15 
New  York  State  Agricultural  Society 
The  following  additions  have  been  made  to  the  list 
of  speakers  given  last  week  for  the  annual  convention 
of  the  New  York  State  Agricultural  Society  to  be  held 
in  the  Assembly  parlor  of  the  Capitol,  Albany,  J anuary 
18-19 : 
Dairy  Interests,  by  Dairy  and  Food  Commis¬ 
sioner  J.  W.  Ilelme,  Lansing,  Mich.,  and  W.  E.  Skin¬ 
ner,  of  the  National  Dairy  Show. 
The  Standardization  of  Farm  Products,  by  Commis¬ 
sioner  of  Agriculture  E.  S.  Brigham,  of  Vermont. 
The  Opportunity  of  the  Farm  Bureau  Agent,  by  F. 
E.  Lacy,  of  Poughkeepsie. 
The  program  will  be  particularly  strong  in  live  stock 
and  dairy  features,  the  distribution  of  milk,  etc.,  and 
dairymen  of  the  State  should  make  an  especial  effort 
to  attend.  Sessions  will  be  held  forenoon,  afternoon 
and  evening  of  both  days,  and  it  is  planned  to  close 
the  convention  with  a  banquet,  on  the  evening  of  Jan¬ 
uary  19. 
Milk  producers  will  hold  a  special  meeting  on  Jan¬ 
uary  20th  to  perfect  their  plans  for  the  distribution 
of  milk  and  the  making  of  prices. 
The  Outlook  for  Apple  Sales 
The  Federal  Agricultural  Department  has  confirmed 
the  estimate  of  the  International  Apple  Shippers’  Asso¬ 
ciation  in  the  estimate  that  on  December  1  we  had  in 
round  numbers  eight  million  barrels  of  apples  in  cold 
storage,  or  close  to  one  million  barrels  in  excess  of 
the  holdings  of  the  same  time  last.  year.  On  the  same 
authority  the  holdings  in  cold  storage  in  the  State  of 
New  York  are  just  half  of  one  per  cent,  in  excess  of 
the  holdings  of  last  year,  the  holdings  in  cold  storage 
this  year  being  1,327,281  barrels. 
These  reports  have  caused  concern,  not  to  say  con¬ 
sternation  in  the  minds  of  apple  speculators.  Since  the 
publication  of  the  report,  speculative  prices  have 
dropped  from  50  cents  to  $1  a  barrel  on  the  receiv¬ 
ing  docks,  and  the  policy  now  is  for  the  large  dealers 
to  work  off  their  supply  and  to  keep  back  the  holdings 
of  the  growers  and  small  operators  who  have  apples 
stored  in  local  warehouses  throughout  the  State  and 
country. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  the  large  holdings  of  apples  at 
this  time  need  cause  no  great  concern  if  the  market  is 
kept  well  supplied  daily  on  regular  shipments,  and 
precaution  is  taken  to  see  that  the  apples  are  distrib¬ 
uted  to  the  consumers  at  a  reasonable  cost  for  the  ser¬ 
vice.  The  Department  of  Foods  and  Markets  has  of¬ 
fered  its  auction  service  to  the  holders  of  apples  wheth¬ 
er  growers  or  speculators.  It  will  sell  apples  daily  at 
public  auction  to  the  highest  bidder,  and  it  will  canvass 
the  retail  trade  and  make  every  effort  to  secure  the  co¬ 
operation  of  retailers  to  get  the  apples  into  the  hands 
of  consumers  at  reasonable  cost,  and  in  that  way  work 
off  this  large  holding  of  apples.  Several  large  retailers 
have  already  promised  the  Department  if  a  steady  sup¬ 
ply  is  furnished  to  sell  apples  to  consumers  at  a  profit 
of  20  per  cent,  above  the  price  to  the  farmer.  With 
this  support  other  retailers  can  he  induced  to  do  the 
same.  This  service  is  reasonable  in  cost.  Last  year  the  re¬ 
tailers  sold  apples  at  an  average  profit  to  six  to  ten  times 
the  price  to  the  grower.  A  few  retailors  have  distributed 
this  year  at  one-fifth  of  the  price  to  the  grower,  and  if 
this  can  be  made  general  in  the  city  the  consumption 
of  apples  will  increase  by  leaps  and  bounds.  To  ab¬ 
sorb  all  of  the  apples  in  storage.  New  York  City  and 
suburbs  should  consume  100  carloads  a  day.  This 
would  be  less  than  one  apple  a  day  for  every 
man,  woman  and  child  in  the  territory,  and  with  the 
proper  inducement,  and  the  proper  cost  of  distribution, 
the  present  price  of  apples  to  the  grower  can  be  main¬ 
tained  and  cheap  apples  furnished  the  consumer  with 
the  prospects  of  cleaning  up  the  holdings  during  the 
apple  season. 
