The milk supply of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia

Front matter

U. S. DEPART) r OF AGRICULTURE,

BUREAU OF ANINiAL INDUSTRY— Bulletin No. 81.

£ XT A. D ME-

Part I. — The milk supply of Boston 7 Extent of population supplied . 7

Handling milk at Boston ., 7

Statistics of shipment 9

Per capita consumption 11

System of payment 11

Cans r 12

Can stoppers 13

Washing cans 15

Conditions at the farms . 17

Carrying milk from farm to cars 17

Handling at the railroad station 19

Milk cars 20

Freight rates 21

Milk routes 22

A route in detail 23

Another milk route 25

The milk in the city 26

At the railway station . 26

The peddlers 27

Description of a contractor's retail department 28

Official inspection and regulations 29

Part II. — The milk supply of New York City 32 Explanation of terms •_ 32

Magnitude of the business 32

Where the milk comes from . _ . 33

Large dealers 34

Comments of dealers and producers 35

Milk on the farms 35

Shipping stations or creameries -- 38

Description 38

Handling milk at the station 39

Cars used for transporting milk 40

Description of a milk route I '. - 41

Freight rates 42

Milk trains 44

How run, time, distance, etc 44

Arrival in the city - 45

Handling milk in the city 45

How the price is determined _ - 46

Milk sanitation 47

6 CONTENTS.

Page.

Part III. —The milk supply of Philadelphia 48 Amount — Sources — Cars 48

The cans 49

Freight rates, and how paid 50

Time of starting — Arrival 51

The Philadelphia milk depots 52

The Camden milk depot 53

Receiving stations compared with those of Boston 53

Places of the dealers 54

Cans in relation to prices 55

Shipping tags 55

The Philadelphia Milk Exchange ' 56

Bottling and storing depots : 56

Rules for producers 56

Use of ice 58

General remarks on the milk business in the country 58

Work of the Philadelphia Pediatric Society 58

Description of a certified-milk dairy 61

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page.

Fig. 1 . — Map showing the source of Boston's milk supply 8

2. —Wooden plug used in the Boston milk can . 14

3. — Map showing the source of New York's milk supply 41

4. — Map showing the source of Philadelphia's milk supply 49

THE MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, NEW YORK, AND PHILADELPHIA.

By George M. Whitaker, M. A., Sc. IX,

Dairy Inspector, Bureau of Animal Industry.

Part I.— The Milk Supply Of Boston. Extent Of Population Supplied

The milk supply of Boston really means the milk supply of what is locally known as the " Greater Boston." This includes at least nine municipalities, the population of which is as follows :

Cambridge 92, 000

Somerville 61, 000

Chelsea 34,000

Maiden 33,000

Everett 24, 000

Brookline 20, 000

Revere 10,t)00

Winthrop 6, 000

The territory supplied by the Boston milk system does not exactly conform to municipal lines, so that doubtless a part of the population in contiguous territory could also be properly added to the above. For example, one large wholesale establishment handling Boston milk does a considerable business in the near-by city of Lynn, which has a population of 68,000 and is not ordinarily included in Greater Boston.

Probably we are not far out of the way in assuming that the Boston milk supply reaches 900,000 people. Immediately about Boston and the several small towns and cities composing Greater Boston there are nine towns and cities, with 110,000 inhabitants: or, if Lynn is included, 178,000. Some of these places receive Boston milk. In many instances this territory is so thickly settled that the traveler, noticing the continuous line of houses, sees no division of one municipality from another. The number of cities and towns concerned has been overlooked by some writers on the question of the Boston milk supply, and has led to an exaggerated statement of the per capita consumption.

HANDLING MILK AT BOSTON.

