THE MILK QUESTION. 37 



movement among the producers of milk on all lines of trans- 

 portation centering at Boston, to bring this company' into 

 active operation. . This is the proper season of the year for 

 action. The consumers will share in the benefits, and should 

 be appealed to, to aid in furnishing the necessary capital. 

 At this season the laro-cst individual consumers can be found 

 iit their citj^ homes, and this is the time when the}" are pay- 

 ing the highest price for milk. It is also the season of the 

 greatest cost of production among farmers, when they will 

 certainlj" be interested, if ever, in increasing their returns. 

 The stock ought to be taken in small amounts, probably not 

 over ten shares, or $100 by any one person, that as many as 

 possible may have a direct interest in the enterprise and 

 share in its benefits. 



It is by consolidation and increase of business under a 

 single head that savings are made, every shade of decrease 

 in expenses being clear gain. The margin is so smal^ on a 

 single quart of milk, that a very large number of quarts 

 must be handled to secure economy. In short, the larger 

 the business of such an enterprise, the surer its success. 

 The size of Boston, and its rapidly increasing demand for 

 milk, certainly gives every promise of success, even beyond 

 that of the company at Syracuse. The Massachusetts Dairy 

 Company should begin with a large capital, ample facilities, 

 thoroughly prepared, and an abundant supply of milk secured 

 in advance. This milk should all be taken from the day the 

 business is opened, if only a hundred quarts are sold at the 

 start. The equipment of the depot or dairy will enable 

 the profitable manufacture of the surplus, no matter how 

 great it may be. Of course the company will have its own 

 distributing conveyances, its own ice supply, and at the 

 dairy will be a centrefuge for quick cream separation, avoid- 

 ins: all ''settino;" — and the best arrans^ements for churnin<j 

 and cheese-making. The business of selling cream, skim- 

 milk, sour milk and buttermilk*, in the large cities is still 

 undeveloped. It is one of the instances where a new and 

 increasing supply will itself create the taste and the demand 

 making the market, as has been done so conspicuously in the 

 cases of small fruits and flowers. 



The Massachusetts Dairy ('ompany, although yet existing 



