THE MILK SITUATION IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 365 



trary is shown it may clearly be presumed as long as farmers continue to pro- 

 duce and sell milk that they are finding it profitable to do so. 



8. In your opinion, is a uniform standard of wholesale and retail prices of 

 milk practicable? 



Answer. I do not believe that a uniform standard of wholesale and retail 

 prices of milk is desirable, but I do not understand just what is meant by the 

 word " practicable " as used in this connection. I doubt very much whether the 

 farmers in this vicinity are sufficiently well organized to fix a uniform standard 

 for the wholesale price of milk. The retail milk dealer, however, does appar- 

 ently fix a uniform standard for the retail price of ordinary milk, and I think 

 he comes very close to fixing the price that the farmer gets. 



9. Are the existing freight and express charges for transporting milk reason- 

 able, in your judgment? 



Answer. I am hardly qualified to answer this question. 



10. State whether, in your judgment, the requirements of the health depart- 

 ment, including the proposed tuberculin test, can be observed by the producers 

 without increasing the wholesale and retail price of milk in Washington. 



Answer. The elimination of diseased cows from the dairy herds, that would 

 result from the application of the tuberculin test and the necessity for purchas- 

 ing sound cows to replace the cattle thus eliminated would doubtless for a while 

 justly result in an increase in the cost of milk, although it should result in no 

 substantial increase. Only a single item in the cost of milk production would be 

 increased by the application of the tuberculin test ; that is, the cost of the cattle. 

 It costs no more to feed, house, and care for a well cow than it does to care for 

 a sick one, and in the long run the well cow may be expected to have a longer 

 productive commercial life than one that is diseased. Ultimately, as the number 

 of tuberculous cows in the dairy country is reduced to a minimum, the cost of 

 milk should return to substantially what it is at present, supposing, of course, 

 that in the meantime events do not show that the present selling price of milk 

 is, because of other factors, too low. 



11. To what extent is compulsory pasteurization, in your opinion, practicable, 

 and is such action under consideration by the health department? 



Answer. With proper restrictions as to the installation of apparatus and as 

 to the keeping of records, there would seem to be no reason why compulsory 

 pasteurization should not be practicable. The fact that regulations directed to 

 this end might in some cases be evaded, notwithstanding a proper system of 

 inspection, is no reason why such regulation should not be made and enforced 

 as far as practicable. Laws against murder, embezzlement, housebreaking, and 

 all other kinds of crimes and misdemeanors are very commonly evaded, not- 

 withstanding a well-organized system of police protection, but that has never 

 been set forth as a reason why such laws should not be kept on the statute 

 books. Tho health department has for some time had under consideration the 

 advisability of the compulsory pasteurization of all milk coming from cows not 

 tuberculin tested and believes that with respect to that part of the milk supply 

 pasteurization should be enforced. 



12. Would compulsory pasteurization, in your opinion, have any -effect in 

 reducing the amount of milk daily supplied to the District, provided the retail 

 cost of milk (and consequently the price received by the farmer) be increased, 

 and to what extent? 



Answer. I can conceive of no reason why compulsory pasteurization should 

 reduce the amount of milk daily supplied to the district. 



13. What effect, in your judgment, would the enforcement of the tuberculin 

 test have on the wholesale and retail prices of milk supplied to the District of 

 Columbia in summer and in winter? 



Answer. This question seems to have been answered in answering question 10. 

 The enforcement of the tuberculin test would not increase the price of land, the 

 price of foodstuffs, the price of stable accommodations, the price of labor, the 

 cost of transportation, or the cost of distribution. It would increase for a while 

 a single item, to wit, the cost of cattle. For purposes of illustration, assume that 

 a farmer has a herd of 100 cattle, worth $75 each, making the total value of his 

 cattle $7,500. Interest on this capital at 5 per cent per annum is equivalent to 

 $375. Assume now that the tuberculin test is applied, 20 per cent of the herd 

 react and are killed, and 20 new cows are introduced, tuberculin tested, costing 

 $100 apiece, or 33J per cent more than the value of the original herd before 

 testing. If we disregard the increased value of the herd that has stood the test 

 that arises out of the fact that it has done so, the value of the herd will then be as 



