Evening star., 1939-11-22
BY BLAIR BOLLES.

AiiC IL ddAiLCO illllh W
Washington and Maryland suburbs
joined together today in sponsoring
a plan for lowering the retail price
OF milk in the District / cent q
quart by May l, 1910.
J. Edward Burroughs, jr., spokes-
man for the dairies, predicted that
the reduction would increase fresh
milk consumption at the expense of
the large Washington market for
evaporated milk, which tripled be-
tween 1920 and 1898.
Mr.. Burroughs appeared in the
Agriculture Department auditorium
at the third day OF the hearing on
the proposed milk marketing agree
ment and order for the Washington
area. The dairies granted that the
agreement and order-establishi
the Federal Government supervisor
OF the District market-would be
beneficial.
However, to the dismay expressed
by many farmers in the hearing au-
dlence, suggested far-reaching
amendment in the agreement as
suggested by the Maryland and Vir-
ginla Milk Producers Association,
representing the farmers supplying
20 per cent of the milk bought by
the dairies, the dairies proposed to
lower the retail price by a cut in
the price already proposed for the
farmers.
The association urged the price
$317 on milk to be used for fluid
consumption. Mr.. Burroughs fig
ured that the actual farmer price
would be 1881, considering the pre-
MUM payment required in the as
sociation's proposal. He said the
dairies would be willing to pay that
price until May l, but that he
thought that it ought to be drop
ped to s2.71
At the same time Mr.. Burroughs
said the proposed especially low
! price for milk designated for the
poor should. be bought from the
farmers May at minimum of
| S2.25 instead of the associations
| S2.71. Mr.. Burroughs said that he
thought low-price milk should be
distributed only to relief clients and
not to all families in the low-in-
come group, as the cooperative as
sociations suggested.
With milk retailing in Washing
ton at its present price of IA cents
quart, Mr.. Burroughs said, evapo-
rated milk sales amount to 1883 per
cent of all the milk sales in Wash
| lngton, according to a survey of 400
| stores.
He elucidated:
"Evaporated milk in the stores is
sold at as low as 6la cents for a
tall can. For every quart of fresh
milk sold by the stores, nearly a
quart of evaporated milk (luid
equivalent basis is sold from the
stores.
Wide Difference.
This difference of tx cents in
price in Washington between fresh
and evaporated milk is among the
widest in this country and prob
ably accounts for the high per-
centage of evaporated milk sold in
the stores covered by this survey.
Mr.. Burroughs spoke for these
dalries: Arlington County Dairy,
Chestnut Farms Chevy Chase Dali
ry Embassy Dairy, Inc; Fairfax
Farm Dairy, Inc; Harveys Dairy,
Highland Farm Dairy, Holbrook
Farm Dairy, Model Farm Dairy,
Inc; Richf1eld Dairy, Thompson's
Dairy and Wakefield.
The fact that the diaries did not
oppose the idea of a marketing
agreement and order indicated a
great change in their attitude as
displayed by their attitude in 1896
when Washington received the milk
marketing agreement and order
which still was declared unconstitu-
tional in the District Court. Since
then the Supreme Court has upheld
the validity of this sort of price
fixing agreement, the dairies have
reconciled themselves to the fact
that they must learn how to operate
under it.
Two-Quart Bottle Used.
In New York and Chicago, which
are among the cities where such
agreements already are working. the
dar1es have effected reduction in
retail prices at the same time thev
PAID high prices to the farmers.
The principal retail saving has
come through the introduction of
the 2-quart bottle. In New York
the 2-quart bottle of milk is sold for
8 cents less than 2 quarts of milk
cost the retail consumer before the
agreement went into effect.
Mr.. Burroughs statement opened
a day OF attack on the proposal as
introduced by the Maryland and
Virginia Association. Outright op-
position was voiced by the Wash.
ington Consumers League, which
argued that milk should be sold re-
tail here for IL cents quart without
further benefits to farmers.
| The proposed agreement sets the
basic class l price at S317 a hun
dredweight. There is q price of
$2.71 for milk which would be dis.
tributed at low price to Washington
relief families, and a price of $271
for milk produced for sale in the
Maryland suburbs by farmers with
out a District Health Department
permit. Glass is milk for cream,
cottage cheese and uses not specified
in class 3 and class /. The price is
$1.98 a hundredweight. Glass 3 is
milk for ice cream, and its price Is
hitched to the price of butter.
Whether the agreement is put in
force depends on whether Secretary
Wallace finds, on reading the rec
, ord of the hearings, that the farm
ers need it and that it won't injure
| the Washington consumers.