4 BULLETIN 639, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
BUYING MILK FROM FARMERS. 
Figure 1 also shows the necessity for middlemen to handle and 
distribute the greater part of the city’s supply. Farmers living more 
than 6 or 8 miles from town generally considered it impracticable 
to deliver their milk to the consumers. The quantity of milk pro- 
duced on the average farm in. that territory is not sufficient for 
economical market distribution by the farmer. To realize the great- 
est labor income he usually deems it advisable to devote his entire 
attention to farming operations. 
In Table I the milk dealers operating in Detroit during the month 
ef August, 1915, are grouped according to the quantity of milk 
handled as well as the quantities supplied to other dealers who did. 
not buy from farmers direct. 
TABLE I.—WMilk dealers who bought from farmers during August, 1915, according 
to volume of business. 
Number of |} Per cent of 
ONE eeiOr gallons supply 
NI : Per cent of| sold to sold to 
Gallons handled daily. ees es Bee re total city dealers dealers 
P daily supply. not buy- | not buy- 
a5 ing from ing from 
farmers. farmers. 
aess than 450 sallons< 3879 2 es ee 6 | 336 0: 63:4...322.- 62) Rae 
150 to 250 ealions se see eee Se ree | 35 5, 594 10. 46 569 10.17 
20 L be. o00P@allons sek 2 BAe as ake ee 11 | 3, 960 7.41 915 23.11 
SOLO 2000 sallonssceer Ses ees eee oe 5 3, 365 6. 29 1,195 35. 51 
More than 1000 calions))-) -2_ see 11 40, 205 75.21 2,165 5.38 
otal se 2... §oe sae eB eas 68 | 53,460 | 100. 00 | 4, 844 | 9.06 
Sixty-eight dealers in Detroit bought milk from farmers direct 
and had plants for preparing it for market distribution, either 
through their own or other dealers’ equipment. The grouping of the 
dealers in accordance with average quantities of milk handled daily 
shows that the greater portion of the business was handled by com- 
paratively few dealers. 
PRICES PAID TO FARMERS. 
Most of the larger dealers paid for milk on a butterfat basis, while 
the majority of smaller ones bought their milk by weight or measure 
without allowing premiums or making deductions based on butterfat 
content, sediment test, bacterial content, or the score of the dairy 
farm on which it was produced. The larger companies usually 
based their monthly price quotations to farmers upon a butterfat 
test of 3.5 per cent. For each one-tenth of 1 per cent butterfat the 
milk tested below 3.5 per cent the price was reduced 2 cents a hun- 
