PRICE OF MILK.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17936, 1 November 1918, Page 6

PRICE OF MILK.

, to thb Jtnrroß. 1 Sir,—l would liko to make a statement in reference to a letter by Mr H. Bliss' in Wednesday's . "Lyttelton Times." Ido not intend wasting your valuable space discussing Mr Bliss's hot air in reterence to a white elephant like' " the block system." But 1 wish to emphatically state that tho agure I. quoted, for the price of milk was rivepence per quart, as- being a- reasonable price all the year, round under present conditions, not sixpence per quart, as. stated in a newspaper on Saturday, it being an en or upon < which Mr Bliss based hi 3 remarks. . I was instrumental recently during the in opposing an increase, which would hare necessitated charging sixpence per quart retail. —I am, etc., ;

F. W. TROTTER.

TO THB KDItOE. Sir.—l was very pleased to see Ml . Bliss's letter in this morning's *' Times,"' condemning' the action ,of Messrs Trotter and Co. in keeping the retail price of milk'up -to a quart during the summer months. Mr j Bliss says (ana ho ought to know), that the wholesale price of milk is, tenpence a gallon at tne present time'. If it : costs tenpence a/gallon to produce this milk and make a fair profit for the producer, surely it docs not, cost an- : othor tenpence a gallon to deliver it. To my mind, and 1 think the majority 1 of the consumers here think the saiiie; the price should not bo a fraction of a, , penny over fourpence a quart. If one man can pay lent for his farm,, buy cows, keep them and milk .them, aud still deliver his milk to the retailer, at tenpence a gallon, surely the man whec; has his milk delivered to his door, and has only to keep say one horse and cart, can deliver this milk to his customers at less than Is 8d a gallon, a , profit of 100 per: cent, less cost of upkeep. I would very much like, say, av •■■ forty-gallon round at that profit myself, 33s 4d a day, of about five hours. If this sort of thing is allowed to'go on, what is going to happen_ next winter, when feed is scarcer" IN ■ deny the fact that there is plenty-' of fi feed about this spring, and cows are ■. milking well. If anyone is entitled to the extra price of milk, it is the.producer, who is up in the early hoursDf morning, wet or fine, snow or sunshine, not the retailers, who are mostly in. bed while the producer is milking -his cows, and who, with a few exceptions, does not turn out at all when the snow is on the ground. I wonder if the cows go milked then;! think they did. But did the milk get delivered by the retailers. " I don't think." 1 hope to see some abler pen than mine < take this . matter up, and see if something,"; 4 § cannot bo done to prevent this explditf ink by the retailers. The Canterbury Industrial Co-operative Society might take a hand in this. T arii would bo able to sell milk at fourpence. a quart and still show a fair; return • to the purchasers and shareholders.V- 1 -! . ara; ; ;etc- " ■ ■ • -'.'- ; '■•};.'■■:■ "'■-'■ M< : - ■ .i-t-V CONSUMER. NO. i. -