From 80 to 85 per cent of the milk consumed in Greater Boston is transported by railroad and the remainder in wagons. In local nomenclature, " car milk " and " wagon milk " are common terms

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for these two classes of milk. Of the railroad milk, nearly all is handled by five wholesale houses that do business on a plan which seems to be peculiar to Boston. These large wholesalers are locally known as " contractors." They contract for and buy the milk in the country, lease railroad milk cars, manage the transportation to the

U/kue Bfuoee

NORTHAMPTOH 105m

Fig. 1.— Map showing the source of Boston's milk supply.

city, and sell most of their supplies to peddlers for distribution at retail. Originally the contractors did an exclusively wholesale business, but of late years there has been a growing tendency to branch out into the retail business. A part of this business was forced upon them by their being obliged to take retail routes on account of debts

MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA.

for milk due them by the peddlers; but recently this retailing of milk has seemed to be more of a deliberate policy. A few large retailers buy their supplies direct from the farmers, but the greater portion of the business of buying and receiving is done by the contractors. These five large wholesale concerns, though technically entirely separate, have a common understanding and practice in many details of the business. One person is at the head of three of the corporations, and it may be said that three officials could practically determine any question of policy for the whole business were they so disposed.

The cream supply of the city is not in such intimate connection with the milk business as is the case in Xew York. The contractors do a large cream business in connection with the milk trade, but much of the city cream comes from skimming stations entirely distinct from the contractors' system of milk collection and transportation. Large quantities of cream come to the city from Maine creameries, which were established primarily for the manufacture of butter; but they have drifted entirely into the cream business, and this has grown to such proportions that it has become necessary greatly to enlarge their plants. Skimming stations have been established, and the whole of their attention is given to the collection and distribution of cream.

The milk of the city is handled in 8^-quart cans, so that any use • of the word " can " in connection with the Boston business means 8-J quarts, although many of the older cans are so battered that they do not hold over 8 quarts.

STATISTICS OF SHIPMENT.

MILK BKOUGHT IN BY THE RAILWAYS.

For several years the contractors purchased an unlimited amount of milk from the producers on the agreement that they would pay the " milk " price for all that they could sell again and " butter value " for the surplus. Consequently the contractors reported to the farmers from month to month the amounts of their receipts and sales. The following table shows in round figures the magnitude of their business for a period of years :

Number of cans of milk received at Boston for several years.

Year.

Received.

Sold.

Surplus.

1.000,000

2,000,000

2.000,000

3,000,000

2,000,000

1900 #. — -

1,000,000 1,000.000

The table shows increasing receipts np to 1897, when the highest point was reached — 11,789,191 cans. Since then the receipts gradually declined until 1901, when they were 9,886,303 cans. This reduction was not due so much to a decrease in sales or in milk consumption as to a decline in the surplus. The surplus in 1897 was 3,059,619 cans and in 1901 as low as 1,130,166 cans. The sales of milk for the five years from 1897 to 1901, inclusive, w T ere fairly uniform, ranging from 8,975,538 cans in 1900 to 8,456,137 in 1901. These figures, while accurate, do not in all instances correctly show the growth of the business ; changes in the business of the contractors — such as, for instance, the buying out of competing peddlers — in some cases increased the figures, although no more milk was actually consumed. On the other hand, increased competition from outside dealers might lessen the contractors' business.

In 1902, because the producers insisted on a new way of making settlement for surplus milk, the contractors quit reporting the amount of the business. In 1904 the State railroad commission required the railroads to report their receipts of milk to the board, and statistics were again available. But, for purposes of comparison, it should be remembered that the contractors reported only their own business, while now the roads report to the railroad commission all the milk transported by them,

The following includes a report for nine months of receipts by the contractors in 1901-02:

Cans. Cans.

August 856,878 i January 813.077

September 813,127 I February - 743,838

October 846,368

November 739,101

The next table shows the receipts for nine months in 1904-05 as reported by the railroads :

Cans.

September 1 , 002, 623

October 968, 099

November 931,653

Cans.

February 942,122

The percentage of milk brought in by the different railroads fluctuates from month to month, but is substantially as follows :

Per cent.