Growers  with  apples  in  storage  should  begin  to  make 
shipments  at  once.  The  shipments  should  be  gradual 
and  regular,  keeping  a  full  supply  coining  daily.  The 
Department  will  he  glad  to  furnish  information  as  often 
as  required.  High  prices  will  he  out  of  the  question  for 
anything  except  the  very  fanciest  grades,  but  if  the 
market  is  properly  supplied  and  developed,  fair  prices 
will  prevail  and  the  apples  will  go  into  consumption. 
The  Department  and  its  auction  market  are  at  the  ser¬ 
vice  of  growers  and  holders  of  apples. 
The  sales  at  the  auction  during  the  week  wore  strong, 
boxed  apples  from  Western  Now  York  selling  as  high  as 
$1.85  per  box,  and  a  good  quality  of  Greenings  selling 
for  $3.80  per  barrel.  The  demand  at  the  auction  sales 
was  good  and  very  much  larger  receipts  would  have 
been  absorbed  readily,  but  broad  demand  was  for  the 
better  grades. 
The  railroad  deliveries  to  New  York  were  poor.  It 
is  alleged  that  this  was  due  to  the  storm  and  general 
congestion  of  the  railroads.  Whatever  the  cause  some 
carloads  were  delayed  five  to  seven  days.  This  was  gen¬ 
eral  with  all  receivers  and  these  delays  of  course  af¬ 
fect  the  selling  price,  as  the  fruit  never  improves  in 
transit. 
From  now  on  the  auction  market  could  handle  many 
carload  shipments  daily  and  owners  of  apples  in  stor¬ 
age  are  advised  to  make  steady  shipments  and  take 
the  prevailing  price,  which  will  average  as  well  as  or 
better  than  au  attempt  to  hold  for  the  highest  market. 
The  auction  prices  for  three  days  last  week  were  as 
follows : 
APPLES. — 1  bbls.  Baldwin  $2.10;  14  Wagener 
$2.40;  59  Spy  $2.50;  40  $1.85;  35  $1.80;  2  boxes 
Boiken  $1.80;  27  $1.60;  5  bbk.  Baldwin  $1.60;  4 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
Hendrick  Sweet  $2.10:  1  $1.45;  10  Greening  83.10;  12 
$2.60;  1  $2.75;  3  Spy  $2.40;  4  Pippin  $1.90;  1  $1.75; 
5  Newtown  $2.85;  1  Mixed  $2.95;  8  Baldwin  $2.80;  2 
$2.50:  10  Greening  $3.20;  17  $3.15;  1  Russet  $1.85; 
2  $2.10;  1  hkt.  Greening  55c;  1  Mann  o0c ;  1  Spy  70c; 
2  Huhbardston  70c;  2  Smith  Cider  70c;  3  Sweet  65o; 
1  King  75c;  31  Baldwin  70c;  2  Cooper  60c:  2  Van- 
dervere  95c;  2  Gilliflower  30c;  44  bids  Greening 
$2.75;  9  $2.10;  2  $1.85;  8  Mann  $1.85;  3  Spy  $3.55; 
3  82.50;  1  $1.95;  1  Huhbardston  $1.75;  10  Jonathan 
$2.80;  6  $2.35;  5  Smith  Cider  $2.25;  3  $1.90:  1  Sweet 
$1.75;  1  $2.10;  2  $1.75;  9  King  $2.25;  2  $2.05;  18 
Baldwin  $2.75;  5  $2.20;  28  $2.15;  114  boxes  Stark 
60c;  24  Baldwin  70c;  3  Swaar  55c;  3  Spy  $1.05;  20 
Ben  Davis  80c;  16  70c;  6  Mann  55c;  4  Bellflower  65c; 
8  Spits  80c;  4  Jersey  Sweet  50c;  1  Tolraan  45c;  11 
Wagoner  70c;  13  75c;  6  70c;  50  bbls.  Stark  $1.60;  4 
Baldwin  $1.70:  9  Ben  Davis  $1.45;  6  Wagener.  $1.50; 
1  Bellflower  75c. 
MISCELLANEOUS— 11  bids,  squash  $1.25;  1  bid. 
cranberries  $9.55;  35  bags  Pea  beans  $6.40  per  100 
lbs.;  5  bags  Yellow  Eye  $5.75;  16  cases  eggs  54c;  5 
52c ;  1  50c";  2  4Se ;  1  44c ;  1  43c ;  1  42c ;  2  40c. 
