92 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



The consumer need not expect cheap food again, neither 

 can the producer expect to continue in business if he does not 

 use methods of keeping down the cost of production which were 

 not thought of a few years ago. It is certainly to be hoped 

 that some means of decreasing the cost of distribution of food 

 products, and especially milk, will be worked out. Unless 

 some means can be found to accomplish this result the consumer 

 must expect to pay more for milk in the future tlian at present. 

 Since I am not familiar with New England conditions, I can 

 speak only for my own State, and others similarly located, in 

 saying that the average man who sells market milk to-day is 

 hardly making wages for himself and family, provided every- 

 thing, including interest on investment, be taken into account. 

 If the average man is doing no better than this, it is evident 

 many are not making even current wages, or savings bank 

 interest on their investment. On the other hand, there are 

 plenty of men wdio are not only making a good income but in 

 addition are constantly increasing their capital by paying on 

 their farm or buying additional land. I doubt not that a 

 similar variation in income exists among New England farmers 

 supplying your many cities with milk. The farmer below the 

 average, like the cow below the standard, is bound to be 

 eliminated. While I do not believe the price paid the farmer 

 for milk is high enough at present in my section of the country, 

 at the same time I do not believe that the price ever will be 

 raised sufficiently, nor should it be, to allow the slipshod 

 farmers who now rank as below the average to continue in 

 business. 



The Conditions in the Middle West. 

 The eastern farmer is generally inclined to look upon the 

 milk producer in what he calls the w^est as having great ad- 

 vantages in the way of cheaper feed. In the past this has been 

 probably more of an advantage than it is at present. While the 

 cost of feed is somewhat higher in the eastern States, the 

 market price of milk is also correspondingly better. It is 

 questionable if the farmer who produces market milk in 

 Illinois, Wisconsin or Missouri has conditions any more favor- 

 able, taking everything into account, than in the New England 

 States. 



