﻿MEDICAL MILK COMMISSIONS AND CERTIFIED MILK. 23 



as they do. One dairy reports that they are selling- only 12i quarts 

 of certified milk a day, and the interest and depreciation on the 

 capital invested in this plant will certainly amount to quite a large 

 item per quart on all the milk sold. Another plant reports a daily 

 selling of 30 quarts, and another of only 120 quarts. 



The average production of milk per cow in certified dairies shows 

 that many unprofitable animals are probably being kept, and a thor- 

 ough system of record keeping should be inaugurated in order to 

 weed out the low producers. One dairy reports that the average test 

 of the milk is 6 per cent fat, and it is hard to see how such milk can 

 be profitably sold in competition with 4 per cent milk. In order to 

 improve the herds from year to year calves should be raised from 

 the best producing cows. Here again is another item of added 

 expense on the certified dairy, as the raising of calves is an expen- 

 sive proposition, especially where milk valued at from 15 to 20 cents 

 a quart is used. If calves are not raised and cows are bought from 

 the outside there is little chance of bettering the herd. 



On most certified farms a higher class of labor is utilized than 

 on the ordinary dairy farm. Many college graduates are employed 

 as foremen, managers, or bacteriologists, and such men usually 

 command higher salaries. 



Markets for certified milk at the present time are not developed 

 sufficiently. Several of the certified dairies reporting that the pro- 

 duction of this product was unprofitable intimated that if more milk 

 could be sold and the plant operated at a greater capacity a profit 

 might be realized. The general public so far has very little idea as to 

 what certified milk really is, and an educational campaign might 

 well be carried on by the producers. In addition to this, lax methods 

 on some farms have necessitated a high price for certified milk, and 

 this has cut down the consumption considerably. 



There seems to be little uniformity regarding the distribution of 

 certified milk. Some of the methods now in vogue seem to be to the 

 disadvantage of the producer. Of the producers reporting, 25 retail 

 the product of their dairies, while 47 do not. From the answers re- 

 ceived it appears to be more economical to distribute through a mid- 

 dleman, especially where the points of production and distribution 

 are widely separated. The middleman has the advantage of already 

 maintaining an establishment in the city and of running regular retail 

 routes on which the certified milk can be distributed quite economi- 

 cally. Some of these distributers of certified milk seem to charge the 

 producer a rather high rate for their services. Many city dealers buy 

 market milk from farmers and receive from 14 to 19 cents a gallon to 

 cover the cost of freight, bottling, and distribution, besides giving 

 them their profit. Certified milk is nearly always bottled at the 

 farm, so that the expense of handling in the city is much smaller. 



