Xll INTRODUCTION 



the most ordinary conditions for less than s to s^ cents per quart 

 at the farm. In fact, it is doubtful if practical business men would 

 consider it as a business undertaking unless they were able to se- 

 cure a price per quart for their milk at least lo to 20 per cent in 

 advance over the cost of production. 



"The cost of production naturally would be considerably in- 

 creased if the producer invests capital in a modern barn and well- 

 equipped dairy house, if his farm is located where taxes or labor is 

 high, if he purchases nearly all of his feed, if he employs a super- 

 intendent or charges a reasonable sum for supervision, or if he 

 makes an inspected or certified product. 



"Why has the producer received so low a price? It is the beUef 

 of the writer that in the past a great deal of milk has been made 

 and sold for less than the cost of production. In making an attempt 

 to gain a temporary livelihood from dairying, many have sacrificed 

 the fertility of their farms, employed the most primitive methods 

 of housing and caring for the dairy stock, while the family have 

 cared for the milk and dairy utensils without credit. The dairy- 

 man has forgotten or neglected to estimate his time at a fair value 

 and to take into consideration the cost and depreciation of bam 

 tools, dairy utensils, and such perishable foods and supphes as 

 brushes, salt, soap, ice, bedding, buU service, veterinary services, 

 and the like, all of which are absolutely necessary. In other words, 

 the keeping of accurate accounts and the application of the ordi- 

 nary business methods have been too often neglected. Such methods 

 on the part of the producer as against the organized business method 

 of the contractor have resulted in a measure at least in the estab- 

 lishing of a relatively low wholesale and retail price. 



"Now that health authorities are with right demanding better 

 dairy methods, the producer is indeed confronted with a serious 

 problem, namely, how to conform to modern sanitary requirements 

 in the face of the increased cost of labor, grain and tools and pro- 

 duce milk at a reasonable profit. He is meeting this problem at 

 present in a negative way, by selling his cows and trying to turn 

 his attention to other lines of agricultural industry." 



Dr. A. L. Thompson,^ in discussing the results of his inves- 

 tigations of cost of producing milk on 174 farms in Delaware 

 County, N.Y., is almost as skeptical of the dairy business. 

 He found that: 



• New York Agr. Exp. Sta. (Cornell), BiJletin No. 364, pp. 140-141. 



