The sun., 1917-09-30
Best Animals In
crease Yield With
ScientificF Feeding,
but Grade Ami.
mails Fail to Inn
prove Profitably
By ROBERT G. sKERRErr.

\ ance Of wheat. Good and
wholesome bread cen be made from
corn or rye or barley in the absence
Of wheat. but nothing will take the
place Of milk for these who need It
the youth and infants Of the nation.
As a domestic problem the authori-
ties in Washington have a matter of
pressing moment in the milk supply
Of the country. and they cannot give
II serious heed too soon.
There is. in fact, a shortage. and
the ultimate consumer has got to foot
the bill. Locally the outlook Is
enough to dismay the thrifty house.
wife or mother. One thing is we'll
nigh certain, milk is going to cost
the people Of New York city forty odd
million dollars more during the next
twelvemonth. Indeed. 1t has been pre-
dicted by some experts that We may
have to pay 25 cents a quart for II be-
fore spring: which would mean an
increased levy upon our purses at the
rate Of s1ls,soo.o0o yearly.
Can the United States Food Ad.
ministration save US from a share of
this heavy burden? Last September
milk was retailing here, bottled, at 9
cents a quart. Shortly afterward the
price was raised to 10 cents because
the farmers demanded more for their
product. Next the charge was in
creased to II cents in February Of the
current year. This was followed on
the first Of July by a boost to 11h
cents. and just one month later the
consumer had to pay a cent more a
quart. That is to say, the ultimate
user Is paying now 3S.s per cent,
more for milk than at this season last
year.
In the abstract a cent more or less
may seem trivial. but a tax OF that
sort laid upon a large part Of popu-
lous city promptly reaches a stagger-
Ing total. 1t has been estimated that
charge OF one cent more a quart
for the milk consumed in Greater New
York involves an added levy of 500
200 . day. or the very imposing sum
OF $1,30O.0O0 year. Upon this basis
the several rises in price since last
october have cost the milk users here
quite s6.99o,000 above that Of the pre-
csding year.
How the Prices Go u.
The Dairymen's League Is an or.
ganization Of $4,000 producers OF milk
In six Of the Eastern States, Of which
New York is one; and the association
recently decreed that the price per
quart should be jumped a cent and a
half In the course of the next two
months. This means that the distrib-
uters In turn will impose this increase
If not more-upon the ultimate con-
sumer. In fact. the cost to the user
Will probably be three cents higher;
which will entail milk at ISL cents q
quart.
Offhand. the disposition Of the pub
lie is to blame the dairymen. who
started the rise by strike last year
and now insist upon still better prices
at the farm; but 1t is authoritatively
that "since the milk strike last year
the farmer has been receiving an aver
age of / Y cents per quart more for his
milk than he got for the previous
twelve months" In other words, most
Of the added 81 cents paid by the con-
sumer has been going into the till OF
the distributor! This situation is only
the climax Of nationwide condition
to which the attention Of the United
States Department of Agriculture was
drawn as far back as 1910. and In
part discloses a state Of affairs that
can no longer be neglected II the pub
sic veal is to be the prime concern Of
the United States Food Administration.
In the yearbook OF the Department
Of Agriculture for 1910. under the
heading THE Dairyman Gets One-half
the Milk Price," tho report goes on to
disclose tho result of an investigation
covering seventy-eight cities scattered
throughout the country. It says:
While 1t Is true that the dairymar
Ia receiving considerably more for his
milk than he did before the presen,
era Of high prices. yet It was discov.
cred in this investigation that through.
out the United States he received q
scant so per cent. or one-half Of the
price paid by the consumer. The Other
half goes to the railway company fol
carriage, to the wholesale milk dealer
II there is one in the chain Of dist1'
hution. and to the retailer who deliver
at the consumers door.
Freight charges for carrying mflh
vary according to distance. but the
average may be regarded a. approx.
imately about z per cent. Of the con.
sumer's price. With the farmer re-
ceiving so per cent. of that price ant
the railroads per cent. the remaining
43 per cent. of the consumers price
is received mostly by the retailer.
Tho division of States in which thu
cost Of distributing milk from producer
to consumer IL the most II the nortf
central group, in which producers re'
enlye A per cent. Of the price pait
by the consumer.
Next in order follow the Westerr
States with II per cent. the North At
lantic States with 50 per cent, th'
South Central States with IS per cent
and the South Atlantic states with g.
per cent" These figures are sugges
tive. but 80 far al the North Atlantis
States are concerned. and PARTICULAR!
New York, the producers ratio haI
diminished while the retailers profit
have increased.
Small Psoat Ter Dairyns..
So vcxing hasn the problem Of a