THE JNIILK QUESTION. 33 



tirely do away with the middle men who are such a load upon 

 the business of city milk supply. Of course the expenses in 

 conveying the milk from the farm to the family cannot ])e 

 avoided ; but the profits now obtained by contractors, wholesale 

 and retail dealers, can be pooled and divided between producer 

 and consumer. Let us suppose the producer gets 4 cents per 

 quart and the consumer pays 8 cents. If by joint action the 4 

 cents margin between them can be reduced to 2 cents, which I 

 believe possible, there will still remain 2 cents to divide, — the 

 farmer will get 5 cents instead of 4, and the family pay 7 

 instead of 8. Or even if one cent a quart only can be saved 

 for such division, it is well worth the effort. To the farmer 

 this would be ten or twelve dollars per head annual profit on 

 every cow. But judicious co-operation will double this 

 amount, and yield at least twenty dollars per head to the cow 

 owners, over and above their receipts under the present system. 

 This is not individual opinion. Examples can be given of 

 successful enterprises of this kind. I might describe to you 

 the great co-operative dairying establishments of English cities, 

 and large concerns like the Aylesbury Dairy Co., of the West 

 End of London, and the Holland Park Dairy at Kensington. 

 But there is no need of going out of our own country for proof 

 of the l)enefits of co-operation in the business of producing and 

 selling milk. There is an establishment which has been in suc- 

 cessful operation in Syracuse, N. Y., for more than ten years, 

 and itis simply a marvel to me that this is not better known, 

 and that its results have not led to the formation of many 

 others, before this time. 



The Onondaga County Milk Association of Syracuse^ JV. Y. 

 This corporation was chartered and began business early in 

 the year 1872. The capital stock was originally $25,000, but 

 it has been a steadily prosperous concern, and has since in- 

 creased its capital fourfold. The stock is held by about sixty 

 persons who were formerly milk producers, and dealers acting 

 independently, and it is apportioned at the rate of twenty dol- 

 lars to each cow usually kept in milk by the holder ; the stock- 

 book shows that the members own from seven to seventy cows 

 each. The headquaiters of the association are in the city, 

 where it owns and occupies a large four-story brick building 