Boston and Maine 68

New York, New Haven and Hartford 20

Boston and Albany 12

The amount of wagon milk entering into the Boston milk supply is entirely a matter of estimate. Some authorities estimate it to be one- fourth of the whole amount and others one-third. When the railroad milk amounts to 1,000,000 cans per month, the wagon milk probably ranges between 250,000 and 333,000 cans. Some of this milk is brought into the city by producers, and some is handled by middlemen, who buy their supplies from their neighbors and haul it to the city, where they sell it to hotels, restaurants, or retailers. Not much of this wagon milk is retailed in small quantities by those who haul it into the city. Most of it is brought into the city during the latter part of the night and is ready for the morning business. The wagons which transport this milk are not made specially for the business. Most of them have a canopy top. The cans are covered by a canvas, under which a lantern may be placed in the winter to prevent freezing, or a cake of ice in the summer for cooling. This wagon milk is gradually decreasing in amount as the agricultural land about the city increases in value and is more profitably devoted to market gardening than to dairying. Most of the wagon milk that comes to the city is produced within a radius of 25 miles.

PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION.

It is estimated that the contractors' receipts average 1,000,000 cans per month, and that the wagon milk is 250,000 additional. On this basis we have 1,250,000 cans as a monthly supply, or 10,625,000 quarts. This is 313,000 quarts per day, which, being divided among 900,000 (maximum estimate) people, would give 0.76 pint per day per capita ; divided among 800,000 (minimum estimate), we have 0.86 pint per capita. Either figure is within reason.

SYSTEM OF PAYMENT.

The price which the contractors pay the producers for milk depends upon the distance that the milk must be transported. The city price being fixed, the following is the scale of discounts per can of 8-| quarts :

Cents.

For stations between 17 and 23 miles from Boston 6

For stations between 23 and 36 miles from Boston 7

For stations between 36 and 56 miles from Boston 8

For stations between 56 and 76 miles from Boston

And 1 cent more for each additional 20 miles.

This discount includes not only the freight, but the expense of handling the milk and the contractors' profits. There are so many factors which affect the expense that the producer has no way of knowing exactly the cost of transportation alone. The cars are leased at a fixed rate by the year, and if a car is completely filled the cost of freight

12 BUKEAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY.

per can is much less than when a car is only partly filled. Again, the contractors have ice houses at the largest shipping stations and furnish their own supplies in a large measure, reducing the cost of refrigeration to a minimum. The inability of the producers to ascertain the contractors' profits and the exact cost of transportation sometimes causes discontent.

We have alluded to the old-time method of settling for surplus milk by paying for its butter value and to the abandonment of this plan for another one. The change was brought about primarily by the influence of the producers' organization. When the producers complained of the old system, with its uncertainties and the opportunity for distrust, and asked for a uniform price for all milk whether surplus or not, the contractors replied in effect that they would take their chances if the price was cut 2 cents per can. This was allowed by the producers, and this 2 cents is noAV spoken of as a " carrying charge." For instance, the Boston price of milk for the summer of 1905 was 37^ cents per can. To get at the figure which the farmer received, deduct from this 37^ cents the 2 cents for the " carrying charge " and also the proper discount, as shown above. The contractors also asked that the producers exert themselves to bring about more even production, so that the supply would be more uniform in quantity and the contractors be saved the large loss incident to paying for surplus milk that must be made into butter. After much thought this plan has been devised : Each producer, at the beginning of each six months price period, states the amount he intends to produce during the coming six months. If the total of the amounts exceeds the probable demand, each producer is cut down pro rata. Then it is understood that the price agreed upon for the period shall apply to that rating, with a range of one-sixth in either direction, and that the farmer shall be paid 1 cent less for all his shipments for each additional one-sixth variation. To illustrate : If a farmer is expected to produce 300 cans in any month, he can drop to 250 or increase to 350 and get the full price (37-J cents less the two discounts), but if he falls below 250 or runs over 350 he gets 1 cent less for all the milk he ships. When the next limit is passed the price on all his shipments drops another cent.

