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Walsall
Advertiser 20th February,
1915:
Why
should feeding babies
properly increase the price
of milk, and cause parents
to rush for condensed milk.
Many poor people today are
unable to buy pure milk on
account of the price, and
must, perforce drink their
tea and coffee neat, or use
condensed milk.
Possibility of an early
price increase: Birmingham
milk sellers are already
discussing the possibility
of a rise in the price of
milk before winter prices
are reached. Householders
complain that the price of
milk never, even in summer,
sinks to the same reasonable
level it used to stand at.
Large milk producers blamed
the local cowkeepers for
keeping the price of milk
low, especially in summer.
Retail
Competitors
Mr.
Simcox, dairy farmer, said
that unfortunately for him
he was selling his milk the
same as Mr. Clews at 3d. per
quart, and as he was a
larger wholesaler than a
buyer, it was impossible for
him, under the present
conditions to sell it at a
higher price. The difficulty
was that there were
scattered throughout the
locality a number of small
cow-keepers, who always got
plenty of milk in the
summer. They retailed their
milk at 3d and sometimes 2d
in the summer. Consequently
they were faced with
customers in the winter who
expected them to supply the
milk at 3d. Three times he
had raised his milk, and
three times he had had
return to the usual prices.
Some Customers had even gone
to the length of calling
indignation meeting to
protest against the prices.
He could not afford to
produce and retail his milk
at 3d any more than the man
who bought his supplies, but
it was the competition
amongst these small
cow-keepers. He did not
think it would be possible
to raise the retail price
until September, because
there were plenty of people
who would continue to sell
the milk at their own price
and they (the farmers) could
not stop them. |
