MILK DEARER.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 496, 1 May 1909, Page 8

MILK DEARER.

• WHAT IS A QUART. WORTH? The news that the retail price of milk in Wellington is to bo increased by some vendors, by a penny per quart, will bo read with mixed' feelings' by purchasers and vendors. Tiio increase has fallen upon them rather suddenly, after the recent reduction which heralded the advent of tho Upper Hutt combination. What is believed to havo probably happened is that it has been found iinpossiblo to retail milk in Wellington at less than Is. 4d. a gallon, and still pay tho dairyfarmors their .winter price of Bd. Milk is a perishable product, and consequently losses are incurred through milk souring, as it must do on'.every round when thero is a surplus left- over. Then milk is measured out in moro or less hurry, and thero are spillings. . Again,: tho milk-man-is pre-eminently tho ono; tradesman who has ; to take his customers on trust. In the, early morning ho rarely sees more of the customer than tho empty billy that hangs near the door, and even at evenings there is littlo time for ententes. Bills therefore,-easily mount up, and an empty house may sometimes' be tho first intimation of a vanished customer. Hero aro socio figures which are said to represent the profit and loss side, of a 40-gallon Wellington milk round, delivering 280 gallons per week: — . Expenditure. £ s. d. • 280 gallons at Bd. ... ... 9 6 8 Kailage/at ljd. ... • ... ... 17 6 Distribution, at 4d. ... ; ... 413 4 " ' 15 .7 6 N Receipts. -. £• s. 'd. 280 gallons, at Is. 4d. ... ... 18 13 4 l''rom' this amount have to bo. deducted 10 per'cent. for losses by spilling, jd. per gallon for bad. debts, 10 per cent, of £50. for depreciation on horse, cart, harness, and cans. Whether, or not milk can bo retailed at-less'than 4d.--.per- quart-in Wellington seems to depend largely on good management in tho city and the price paid at the other end.