Showing  New  York  State  Fruit 
I  noticed  in  some  of  the  fruit  stores  the  cards  show¬ 
ing  the  Now  York  State  apples.  They  attracted  my  at¬ 
tention  very  much,  and  I  would  like  to  get  a  few  of 
these  cards  to  use  in  connection  with  my  school  work 
in  the  Training  School  for  Teachers  at  Jamaica.  They 
would  be  very  helpful  in  giving  the  students  an  idea 
of  the  fruit  grown  in  New  York  State.  Do  you  have 
cards  of  any  other  fruit  aside  from  those  of  apples? 
Would  you  be  willing  to  send  me  several  of  these  cards 
for  use' in  the  school?  [mess]  letta  b.  burns. 
Training  School  for  Teachers. 
The  cards  asked  for  in  the  above  letter  wore  prompt¬ 
ly  forwarded  to  this  progressive  teacher,  and  a  repro¬ 
duction  of  one  of  the  cards  is  given  herewith.  If  each 
one  of  the  teachers  in  this  training  school  will  follow 
the  good  example  of  the  teacher,  and  instruct  her  pu¬ 
pils  in  the  merit  of  New  York  State  fruit,  we  will  have 
an  endless  chain  of  influences  that  will  create  a  demand 
for  New  York  State  apples.  Give  us  such  a  demand 
and  the  price  of  apples  will  take  care  of  itself. 
These  signs  have  been  placed  in  a  large  number  of 
retail  grocery  stores  in  New  York  and  Brooklyn;  but 
the  Department  did  not  have  a  large  and  steady  supply 
of  apples  to  make  it  possible  to  follow  up  the  trade 
and  increase  consumption  through  them.  Growers  must 
see,  however,  the  possibility  in  this  kind  of  work. 
With  the  cooperation  of  the  growers,  this  work  will 
popularize  the  New  York  apple. 
These  cards  are  10%xl314  inches  in  size  and  printed 
in  colors,  giving  very  good  illustrations  of  the  three 
varieties  shown. 
MW  YORK  rr*n  OELUTWEKT  OF  f<jods  ahd  MARKETS,  hew  YORK  CUT 
Rhode  Island  Greening 
Northern  Spy 
Baldwin 
Good  All  Winter. 
New  York’s  most 
popular  apples. 
Best  eating  and  cook¬ 
ing  apples  on  earth. 
Juicy,  crisp,  thin 
tender  skinned. 
FOR  SALE  HERE 
were  always  regulated  by  supply  and  demand.  The 
News  has  evidently  learned  a  lesson  from  the  open 
auction  market  on  apples,  and  it  is  encouraging  to  know 
that  it  has  the  courage  to  acknowledge  its  former  er¬ 
ror.  If  shipments  of  dressed  poultry  were  assembled 
so  that  open  auction  sales  could  be  held  daily  dealers 
could  not  raise  and  lower  the  prices  at  will  nor  man¬ 
ipulate  the  quotations.  This  has  been  demonstrated  in 
the  sales  of  apples  this  year  and  by  another  year  we 
hope  to  see  more  of  it. 
Long  Island  Farmers  and  Fertilizers 
Part  I. 
In  no  way  has  the  war  caused  a  more  radical  change 
than  will  be  required  for  the  season  of  1916  in  the 
manufacture  and  use  of  commercial  fertilizer.  Before 
the  war  millions  of  tons  of  fertilizer  was  manufactured 
and  used  containing  a  high  percentage  of  soluble  potash. 
Formerly  muriate  of  potash  could  he  purchased  in  this 
country  for  about  $40  per  ton,  while  now  it  is  worth 
from  $400  to  $500  per  ton.  At  present  prices  T  am  sure 
it  will  not  pay  to  use  auy  potash  except  possibly  for 
special  crops  or  under  special  conditions.  For  general 
farm  crops  the  increase  from  the  use  of  potash  would 
not  pay  for  its  application.  Nearly  all  fertilizer  ma¬ 
terials  besides  potash  are  also  higher  because  of  the 
war,  some  directly  and  others  indirectly. 
NITRATE  OF  SODA  is  nearly  $20  per  ton  higher 
than  it  was  one  year  ago.  This  is  flue  to  the  war 
principally.  A  year  ago  large  stocks  that  were  on  hand 
which  had  been  mined  in  Chile  were  shut  out  of  their 
natural  market  in  Europe,  consequently  the  price 
dropped  very  low,  so  low  that  it  was  impossible  to  run 
the  mines  at.  a  profit,  and  many  of  them  shut  down. 
