No. 4.] REPORT OF DAIRY BUREAU. 299 



The three million caus of surplus milk have been kept ofl'the 

 milk market by the contractors, thereby tending to steady the 

 price and keep it more uniform than if the whole product 

 was placed upon the market to be sold for what it w^ould 

 bring, as is the case with other articles of merchandise. 

 This surplus kept off from the market has been made into 

 butter by the wholesalers, and they return to the farmers the 

 average jobbing price of butter, less the charge for manufact- 

 uring. This surplus milk has averaged to net the farmers 

 13.33 cents per can during the year. The lowest price was 

 received in May, June and July, 11 cents per can ; the high- 

 est in December, 15.34 cents. The price received for sale 

 milk is the same as last year. It has been kept quite uniform 

 from year to year, by the system in which Boston milk 

 is handled. The price of surplus milk depends upon the 

 market value of butter, and has averaged one-third of a cent 

 more for 1897 than it did for 1896. 



For the months of April, May, June, July, August and 

 September, the price to the farmers at their several railroad 

 stations was 19 to 26 cents per 8| quart cans. During the 

 other months of the year, January, February, March, Octo- 

 ber, November and December, the price ranged from 21 to 

 28 cents. This range of prices is adjusted by an agreement 

 between the producers and the wholesalers that the price 

 shall decrease by a regular system as the distance from the 

 city and the cost of transportation increases. 



We present herewith a plan illustrating this. The verti- 

 cal parallel lines represent the railroads over which milk is 

 shipped, drawn as air lines. We have marked on each one 

 the location of each milk-shipping station, and its relative 

 distance from Boston as the railroads run. We have drawn 

 across this map horizontal lines, showing the belts of the 

 different prices. If the arrangement above alluded to be- 

 tween the producers and the wholesalers was lived up to 

 literally, these horizontal lines in all cases would be complete 

 and exactly parallel with each other. In some cases it is 

 necessary to depart from the literal application of this rule, 

 as where milk is taken from a branch road which crosses 

 the main line on some other route. For instance, milk is 

 brought to Boston from Barre by the direct line of the Cen- 



