364 THE MILK SITUATION IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 



2. Please furnish, if practicable, a statement of the number of cows furnishing 

 milk to the District of Columbia for some years past. 



Number cows on dairy farms supplying milk to District of Columbia : 



1905-6 16,250 



1906-7 15,950 



1907-8 r 16,172 



1908-9 16,116 



1909-10 17,688 



3. Please furnish, if practicable, a statement of the number of permits applied 

 for and the number issued for selling milk in the District of Columbia for some 

 years past. 



Number of permits in force June 30, 1905, were as follows : 



To maintain dairies 285 



To maintain dairy farms 102 



To bring milk or cream into the District of Columbia 974 



4. What amount of milk, in your opinion, is daily supplied to the District of 

 Columbia ? 



Amount of milk per day sold in the District of Columbia, 19,000 gallons. 



5. Should the retail price of milk sold in the District be increased, and to 

 what price? 



Answer. It costs more to produce milk now than it did 10 years ago ; and if 

 the price then paid was a fair one, the price now should be increased. A fair re- 

 tail price for milk, however, can be determined only after information is at hand 

 relative to the cost of production and distribution under intelligent economical 

 businesslike management in this particular section of the country, and so far as 

 I know no figures are available to show such cost. 



6. Would this price, in your judgment, be prohibitive to the poorer classes to 

 any extent whatsoever? 



Answer. This question is in part answered by the answer to question 5. I 

 may add, however, that I know of no evidence to show that wholesome milk can 

 not be sold at a price within the reach of what may be termed in a general way 

 " the poorer classes." The burden of furnishing evidence to show that a fair 

 price for milk would be prohibitive to such classes rests upon those who allege 

 the fact; but while there may have been allegations as to the occurrence of a 

 prohibitive price, there have been no reliable figures to show that such a price 

 would be necessary. It must be borne in mind, of course, that the adoption of 

 more economical methods with respect to production and distribution will tend 

 to offset increased prices otherwise necessary. 



7. In your judgment, is the farmer receiving his proper share of the money 

 derived from the production and sale of milk? 



Answer. Probably, I think, the farmer is not receiving his proper share of the 

 retail price of milk, but, so far as I know, no farmer in this vicinity has ever 

 produced any figures to show that that is the case. Until evidence to the con- 



