38 New Hampshire Experiment Station [Bulletin 332 



been left with substantial sums owing them by Berlin dealers who were 

 financially weak, was that in selling to those handlers who supplied the 

 Boston market, they were "sure of their money." Even though the losses 

 incurred in selling to Berlin had been suffered some years past and the 

 dealers responsible no longer purchased milk in the area, the feeling still 

 persisted that payment was less sure in the Berlin market. 



Market Response of Producers i?i Jefferson 



This section should be read keeping in mind the more general dis- 

 cussion of the earlier section on Haverhill.' In that earlier section many 

 of the considerations affecting producers' market response were consid- 

 ered at some length and material presented there is not repeated here. 



In the absence of other market factors, price differentials such as 

 those which existed between the Berlin and Boston market in Jefferson, 

 would be expected to cause a shift of producers from the lower to the 

 higher priced market. 



Figure 12 shows each producer's market in the spring of 1939, and 

 the number of times producers changed from one market to the other in 

 the preceding eight years. 



Figure 12 also shows that in a general way, the closer producers live 

 to Lancaster, the more tendency there is for them to ship to that market, 

 and likewise, though to a much less extent, the reverse holds true on the 

 side nearest Berlin. This is to be expected, to the extent that hauling 

 charges vary with distance, and in Lancaster this tendncy persists.^ In 

 Berlin, however, charges are the same, regardless of distance from market. 



Perhaps the most noteworthy thing brought out by figure 12 is that 

 the major part of the producers in the area made no shift in market 

 throughout the period. More than one-half of those who did change, 

 shifted only once and only one producer made as many as four changes 

 or an average of one every two years. 



In an effort to see whether producers who changed markets differed 

 from those who remained constant throughout the period, the average 

 qauntity of milk delivered per month for each group was calculated. 

 (Table VII). No significant relationship is apparent between the amount 



Table VII. Avfc:RAGE Quantity of Milk Delivered by Producers 

 IN Jefferson Area (1931 - 39)^ Quantity per month 



(pounds) 



No change in market 4511 



One change 4703" 



Two changes 3650 



Three changes 4433 



Four changes 4178 



^ Includes 5.) producers. 



- Does not include one farmer with very large production. 



of production and the tendency to change markets. Other characteristics 

 of producers which might distinguish between those who remained with 

 one market throughout the period studied and those who changed were 



^ See page 30. 



^ See MacLeod and Geraglity, opus. cit. p. 23. 



