New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-01-30

out the vote by withholding his milk till the
pnce is agreed upon by conference between
tne executive committees Of the Produces and
| The contractors organizations.
The secretary OF the union reports that the
price actually received by the farmers in the dis
uiot worked has advanced frOm l TO cents pei
can through the influence of the organization, and
/ that the farmers have saved this by having a
/ voice In making their bargain with the con.
tractors, instead of allowing the latter TO have
matters all their own way as formerly. when
| the producers action ended with the passage OF
resolutions. The number Of farmers represented
/ in the union is about 800, in a little over
eighty sections The number Of COWS represented
| is over 10000
Boston receives through the hands of the con.
tractors twenty-three carloads of milk per day
car holds 900 cans, making the daily supply
about $4,000 gallons. This does not include
the milk made in the suburbs carried in on
wagons, nor the two or three carloads handled
by individuals outside the contractors organiza-
ton. BY the lowest estimates the producers
have saved more than $50 900 the last year
By their organized effort. Still the work is not
finished. The contractors are shrewd business
men, who have so systematized their work as TO
make 1t highly profitable, and they are not going
to lose control OF the business without struggle.
AS their old patrons have threatened to withhold
their milk for higher prices the contractors have
extended their operations further back into The
country, where other farmers are ready to abandon
butter making for the milk trade. This gives
the contractors further opportunity OF crying
surplus
During the last season the unusual amount
of rainfall and cloudy weather has made pasture
feed not only abundant, but poor In quality, SO
that much of the milk made by honest producers
has been trifie below the legal standard of
- per cent milk solids. Ordinarily the con-
tractors are prompt to take all the advantage of
the law and to notify the farmers Of any de-
hcency in the quality of the milk, but the
last summer the depreciation, though small, has
been so nearly universal that 1t would have been
hardly safe to prosecute. More examinations Of
milk by inspectors have BEEN made the last
autumn than ever before in Boston's history, and
of Int h0xrn hnnp
forced to withdraw from the business, because of
the low per cent of milk solids in their product
This is not necessarily reflection on the breed
but on those breeders who have lost sight of
quality in their constant aim to produce cows
yielding the greatest quantity regardless Of quail
lty. Though Boston has paid millions of dollars
for water IN milk, ii is not believed that the nj Tx
has ever been adulterated to any great extent
by the producers contractors, but by the small
route pedlers, who hold the, receipts of one day
to distribute the day following. Prosecutions
the last year have been made only where the
evidence indicated guilty adulteration, and with
the bulk OF the receipts so near the edge the
with water. II is believed by the inspectors that
there is not one quart of water sold now where
seven quarts were sold four years ago. As the
average quality of milk received by consumers
Is raised consumption increases, benefitng both
producer and contractor.
The history of the Boston contest between
purchasers and contractors teaches that farmers
supplying large city like New-York should have
q thorough and complete organization before
making any demands for higher prices, and that
they should not expect too much from the organi-
cation. very moderate advance on the price
OF quart of milk at the farm makes the business
largely more profitable. and quickly encourages
increased production. The increase is due both
to more COWS purchased and to better feeding
and care of those already on hand But the
weakest point in the whole business, the one
where the greatest leak may be found in the
profits, Is at the delivery end of the retail routes
There are far too many milk pedlers crossing
one another's tracks every street, and the
farmers can never obtain the profits due to the
business till the expenses of final distribution are
materially reduced. When it costs 3 cents per
quart to distribute milk in the city by half
dozen pedlers in each street, it might easily
be done for ! cent by single pedler supplying
all the families in the district travelled over.
To accomplish this great gain will require a
general revolution in the whole system. There
are too many pedlers for the work accom-
phshed, and the contractors well afford
TO join the farmers in correcting TIE evil. The
middleman is needed in the milk business as in
most others, but he should have only his due
share of the profits. The farmers cannot afford
10 furnish milk as cheaply as they have been
forced to do, nor should the cities expect il. While
the consumers in Boston have been paying eight
cents per quart for pure milk, and from six to
seven cents for great deal that has been both
SKINNED and watered. the farmers have been fur
niShing it. as produced by the cow, often for two
cents or less There is no living profit from these
prices and general disbursement and some
abandonment of farms is result. powerful
stock company composed exclusively Of farmers
has been talked of, but with a welOrganized assO-
citation of contractors already in the field, with
their hundreds of thousands of dollars invested
in milk depots, milk trains. ice-hOuses and butter
factories, the conflict would be a hard one TO en-
ter. and with little prospect OF success The CON
tractors are doing their part better than any
new set Of middlemen representing the farmers
could do it till they lad learned the business
which would require time and experience. The
farmers thus far have not been unit in holding
together and doing each his own part in sustain
ing their own organization While business men
pay from ten dollars 10 several hundreds for
privileges in their special organizations. the farm
ers have been SLOW in paying their dues of a sim
gle dollar INTO the treasury. Too many aim to
reap benefits from the public work of Others or
prefer TO wait and see how the scheme works
instead of taking hold and helping TO make il
work. The Massachusetts milk producers have
made good beginning. but there is work yet to
be done.