Putnam patriot., 1914-08-28
MILK SURVEY
First of Is Meetings Held in Putnam
 tuesday.
Representative Members of Boston Cham- her of Commerce Hear Farmers Story.

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 he held under the auspices of the Bos- ion Chamber of Commerce engaged Tn an investigation of the milk supply situation was held in Odd Fellows hall Putnam Tuesday, beginning at II o'clock. The meetings are for the purpose of getting at the true situation in relation to the milk supply from the viewpoint of the producer and later the contractors viewpoint will be taken up and it is believed that the finding of the Chamber of Commerce will have great weight in governing the situation.
 For a long time past there has been a great divergence of opinion as to the situation between the producer and the milk contractor and as I"r as outsiders are concerned the mat ter has been in very unsettled state the farmers on the one hand claiming that they were conducting their business at loss and the con- tractor urging that he was paying 
 fair price for the commodity.
 The Chamber of Commerce was rep resented by assistant secretary, John q. Oreutt, George Il. Ellis, chairman of the committee on railroads in the Mass achusetts legislature, Henry D. Forbes, vice president of the National Shawmut bank of Boston, Walter E. Smith. ex.president of the Boston Grain Board and Lawyer Lyon Wey- born. who acted as counsel for the Chamber of Commerce.
 The meeting was called to order by l.. H. Healey, secretary of the State Board of Agriculture who stated briefly the purpose of the meeting end intr' duced MT. Orcutt who also stated the purpose of the meeting and turned over further proceedings to Lawyer Newborn. Mir Weyborn stated that the members of the Chamber Of Com meree were acting as mediators bo tween the different interests and were present to hear the testimony of the farmers as to their point of view. The members were sitting in quasi judi cial capacity and would make a record of all testimony. He called upon those present to speak frankly their views. Perhaps the thing most prominently brought out at the hearing was the fact that apparently few farmers keep a cost account so that they are able to state excatly what their milk costs them per quart to produce. Only few responded when asked to sts,e the cost of production and how they ar I.ved at it and of these none had an aN- curate detailed account of all items Of expense in production. The loweste es- innate cost was l.2 cents per quart to produce and from that to cents was stated. H. o. Daniels, who con ducts large idairy farm at Middle town stated that it costs him cents per quart for his milk andshe dld not think anyone could produce 1t cheaper. He thought that the farmer should get 6 cents per quart for his product ana that the retail consumer should pay l0 cents leaving a margin of four cents to market and deliver. He stated that ne weighed the milk from each COW at every milking and when the assem- blaze was asked how many weighed their milk only 19 of the 125 present arose. No one present would aanit that a profit was being made Tn mar ketjng milk. It YVES unanimously avreed that higher price was abso- lutely necessary. One man stated lhat he had a herd of 30 cows and made bare living for his family by getting m st three o'clock in the morning and working until dark. Opinions were expressed that the contractors haa monopoly, that the producer was forced to sell to only one concern ln this section and that there was no available way to send milk to Boston independently. The only solutiohs of the problem offered were the organl- ZhllOn ana CO-OpSiaNASi SA e
 and, es voiced by one man, an equai right to ship milk to Boston with the contractor. The members of the Cham Der asked many questions but kept the discussion wholly to the point ot the cost of production and the manner oi arriving at it. The business was H. kened by MT. Orcutt to any manuias turing business. Where sny product is manufactured the cost of production must be accurately ascert" ned and then fair margin ofsprofit added and it is to get at this cost that the sefles of meetings are being held. Another thing brought out was that the same price was paid for different quality oi milk so,that the producer who mar keled the best quality at greater eA- pense gotxno more than the farmer who sold.a poor quality and several thought the system of grading the milk would be good thing.
 It was apparent that the problem Is no easy one and that many difilcuit features are encountered on all sides but from the judicial manner in which the matter is now being investigated II would seem that some satisfaetyry so- Iut,on of the difficulty may be looked for.