation, the number of em- 

 ployees, the time occupied and the cost of performing every branch of 

 the business. 



The dealers' books were not neglected, as expert accountants were 

 employed to take a statement from the dealers' books, chiefly for the 

 reason that the factory charges or expenses outside of labor charges could 

 not be obtained by inspection. The expert accountants employed by the 

 survey were unable to find in the City of Rochester, however, more than 

 four dealers who kept books in such a manner that the accounts could be 

 relied upon. They visited 15 of the small milk dealers but were unable 

 to secure figures from them which were sufficiently reliable to justify a 

 report. 



The new plan pursued in this survey consisted, in short, of making 

 a careful study of the conduct of the business itself as the main depend- 

 ence, rather than to place dependence upon an examination of the dealers' 

 books. 



In making these inspections of the milk factories, it was necessary 

 to standardize the work by drawing up report blanks which could be used 

 by each inspector so that the reports handed in would be uniform and 

 also comprehensive. The points observed in connection with the con- 

 duct of the business included : 



(1) The total units of operation, such for example as the quantity 

 of milk received, the quantity of milk bottled, the number of bottles 

 washed, the number of cans washed, etc. 



(2) The number of persons employed in each operation. 



(3) The total number of hours of labor. 



(4) The wage rate per man hour. 



(5) The total cost of the operation. 



(6) The unit cost of the operation, for example, the cost per quart 

 for milk received, the cost per bottle for bottles washed/ the cost per can 

 of cans washed. 



There were more than 36 different operations examined in this way 

 in these different milk factories. 



In addition to the examination of the milk business of the dealers 

 of Rochester in this manner, similar examinations were made of the 

 largest milk business in the City of Ottawa, Canada ; of the largest busi- 

 ness in the City of Philadelphia, Pa., and of the largest milk companies 

 in the City of Baltimore. 