CANS.

The cans most used in the Boston milk business are made to contain 8-J quarts. The fraction is added so that there will surely be 2 gallons when the cans become battered from hard usage. As Boston is the commercial center of New England, this style of can is generally used in the smaller cities and towns of this section, although the Providence, R. L, can contains 10 quarts. These 8^-quart cans are convenient in loading a wagon or car, as the handle is on one side and one man can easily take two cans in each hand. They are also convenient for the small producer, who can ship milk to the city, although his dairy produces but one can. These cans go into the car as they leave the dairy and at the terminal are turned over to the city dealer; hence they are convenient also at the city end of the line for delivering to the small grocer or restaurant keeper, who may not care to handle more than a can or two. Occasionally one may see on a milk train or about the depojt of some wholesaler a few of the New York 40-quart cans, which are used as carriers for milk for the contractors' own retail trade; but these cans are not popular among those who have to handle them after having been accustomed to the smaller cans. Some of the contractors are experimenting with a new-style can. It has somewhat the shape of the New York can, but has just 2Jr times the capacity of the regular cans — 21^ quarts. It is not so heavy as the 40-quart can, is more easily cleaned than the 8-Jquart can, and has a wider top. Some new cans, recently adopted experimentally to a limited extent contain 8^ quarts, but have a concave bottom, so that all the milk that drains down the sides, after the cans are emptied, settles at the center of the bottom of the can. This makes washing easier, as there are no corners to cause trouble.

CAN STOPPERS.

For years the stoppers of the cans have been wooden plugs. These have the advantage of sealing the can perfectly, for a tap with a hammer drives the plug in so tightly that the can is almost hermetically sealed. If there is need of piling up the cans in tiers, or " stacking " them, these wooden plugs make a firm and level surface for sustaining the tier and are not injured by the added weight. The convenience of this kind of stopper and the fact that it is the kind used in Boston has led to its adoption all over New England in the milk business of the other cities and towns.

Modern knowledge of bacteriology and the effect of bacteria on milk, however, has shown the undesirability of such stoppers even Avhen apparently clean. In time they became so battered* and full of cracks that it is impossible to sterilize them. A stopper was taken from a shipping station where the stoppers were treated with steam so liberally that they had all the appearance of being fully sterilized. Any ordinary inspection would have passed it as being perfectly clean and dry. It was examined by the bacteriologist of the Dairy Division, who took scrapings from the end and from some of the cracks with a sharp knife, and from these made gelatin plates in the usual way. Although a dilution representing 0.0005 gram of wood was used, the plates were all liquefied by bacteria. This

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indicated that the surface of the wood contained a large number of bacteria, the presence of which in milk would be undesirable. Another stopper taken from an empty can in a milk car was a fair sample of many of the stoppers that are returned every hot summer day to the farmers for their wives to wash. The bacteriologist reported the ends of this stopper and the cracks to be completely covered with mold. The mold was removed from the end of the stopper by scraping, but the cracks were so thoroughly impregnated with molds that no examination of them was attempted. A drop of the first dilution added to a flask of sterile milk curdled the milk in twenty-four hours, with digestion and gas formation. The gelatin plates gave the following results per gram of wood :

Bacteria digesting milk 2,760,000

Bacteria producing gassy fermentation 680,000

What happens to such stoppers in the hands of the farmer ? They receive treatment varying with the disposition of the farmers and

their wives. In some cases the outside of the stopper is washed in the ordinary way of washing any utensil; in others the stoppers, after being washed, are placed in boiling water. In one instance an unusually neat woman was found who placed the stoppers in a kettle of water and boiled them. A stopper was taken from a clean dairy which seemed to be well managed. This was believed to have been given a little more thorough treatment than the average — certainly no worse, The stopper appeared absolutely clean and was dry. Gelatin plates were prepared in the usual way and the count showed a total of 90,000 bacteria per gram of wood — that is, the end wood which would come in contact with the milk. This stopper had been " scalded " and was probably as clean as it was possible to make it with ordinary farm accommodations.

