ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 17^ 



of the farmer's cans when he is ready to return them. This will not only 

 lighten the burden of the shipper, but insure a better keeping and more 

 wholesome milk. 



While the natural limits of this paper can scarcely bound the thought, 

 I must briefly mention the business relations of dealer and shipper, in the 

 light of its bearing on the quality of milk furnished the Chicago market. 



It is a well-recognized fact in Chicago, and perhaps elsewhere, that 

 value and price bear a fixed relation. The goods purchased conform to 

 the value tendered, not considering gold bricks and lightning rods. 



There are all kinds of cows, many varieties of feed and several grades 

 of labor. Time is usually spent where it yields the greatest profit. 

 Neither the dealer nor consumer can expect good milk when the price falls 

 below the cost of production of good milk. Not alone a low price but 

 insecurity in receiving any price at all discourages the production of high 

 grade milk. These conditions the shipper has to face almost every day. 

 The dealer is not alone to blame, neither is the consumer, but the natural 

 conditions of trade, unbridled competition, and the dead-beat dealer en- 

 courage the production of the cheapest and therefore the poorest milk. 



When the consumer is educated to know and demand good and 

 wholesome milk; when the unprincipled dealer is driven into less pro- 

 tected methods of stealing, and the honorable business men relieved of 

 this burdensome and unjust competition; when the shippers band firmly 

 enough together to control the output, and therefore the situation, and, 

 either by themselves or agents, make or accept only such price as will give 

 a fair return for the labor and investment; when the railroads realize 

 that milk is a perishable product and requires even more care than meat 

 or fruit; when the dealer, the patron, the city, and the state guard well 

 the gates of fraud and demand in addition a high standard of quality — 

 then, and not till then, will the consumer raise a glass of milk to his lips 

 without awakening premature, if not unwelcome, visions of heavenly 

 I)liss. 



DISCUSSION. 



Mr. Dietz: On what basis was that amount of 18,000 cans made? 

 A. It is hard to get an exact estimate of theamount of milk shipped 



