PURIFY THE MARKET. 109 



And behind a little counter stood the wife or daughter of 

 the contractor, attending to the constant calls from men, 

 women and children of the neighborhood, bringing their 

 choppers and their tin-pails for their daily supply of new milk, 

 skimmed milk, buttermilk, or cup of Dutch cheese, according 

 to their several tastes or the financial condition of their purses. 

 Can any one doubt that these customers were well and honestly 

 served? Will men cheat where there is no temptation to 

 dishonesty ? 



If the Boston milk market could be so purified that the 

 consumer shall receive just what he pays for, the consumption, 

 I believe, would rapidly increase ; for if honest, sweet skimmed 

 milk can be sold for half the price that diluted and adulterated 

 skimmed milk now sells for, it would soon take the place of 

 other foods and drinks to a very large extent, while if only 

 pure, whole milk were sold, the number of cows required for 

 producing it would be increased immediately ; and there are 

 plenty of farmers who are ready to increase their supply, 

 even at the present low prices, if they could have a steady 

 and reliable market, and could be dealt fairly with in every 

 respect. There is too little sympathy between the several 

 parties who furnish the city with milk ; but the great complaint 

 of the milk farmers of Massachusetts at the present time is, 

 that their milk is brought into competition with something 

 which sells for milk, but which is not milk, but something 

 that can be prepared at a much lower cost. 



But so long as the inhabitants of Boston are satisfied with 

 what they receive, and acknowledge no difference between 

 different grades of milk, I see little chance for much improve- 

 ment in the demand for milk from the country. Without a 

 better demand, milk producers must, for a while longer, as 

 heretofore, make their milk and sell it at present prices, or 

 turn their attention in other directions. 



The price of milk is low, but I can see no prospect of its 

 being much higher, even with an increased demand. Should 

 the price rise but one cent per quart, with a prospect for a 

 steady demand, the whole State would be turned into milk 

 farms. One of the largest milk producers in my own town 

 has told me, repeatedly, that if the price should go up only 

 one cent per quart, he should expect to see the business 