The board of health of the city of Holyoke, declaring that the wooden plugs are a source of filth and cause of sickness, has prohibited their use. The milk inspector of the city will not license persons to deal in milk unless this order is complied with.

Figure 2 illustrates the characteristic wooden plug, or stopper, for

Fig. 2. — Wooden plug used in the Boston milk can.

MILK SUPPLY OP BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA. 15

the typical Boston 8 -J-quart can. The milk contractors or wholesalers supplying the Boston market, realizing the undesirabiltiy of these stoppers from the sanitary standpoint, have experimented with several forms of tin covers. They are more costly than the wooden pings, and to prevent loss they are attached to the can by a short chain. These tin covers answer fairly well the purpose of presenting a leA^el top for convenience in piling up, or stacking; but they meet with general disfavor by the trade. There is a depression in the top to hold the ring to which the chain is attached. This catches dirt, which eventually finds its way into the milk. Tin covers do not fit the cans so tightly and firmly as do wooden plugs, hence there is more or less trouble from leakage. To obviate this some handlers of cans try to make the tin covers hold better by driving them on with a hammer, as they do the wooden plugs. This operation results in cracking the tin, and these cracks harbor dirt and sour milk, and the conditions are sometimes as bad as where the wooden plugs are used. Furthermore, the covers dangling from chains are always in the way when emptying the cans. Tin covers with convex tops are impracticable in the case of 8^-quart cans, as they do not allow placing in stacks, or tiers. Such covers, however, are satisfactory on 40-quart cans. Some tin covers were found with a hole punched in the top and bottom to allow air to escape when placing the cover on the can.

A year ago one might truthfully have written that the trend in Boston was toward the tin covers. They have so failed to win favor in the trade that now sentiment is changing the other way and the wooden plug is again most favored by the peddlers of milk. To render the use of the plugs less objectionable, some of the dealers are using parchment paper between the wood and the milk. A small sheet is placed over the top of the can when it is filled with milk and then the plug is driven into place.

The newest thing in the Boston milk business is a recently invented machine for taking dents out of cans in a way that does not start the seams or crack the tinning. This device is of advantage from a sanitary standpoint, for it restores a smooth surface to the inside of the can, thus enabling it to be more readily cleaned. The -machine is of advantage financially to large dealers, for it adds half a pint on an average to the capacity of each can.

WASHING. CANS.

The cans used in the Boston milk business are usually washed at the farmers' homes. The empties are returned from the city without even being rinsed ; and when the producer takes them from the railroad to his dairy, the washing frequently devolves on his wife or daughters, adding a considerable burden, while the work can not always be done thoroughly. Whether or not the contractors should return clean cans to the producers is a question which has been discussed at the meetings of milk producers for many years. The contractors' side of the case has two points; the first is the expense. The contractors sa}^ that they are now obliged to keep about five cans for every can of milk shipped, to allow for the number going and coming to and from the country and for those held over by dealers and by farmers. As the empties received from the peddlers are loaded directly into the milk cars while the latter are standing at the milk stations for unloading, there is no time then for washing. In order to have them washed it would be necessary to retain them in the city twenty- four hours, thus necessitating another set of cans. The contractors claim that this would be an unnecessary and burdensome expense. They further claim that, no matter how clean a can may be washed in the city, it must be scalded and aired in the country before it is again fit to hold milk. They argue that if the farmers receive nicely cleaned cans they will be careless about the scalding and airing, and the milk will reach the city in much worse condition than it does at present. The farmers' side of the case is that washing cans belonging to the contractors is not a necessary incident of milk production ; that the work can better be done on a large scale by machinery and w T ith plenty of hot water and steam ; that sometimes cans are returned in a repulsively dirty condition, and that cans which have stood for days in a restaurant or grocery store, possibly used as slop cans during that time, are in a condition that the farmer should not be called on to remedy. Judging from stories told at some producers' meetings, cans containing restaurant slops, kerosene oil, and decaying masses of sour curd are very common. It should be stated, however, that most of the cans are returned quite promptly after they are emptied. One large shipper told the writer that although he thought all cans should be returned clean, he had no trouble with those which are exceptionally bad; if he had one which contained what would not readily rinse off, he simply declined to use it and returned it to tne contractors. A common sight about farmhouses, where milk production is a specialty, is a row of cans inverted on racks for airing after having been washed.

