WHAT ORGANIZATION HAS DONE FOR THE MILK 



BUSINESS. 



RICHAKD PATTEE, SECRETARY NEW ENGLAND MILK PRODUCERS' 

 ASSOCIATION. 



The successful operation of any plan or enterprise depends 

 largely upon two things: first, the opportunity or necessity 

 for the enterprise itself; second, the intelligence and enter- 

 prise of its management. 



Recently an effort has been made to perfect an organiza- 

 tion of milk producers on a New England-wide basis. Local 

 organizations dealing with separate markets have appeared and 

 disappeared. With a growing urban population, creating a 

 constantly larger market for dairy products, there has been 

 a decreasing rural population, a decreased proportion of dairy 

 products, and an actual decrease in the number of cows in 

 New England of nearly 20,000 per year, for a period of several 

 years. The market-milk industry has been going from bad to 

 worse. Attempts more or less successful in localities have been 

 made for improvement, but there has been no cohesion be- 

 tween these separate attempts, and most of them have died 

 aborning. 



There are three classes of markets for milk in Nev/ England: 



First. — That which depends largely on a far-distant supply 

 brought by rail. 



Second. — That which depends in part on a local supply 

 supplemented by railroad shipments. 



Third. — That entirely relying on local production. 



Different conditions in different markets have led to differ- 

 ent business practices on the part of dealers. Until within 

 a year different dealers in the same market have had different 

 practices wdth respect to the purchasing of their supply, ac- 

 cording to the conditions in the locality where the supply was 

 purchased. There has been no uniform system in the same 

 market, or between markets, in the purchase of milk in New 

 England. The same concern previous to August 1 may have 



