108 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



at the city stations at other certain hours, from whence it is 

 taken in the contractors' wagons and usually carried directly 

 to the dwellings of the buvers. As it is cooled before leaving 

 the farm, and arrives in the city sweet and sound, there is no 

 necessity for keeping it in the hands of the pedlers another 

 whole day to cool, as is the practice in Boston. The con- 

 tractor lives in the city, often boards his pedlers, and has 

 large stables connected with his residence where the delivery 

 teams are kept. He contracts with the farmers for a certain 

 quantity of milk per day, and if he has at any time more 

 than he can sell, he sets it for butter-making. 



At one of the large depots I visited in June, there were 

 several large barrel churns worked by steam power, and where 

 each day butter was made from the surplus milk which had 

 been engaged in the spring, in anticipation of an extra demand 

 for supplying the visitors to the Centennial Exhibition. The 

 price of milk at retail was eight cents per quart, the farmer 

 receiving about four cents, leaving the other four for defraying 

 the expenses of transportation, for selling, and for the profits 

 of the contractors. At that time there was a large surplus of 

 milk, and it was being made into butter at a loss, for milk is 

 not worth four cents per quart for butter-making, after being 

 carried from twenty to thirty miles over railroads, and jolted 

 and shaken in milk-wagons at each end of the route. The 

 contractors were, however, doing their best to save themselves 

 from loss. The best known methods of butter-making appli- 

 cable under the circumstances were adopted, and the butter 

 was sold at prices above the average, though not as high as a 

 few of the fancy private dairies. 



A sign, neatly painted and lettered, hung over a side door 

 of the contractor's dwelling, on which were words something 

 like the following : — 



Fresh butter, 40 cents per pound. 



New milk, 8 " " quart. 



Sweet skimmed milk, 4. " " « 



Buttermilk, 3 " « " 



Sour milk, 2 " " " 



New milk, 2 " " glass. 



Sweet skimmed milk, 1 cent " " 



Cottage cheese, 2 cents " cup. 



