CHAPTER XIII. 



IT will hardly be disputed that the per- 

 son with most at stake in the milk busi- 

 ness is the dealer, the man who buys the 

 milk from the dairy farmer and sells it, by 

 retail or wholesale, to the consumer. His 

 city depots and country factories, with the 

 equipment of a widespread delivery system 

 and a manifold paraphernalia of bottles, 

 cans, and boxes, form a very large financial 

 investfaent, and with this is also pledged his 

 personal reputation. 



In addition to the cares and troubles 

 inseparable from any commercial enterprise, 

 the milk dealer is constantly engaged in 

 maintaining a delicate equilibrium between 

 his farmer and his customer, the main props 

 to his business. The exactions and require- 

 ments of the one must be fulfilled by the 

 other; the cause and the remedy for com- 

 plaints are usually sougl^t at the farm, and 

 the conditions there are reflected in the 



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