No. 4.] THE DAIRY IlKRD. 393 



because of a shrinkage in product when it is most needed : if 

 it is projTJ'ietar}', the i)rice ])aid to jxitrons is regulated by the 

 same idea. With milk companies conti'acts arc often made 

 whereby producers arc paid for a regular product throughout 

 the year, and a lower price for the variable product above 

 this mininuim. Obviousl}' in this case the greater the fluc- 

 tuation the larger the pr()})ortion of milk which will liring 

 the lower price. 



Farmers frequently fail to hold good contracts, shn})ly be- 

 cause they do not take care of their customers in the pinch. 

 Not only do they fail to reap the benefit of high prices in 

 seasons of scarcity for a sur})lus product at that time, but 

 are forced to accept lower prices at all times, because of 

 inability to keep contracts in the pinch. Milkmen with 

 private routes do better, but they also experience difficulties 

 in holding trade without a regular uniform supply of milk. 

 It must be obvious, to the dairj-^man who has carefully studied 

 the possibilities of the business, that the highest success as 

 measured by the balance sheet is achieved b}^ a perennial sup- 

 ply of milk. To the careless and unprogressive farmer it 

 must also be clear that the profits from keeping cows are far ' 

 from satisfactory. It is my belief that far greater satisfaction 

 than is now felt would follow an earnest effort to maintain a 

 constant and regular milk flow throughout the twelve months. 



In whole creamer^' districts in western ^Massachusetts I 

 have found fluctuations of from 30 to (30 per cent between 

 the output of the highest and the lowest months. The same 

 fluctuation in a less degree is experienced by the large milk 

 companies of our cities. This means that from one-third to 

 one-half of the entire product must be sold at the general 

 market price, determined by the receipts from the countrj' at 

 large. This price will rule from 15 to 25 per cent lower 

 than that obtained by constant perennial trade ; in other 

 words, not far from one-half of our dairy product is sold at 

 a price 20 per cent less than what might be obtained by a 

 perfect distribution of the supply. This means an annual 

 loss of 20 per cent of one-half of $13,000,000, or more than 

 11,000,000, which might be added to the farmer's profits by 

 better management and very little additional expense. 



