MEDICAL MILK COMMISSIONS AND CERTIFIED MILK. 23 
as they do. One dairy reports that they are selling only 12^ quarts 
of certified milk a day, and the interest and depreciation on the 
capital invested in this plant will certainly amount to quite a large 
item per quart on all the milk sold. Another plant reports a daily 
selling of 30 quarts, and another of only 120 quarts. 
The average production of milk per cow in certified dairies shows 
that many unprofitable animals are probably being kept, and a thor- 
ough system of record keeping should be inaugurated in order to 
weed out the low producers. One dairy reports that the average test 
of the milk is 6 per cent fat, and it is hard to see how such milk can 
be profitably sold in competition with 4 per cent milk. In order to 
improve the herds from year to year calves should be raised from 
the best producing cows. Here again is another item of added 
expense on the certified dairy, as the raising of calves is an expen- 
sive proposition, especially where milk, valued at from 15 to 20 cents 
a quart is used. If calves are not raised and cows are bought from 
the outside there is little chance of bettering the herd. 
On most certified farms a higher class of labor is utilized than 
on the ordinary dairy farm. Many college graduates are employed, 
as foremen, managers, or bacteriologists, and such men usually 
command higher salaries. 
Markets for certified milk at the present time are not developed 
sufficiently. Several of the certified dairies reporting that the pro- 
duction of this product was unprofitable intimated that if more milk 
could be sold and the plant operated at a greater capacity a profit 
might be realized. The general public so far has very little idea as to 
what certified milk really is, and an educational campaign might 
well be carried on by the producers. In addition to this, lax methods 
on some farms have necessitated a high price for certified milk, and 
this has cut down the consumption considerably. 
There seems to be little uniformity regarding the distribution of 
certified milk. Some of the methods now in vogue seem to be to the 
disadvantage of the producer. Of the producers reporting, 25 retail 
the product of their dairies, while 47 do not. From the answers re- 
ceived it appears to be more economical to distribute through a mid- 
dleman, especially where the points of production and distribution 
are widely separated. The middleman has the advantage of already 
maintaining an establishment in the city and of running regular retail 
routes on which the certified milk can be distributed quite economi- 
cally. Some of these distributers of certified milk seem to charge the 
producer a rather high rate for their services. Many city dealers buy 
market milk from farmers and receive from 14 to 19 cents a gallon to 
cover the cost of freight, bottling, and distribution, besides giving 
them their profit. Certified milk is nearly always bottled at the 
farm, so that the expense of handling in the city is much smaller. 
