70 
t 
Kelly-Springfield—a name 
that inspires confidence 
Kelly-Springfield is one of the oldest and most 
respected names in the tire industry. 
> 
Ever since the days when the carriages of 
President McKinley, President Faure of 
France, the Prince of Wales and other notabil- 
ities rolled on Kelly-Springfield tires, Kelly 
products have had an international reputation. 
Until about two years ago, the Kelly output 
was so comparatively small and the prices so 
much higher than those asked for other tires that 
Kellys necessarily were sold principally in the 
larger cities. 
So great, however, was the demand for Kellys 
that a huge new plant was built. This plant, 
with its far larger output and more efficient 
equipment, has made it possible to build even 
better tires than before at a lower cost . 
Today, the farmer can equip his car with the 
finest tires built for no more than he would have 
to pay for tires that never have had the Kelly 
reputation. 
It costs no more 
to buy a Kelly 
1 * l 
American Agriculturist, January 26. ifll 
Problems of Distributio 
An A. A. Radio Talk Broadcast from WE At 
T HE subjectof milk 
is so broad and far 
reaching that I can 
only hope, in a short 
talk, to touch but lightly on the subject, 
and I will confine my remarks to that, 
phase of the industry that pertains to 
the problems of the milk distributor 
supplying the Greater New York district. 
First, let me say that the milk business 
is not alone the farmer’s business, nor 
the distributor’s, nor yet the consumer's. 
It is equally the community’s business, 
and only the cooperation of these forces 
can provide the corner-stones upon which 
to construct a permanently efficient milk 
control and which necessarily constitute 
an essential part of the public health 
administration of any community, for 
milk has been recognized for many years 
as the most valuable food we possess. 
The milk business, as conducted to-day, 
is about as different in comparison with 
that of years past as is the radio to the 
antequated methods of communication 
employed by our forefathers. The present 
day highly developed methods employed 
in milk control and distribution had their 
start during the period 1885 to 1890. 
This was the advent of a new era. Up 
to that time, comparatively little was 
known or done in the way of safeguard¬ 
ing the supply. It is easy to trace this 
development. 
By P. D. FOX 
President, Bordens Farm Products 
Company 
Dairying One of the Oldest Arts 
Dairying is one of the oldest arts of the 
human race. It is obvious that as long 
as man led a nomadic life the art did not 
exist, but it must have appeared soon 
after he changed his mode of living, when 
he provided fixed abodes and particularly 
when he established his living quarters in 
large cities. Up to that time the distribu¬ 
tion of milk was largely a matter between 
the farmer and his neighbor. But as 
these rural communities grew into villages 
and towns, and towns into cities, the dis¬ 
tribution was no longer within the 
control of the farmer, and as the cities 
grew, the source of supply was removed 
farther and farther away from the center 
of population, so that while New York 
City in its early days received its milk 
from farms located at its outskirts, the 
supply to-day is transported by rail from 
distances up to nearly 500 miles. This 
development meant the advent of the 
middleman, better known as the milk 
distributor. 
There may be some who are of the 
opinion that the problem of the milk dis¬ 
tributing company is merely that of 
buying the milk from the farmer and 
bottling and delivering it to the con¬ 
sumer. But when one considers that the 
first obligation the distributor owes the 
consumer is the delivery of good whole¬ 
some milk, it can then be better appreci¬ 
ated that “quality” and all that it means 
is the paramount factor in his problem 
and that service is second only in con¬ 
sideration. So that the distributor's 
problem necessarily reaches back to the 
very source of supply, namely, the dairy 
farm. 
The Problem of Surplus 
The milk that comes to the New York 
market is generally purchased on the 
basis of weight at a price of so much per 
100 pounds plus a premium for each point 
of butterfat in excess of a basic standard. 
Contracts are made with the dairymen 
through their selling associations. The 
distributor must take the entire output 
of the farm for a seasonal period. The 
retail trade requires substantially as 
much milk in winter as in summer. On 
the other hand, the production of milk 
fluctuates with the seasons so that the 
distributor must necessarily contract for 
enough milk to meet his needs during the 
low production months and which finds 
him with a surplus supply on hand during 
the flush or high production months. 
The production variation between the 
P: 
low and peak p er i 
may mean a flucl 
tion of 100%. So| 
in May, June, 
July, generally the peak months, 
distributor is confronted with the 
lem of caring for a heavy surplus sup 
and he must hold himself in reading 
manufacture on short notice the sutj 
milk into butter, cheese and other" 
products. But even then a loss on 
surplus is inevitable since milk of 
grade that designates the city milk sup 
is bought at a higher price and ; 
sequently the city milk distributor; 
not hope to successfully compete \ 
creameries and cheese factories enga 
primarily in the manufacture of bul 
and cheese in territories not well loca 
for selling milk in fluid form to cit 
Making sure of an adequate supply! 
ing the low production period, yet gua 
ing against an excessive surplus dit 
the peak period, is one of the m 
problems that confront the distributes 
Public Health Involved 
- 
It may be safely stated that there 
business, certainly none that is so da 
associated to the public health and 
being of a community, that is 
affected by sharp seasonal fluctuati 
and weather conditions than is the 
Industry. There is first the seas 
fluctuations in production to cont 
with. The costs of production 
marked variations during the seas 
months, making necessary frequent 
justments in the price paid the fat 
and in turn adjustments in the p 
charged the consumer. Then there 
weather conditions that are variable 
that affect sales up or down; or a si 
rise or drop in temperature may 
the need for heavier icing in the first 
stance or greater protection of the sup 
in winter from the rigors of zero wea 
while transporting the supply from 
country to the city. The distrih 
attempts to anticipate these chai 
through government weather forec 
which, while not infallible, are an ai: 
the distributor in meeting these prott 
and regulating his stocks in contort 
with the consumer’s requirements 
ft 
The Journey That Milk Takes 
Visualize for a moment the route 
a bottle of milk takes from the fan 
the consumer’s door; consider the liaz; 
that must be met in hauling milk i 
the farm to the distributor’s coui 
station over miles of unimproved coui 
roads rendered almost impassable 
snowdrifts in the winter months and 
in the spring and fall seasons; the pos; 
incident to snow-bound milk trains 
the traffic problems that confront 
distributor in trucking the milk from 
city railroad platforms to the deb 
branches, and finally the hardships 
countered by the deliveryman as 
winds his way through dark streets 
the early morning hours, oftenti 
through a blinding snowstorm 
driving rain. These are some of 
physical obstacles that combat the 
tributor hi his charge of deliveriii 
bottle of fresh milk at the consun 
doorstep each morning throughout 
year. 
Some insight into the magnitudf 
the milk business caring for the need 
New York City and immediate vicii 
may be had in considering that about 
cars of milk arrive in the various rail 
terminals each night. Much of this 
comes to the terminals in New J« 
and is carried by ferry across the Hu 
River. During 19*22 there was an avei 
of about 3,000,000 quarts of milk d» 
in addition to 180,000 quarts of cr< 
shipped to the New York market 
figures for 1923 will undoubtedly sur] 
the record of 1922. 
The consumption of milk in this vici 
( Continued on vaqe 82 ) 
