86 THE MARKETING OF WHOLE MILK 



sons engaged in bottling and delivery "were either the 

 employers themselves or connected with the employer's 

 family and did not receive a stipulated compensation for 

 their services." * 



Another explanation of the small producer's staying 

 power is the fact of a very low overhead expense. There 

 is seldom much of an office force, very often none at all. 

 The investment in equipment is commonly low, due to 

 the fact that there is relatively little equipment and that 

 often of an obsolete and inferior type. The Massachusetts 

 Experiment Station found that although there was rela- 

 tively little direct correlation between the size of business 

 and cost of operating, yet the investment increased very 

 rapidly as the size of the business became larger. Thus 

 "an increase from an average of 360 quarts per day to 

 an average of 710 quarts a day seems to multiply bottle 

 investment nearly six times." ^ The real estate invest- 

 ment is usually relatively low. These small plants very 

 frequently operate on a back half lot. At least seven such 

 concerns in Columbus occupy that portion of lots which 

 adjoins the alley, the front part of the lot being in each 

 case occupied by a house, a store, or other building. 



The small dealer also economizes by practically avoid- 

 ing the surplus and shortage expense. He accomplishes 

 this by supplying as nearly as possible his actual needs for 

 his fluid milk trade through the selection of a few pro- 

 ducers here and there whose production is more regular 

 throughout the year than is that of the usual run of farmers. 

 Quite often he is compelled to pay somewhat of a premium 



• Barber, W. H., Milk Marketing Conditions in Kansas City, Sept., igi8, 

 p. 61, U. S. Bureau of Markets, unpublished. 



' Massachusetts Experiment Station Bulletin 173, Cost of Distributing Milk 

 in Six Cities and Towns in Massachusetts. 



