Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1917-07-30
A RISE IN MILK
A. S. Pope Gives Rea-
sons Why Augusta
Consumers S oul d
Pay 10 Cents Per
Quart - Rise Neces-
Sary

In advancing the wholesale and retail
price OF milk one cent per quart on Aug.
l, 1t seems only fair that we, members
of the New England Milk Producers As
ISOLATION in Augusta, explain briefly why
such an increase is now necessary.
Nowhere is the high cost Of feeds so
keenly felt as on the dairy farm. During
the past years the price OF corn has more
than doubled while other grain has gone
up 40 to 60 per cent. Even at such prices
the supply is uncertain and the quality
low. Help on the milk farm is extreme
ly scarce and hard to hold at any wages.
Three hundred and sixty-hve work days
| In the year and 1914 hours per day is not
an attractive proposition to most men
who can get more pay for an s-hour day
! IN town. Then, the increase In the price
OF cows, at least Is per cent. within a
year. is an important factor in the most
Of making milk
TO see that the proposed rate 10 cents
a quart, is not excessive the consumer
need only compare the price Of milk in
other places. In Boston the price after
Aug. l will be "A cents. This increase of
two cents per quart is made with the &C
tive support of the Boston Chamber of
! Commerce and is based on the results of
New England-wide investigation of the
actual cost Of production. In Portland
the retail price is IL cents and in Bangor
and Calais II cents. After Aug. l there
will be hardly a city in Maine in which
milk is not selling for 10 cents or more.
In this connection it is only just to re-
mind the Augusta consumer that for 10
cents he is getting fresh. raw milk,
| produced under much better than ordina-
ny sanitary conditions and averaging
nearly per cent. butter fat, while Bos-
ton milk tests about 3.5 per cent fat and
is brought so far that 1t must be pasteur-
lied to reach the consumer in palatable
condition.
Is milk at present prices an expensive
food? We are so accustomed to thinking
OF milk as beverage only that we are
apt to forget its food value. Yet a quart
OF milk contains energy equivalent to ga
pound of beefsteak or eight eggs That
is, with milk at 10 cents per quart steak
should sell for IS cents per pound and
eggs for 25 cents per dozen. Can the con-
sumer reasonably object to a rise Of
cent quart on milk. the cheapest protein
food he can now buy. when he is paying
from Is to 100 per cent. more for practi-
cally all other food products?
| Finally, reasonable increase in the
price of milk at the present time is even
more essential to the interests Of the con-
sumner than to those Of the producer
Most dairymen can 60 into some other
line of farming if come become unprofit-
able. There is no real substitute for milk
Today there are 10000 less mich COWS in
New England than 10 years ago. In
Maine alone cows are decreasing at the
rate of about $500 per yean and this de-
crease is being fastened by the soaring
cost of feeds. The demand for milk has
caught up with the supply and is rapidly
SURPRISING 1t. The producer must get
price that will cover the cost Of produce
ton and return him a living wage or 20
! out Of the business. The consumer must
now pay price that will insure the con-
tinuation Of his present supply or face
! the imminent prospect OF a prohibitive
! price for milk. We believe in facing the
situation scuarely and by establishing a
fair price now assuring permanent.
wholesome supply Of milk within the
reach of every family Are you with uso
Augusta Local of the New England Milk
Producers Association,
Per A. S. POPE. President.