The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1915-06-24
FACTORS IN COST OF MILK.
Duplication of Effort in Delivery an
Economic Waste.

1 N"ANe'ts "eShNs
l. Alilk-wagon routes in large cities re
trace and "crisscross" one another, thu
adding TO the cost Of distributions; thii
duplication OF effort has direct bear
ing on the retail price OF milk, as it in
icreascs the expenses of the milk dealers
On the other hand it is also a tax upor
the farmer, for il tends to keep down
must be understood, however, that much
of the waste in milk delivery under the
present system, can not be entirely pre-.
vented, because there are so many deal
ers in each locality, and competition il
keen. According to the dairy experts of
the United States department of agricul-
|ture, efforts should be made nevertheless,
by the dealers, to concentrate their bust
ness as much as possible so as to lessen
the distance travelled by the wagon for
each quart Of milk delivered, by securing
a large number of customers in small
area.
| The present trend in retail business
seems to be toward the small package. A
few years ago many kinds of food were
sold in bulk which at present are pur-
chased, to large extent, in small pack
ages. The same trend is noticeable in
the retail milk business, there being
greater demand for pint bottles than for
quart, in the five large cities recently
Istudied by the department--Phi
Boston, Washington, Pittsburg and Bal
tlmore, Seyenty-four dealers in these cit
les handled daily about 100000 quart
bottles and $1,000 pint BOTTLES. About
Al per cent of The total bottled milk of
these dealers is handled in pints.
1t takes considerably longer to wash
and fill two pint bottles than one quart
moreover, it costs nearly as much to de-
liver a pint as it does quart bottle of
milk. One dealer, who handles quarts
only, says it would take the profit from
one quart of milk to make up for the |
loss on one pint, yet, as the figures show,
there is surprisingly large number of |
pints handled by some dealers.
Where Do the Bottles Go?
The loss of bottles is a perplexing |
problem to all dealers and in the aggre
gate, the total amount of money lost
reaches great proportions in year. The
life of pint bottle is much shorter than
that of the quart, which is computed to
last from to so trips the average
being 22,5 trips. If the dealer delivers
10000 bottles daily, and they cost him
three and one-hlf cents each, his daily
expense for replacing bottles would be
1885, or s5,6T5.75 a year. 1t is neces-
sary to use SMALL bottles for some kinds
If trade, as, for instance, the hotel or
'estaurant trade, where the guests are
icryed milk in the bottle. but the cost
ii delivery nd the loss of bottles in con-
iection with this trade is usually small.
n some sections of the cities, customers
,ften feel unable to buy more than a
lint of milk Il time; this has tenden- !,
y to cut down the consumption of milk. /,
other families are so small that they do ,
lot require more than a pint.
Ii pint sells for more than half i,
he price of quart, as is often the case, :
hen buying by the pint is the more ex /
ensive method for the consumer. as he /
ays the extra cost OF delivery. If there /
) no difference in price, then the ex- !
IA cost OF delivery comes out of the d
rotits of the dealer. The small local n
stores often handle large )
of milk, and here, too, the
reatest demand is for pint bottles. O
On account of the convenient size !
here is also more temptation for the
lstomers to appropriate pint bottle o
lstead of the quart for the preserving RI
t vegetables and fruits, and for other 4
urposes Although in most places this
contrary to law, yet it is often done s.
ithout any feeling of guilt on the part
the housewife. Not all bottles, how Fl
yer, are lost or broken, large numbers p
aing simply mislaid. Some get into
le hands of other dealers, some are II
Imped into the ash Darrell by persons
of their value, while others are Of
ct.
Million and = Half Bottles Thrown IL
Away.
In some instances milk bottle exchanges II
i've been established; these are either m
vned and operated By the milk deal Il,
: or by an independent company. Es-
blishments OF the different dealers are :,
sited regularly, and all stray bottles Il,
ought TO the exchange headquarters, ar
here they are washed, sterilized and :
sorted. The price paid by the dealer =
the exchange varies from one-fourth Il
one-hslf cent. The object is simply
aid the dealers in recovering their
tiles. and they can well afford TO pay
e small price asked by the exchange
r this service. II does not. however
away altogether with the large loss
bottles incident to the milk business.
nix dealers and employees on city gar
&c and refuse dumps very often return
-ge numbers Of bottles 10 the mlkmen;
fact, in one city. the milk bottle ex.
ange recovered. in three years. about
10000 bottles from the refuse dumps,
Keep the MIX Cold.
The city consumer Of milk can greatly
the dealer by cleaning and returning
IMPLY every bottle received. The bot.
should be washed in clear warm wat
then in very hot water. and stood
ono eide mn in a clean rlage "a dry