MARKET MILK BUSINESS OF DETROIT, MICH., IN 1915. 



27 



GMtf/PS GA'Oe/P/?/) *CtrO/?/>/A/G TO 

 Afl/At0£& OF G/MO/VS /?/MO££0 OA't.y 



and small businesses. (See fig. 10.) The losses from spoilage and 

 temporary, surplus or shortage of a supply of milk were compara- 

 tively less for the larger dealers. In the case of all dealers, regard- 

 less of the size of their business, the losses from bad bills were small. 

 Through the use of the ticket system a large part of the retail busi- 

 ness was done on advance payments. 



It' is noteworthy that only the larger dealers had expenses listed 

 under the item of advertising. Practically all the dealers had ex- 

 penses which may have been properly listed under that item, but 

 were listed under either administrative or miscellaneous expenses. 

 Besides the readily recognized expenses of advertising, practically all 

 the dealers made contributions 01 

 gifts of various kinds to gain or 

 retain the good will of consumers. 

 The comparatively expensive de- 

 livery equipment of the larger 

 dealers also has a certain advertis- 

 ing value, although such expenses 

 are not listed under that item. 



In this connection it is impor- 

 tant to note the lack of uniformity 

 in provision made for the adminis- 

 trative end of the business, but in 

 general the administrative ex- 

 penses, which included office ex- 

 penses, tended to increase in pro- 

 portion to the size of the business. 

 The smallest dealers had prac- 

 tically no administrative invest- 

 ments. See Table XVII.) 

 Though the larger dealers gener- 

 ally had better administrative organizations, the personal supervision 

 which the smaller ones were able to give to the business was an impor- 

 tant factor in lowering their expenses. 



Fig. 13, 



/s/£>£i/r£#r 



Variations in cost of labor per 

 gallon. 



CONCLUSIONS. 



1. The demands for market milk in Detroit necessitated arrange- 

 ments for obtaining a supply from farmers living too far from the 

 city to effect an economical distribution of their comparatively small 

 production. (Fig. 1 and pp. 2-4.) 



2. The prices paid to farmers by the various dealers competing 

 with one another in the market milk business of the city varied con- 

 siderably. Milk dealers as well as the farmers were dissatisfied with 

 conditions then existing. (Figs. 2 and 3 and pp. 4-7.) 