A third factor, which is now coming prominently to the front, is the work of medical men and boards of health. These are alert for the improvement of the milk supply and call attention to faults in the milk situation. Conditions which were once considered good enough are now regarded as intolerable, owing to the information which modern bacteriological investigations have made available. The contractors admit, by implication at least, that conditions which formerly existed were not perfect. They are now experimenting with different kinds of cans and making other changes and improvements. For instance, with the can holding two and one-half times as much as the common 8^-quart can it is found that fewer are required in proportion to the business done, and that these can readily be washed and sterilized before being returned to the fanners. It is also found that the milk comes to the city in better condition in these cans, furnishing a selfish argument for a gradual change in the system of returning dirty cans to the farmers.

In September, 1905, the producers agreed to take one-half cent less per can if the contractors should return clean cans to them.

condition's at the farms.

Boston has no system of certified milk, and none of the large contractors make a specialty of milk of extra quality at extra prices; but several large producers who can control all the conditions of production sell milk above the average in percentage of fat and also in cleanliness, receiving an adequate price for such quality. Neither has Boston any large firm of wholesalers who can and will make exacting regulations. Still, the Boston contractors are watchful over their supply, and have a system of inspecting stables and of cautioning producers when bad conditions are found. The contractors do some educational work also in giving instructions as to the proper manner of caring for milk, especially as to the importance of promptly removing it from the stable and cooling to at least 50° F., as the first half hour in the life of the milk is the most critical. The contractors require the producers to have an ice supply, and in one instance a contractor gave each of his producers a thermometer. At meetings of boards of health the carelessness of the farmers in the care of the milk is a matter of emphatic criticism with much of truth in the statements, especially in view of the increasing information as to the way in which milk should be handled ; but, on the other hand, there are many intelligent, conscientious farmers who are painstaking and who produce a clean article.

Further attention is given this subject under the heading " Official inspection" (pp. 29-31).

CARRYING MILK FROM FARM TO CARS.

The first step in the transportation of milk is from the farm to the railroad station. This work is usually done by the farmer. There are no wagons for transporting milk from farm to cars that are constructed with the special idea of keeping the milk cool in summer and from freezing in the winter. Every conceivable kind of vehicle is used, from top carriages to very rickety wagons. In two instances the writer has seen wheelbarrows used. Often it is the daily duty of the fanner's boy to drive the load of milk to the railroad, and sometimes the wife or daughter does this work. Average dairies produce from fifteen to twenty cans per day, which is not a large load.

When the milk leaves the farm it is supposed to have been cooled down to about 50° F., the exception being morning's milk produced near the railroad, which is taken at once to the car. When placed on the wagon for transportation to the station, it is carefully covered with a horse blanket or piece of canvas. When the drive is a long one a cake of ice may be placed under the cover in the summer or a lighted lantern in the winter. The average length of haul where the farmer carries his own product to the railroad is 3 or 4 miles. Where the production is small and the producers live greater distances from the cars, one farmer frequently collects the milk for a number of his neighbors. The customary charge for such collection is 2 cents per can, although in some cases as high as 3 cents is paid if the route is a long one.