MARKET MILK BUSINESS OF DETROIT, MICH., IN 1915. 19 
average costs per gallon handled at the different plants, therefore, 
are not exactly comparable, for it does not cost so much to pasteurize 
and put into cans the milk sold to other dealers or to wholesale trade 
as it does to pasteurize and bottle milk for the retail trade. 
It is important to note the disproportionate investments in milk 
plants and equipment. The investments per gallon handled daily 
range all the way from $5.38 to $87.77, and illustrate the lack of 
standardization of milk plants and equipment. It is obvious that a 
relatively low investment greatly reduces the interest and deprecia- 
tion charges against each gallon handled. In those plants where the 
operating costs per unit were the lowest, the investments per gallon 
were generally comparatively small and the expenditures for sup- 
plies and labor in proportion to capital invested were greater. (See 
Pl. II, fig. 2, and Pl. ITI, fig. 1.) 
Some of the disproportionate investments may be accounted for by 
the fact that some plants were old and handled a large proportion of 
bulk milk, whereas others were newly built for the purpose of in- 
creasing the business. 
CITY DISTRIBUTION OF MILK. 
The number of milk dealers engaged in the business of distributing 
milk in Detroit, August 1, 1915, and the size of the business of those 
dealers grouped according to number of delivery wagons operated, 
are shown in Table XIV. 
TABLE XIV.—Quantity of milk and cream distributed daily by dealers (grouped 
according to number of wagons operated). 
Average | Gallons sold daily. 
Number Laue See P 
Number of wagons. f of | of Wag- fi cont 
dealers. a ons per . CeCe 
agons. | goaler. Milk. Cream. 
IL GO Besos BOeeh cago Gone GO cat eee ener 127 201 1.5 15,179 271 28.8 
Gib OR Dee eer seeie oe ieee INE yor 4 7 80 11.4 8, 340 367 16.3 
TORU OOM ee Meters eae ee ee eae tl ; 4 70 17.5 6, 050 215 11.7 
SG OPV OU Serateye arse Seteiote sini lee bias srciejete er 2 235 117.5 18, 000 5, 100 43.2 
On August 1, 1915, there were 140 milk distributors, or 18 fewer 
than on May 1, when the pasteurizing ordinance became effective. 
Of these dealers 127 operated from 1 to 5 wagons each. Two of the 
larger companies, operating more than 30 delivery wagons each, 
together distributed nearly 44 per cent of the total milk supply of 
the city. 
Figure 7 is a graphic presentation of the system of distribution 
which prevailed in August, 1915. The locations of the milk-pasteur- 
izing and bottling plants are indicated by squares. The areas of the 
squares represent the relative quantities of milk pasteurized in the 
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