The  large  demand  for  nitrate  in  the  manufacture  of 
explosives  helped  to  use  up  the  surplus  and  the  price 
of  ocean  freights  rose  very  rapidly  until  the  “slides  '  in 
the  Panama  Canal  blocked  navigation  through  it.  when 
supplies  to  this  country  were  cut  off  entirely  for  many 
weeks,  and  the  price  of  nitrate  of  soda  in  this  country 
went  to  the  present  high  levels. 
ACID  PHOSPHATE,  which  supplies  at  least  one- 
half  of  all  the  weight  of  the  fertilizer  sold  in  hags,  is 
about  50 %  higher  than  a  year  ago.  This  is  due  to  the 
increased  price  of  sulphuric  acid.  The  greatly  increased 
use  of  the  acid  in  the  manufacture  of  explosives  is  the 
direct  cause  of  this  increase.  Fish  scrap  is  very  scarce 
and  high  because  of  the  very  light  catch  of  fish  along 
the  Atlantic  coast.  Sulphate  of  ammonia  is  not  pro¬ 
duced  in  very  large  quantities  in  the  United  States,  and 
England,  which  is  the  largest  manufacturer  of  sulphate 
of  ammonia,  has  placed  some  restrictions  on  its  export, 
consequently  only  small  supplies  are  coming  to  this 
country  from  that  source. 
COTTONSEED  MEAL  is  about  40%  higher  than 
a  year  ago.  This  is  due  to  the  short  eottou  crop,  and 
the  increased  prosperity  of  the  South  due  to  the  high 
price  of  cotton,  which  will  enable  the  Southern  i  Wint¬ 
ers  to  purchase  more  fertilizer  than  a  year  ago.  Other 
ammoniates  such  as  animal  tankage,  garbage  tank¬ 
age,  castor  pomace,  ground  leather,  nitrogenous  mate¬ 
rial,  etc.,  are  all  materially  higher,  probably  20%  or 
more.  Some  fertilizer  manufacturers  are  offering  fer¬ 
tilizers  this  season  with  a  small  percentage  of  potash. 
This  is  derived  mainly  from  cottonseed  meal,  garbage 
tankage,  tobacco  stems,  etc.,  and  the  content  of  potash 
in  these  materials  has  helped  to  produce  the  higher 
price  of  these  materials. 
It  is  evident  from  the  foregoing  that  the  price  of 
commercial  fertilizers  for  the  season  of  1916  is  bound 
to  be  higher,  but  there  is  no  cause  for  alarm  among  us 
farmers  who  find  it  absolutely  necessary  to  use  chemi¬ 
cal  manures  annually  to  grow  our  crops.  In  this  con¬ 
nection  ji  company  that  is  making  a  widespread  and 
determined  effort  to  sell  chemicals  to  farmers  direct 
for  home  mixing,  is  deserving  of  a  word  of  condemna¬ 
tion.  Agents  for  this  company  have  been  working  in 
this  section  of  Long  Island  for  several  weeks  and  have 
sold  thousands  of  tons  of  fertilizer  chemicals  to  the 
farmers  by  scaring  them  into  the  belief  that  the  war 
is  going  to  increase  the  price  of  fertilizers  so  much 
that  unless  they  bought  immediately,  and  of  them,  the 
price  would  be  so  high  later  ns  to  be  prohibitive.  Be¬ 
sides  the  attempt  to  scare,  the  farmers  about  the  price 
of  fertilizer  because  of  the  war.  there  were  misrepre¬ 
sentations  as  to  the  analyses  of  the  goods  they  were 
selling.  Because  of  their  methods  of  selling,  the  State 
laws  do  not  furnish  auy  adequate  protection  to  the 
farmers.  One  year  ago  the  same  company  made  per¬ 
sistent  efforts  to  sell  their  chemicals,  but  had  poor  suc¬ 
cess,  as  there  was  no  “war  scare”  about  fertilizer  prices 
last  season,  and  previous  dealings  with  the  concern  had 
been  unsatisfactory.  Of  course  such  methods  will  not 
build  up  a  profitable  future  business.  I  know  there  are 
many  manufacturers  who  do  not  find  it  necessary  and 
will  not  stoop  to  “shyster  methods”  of  salesmanship  to 
sell  their  goods.  H.  K.  tai.xiaue. 
Poultry  Price  Manipulation 
The  following  note  is  from  the  editorial  page  of  the 
Produce  News: 
There  are  two  or  three  dressed  poultry  dealers  in 
New  York  City  who  can  keep  prices  down  if  they  are 
not  heavy  holders.  On  the  other  hand  these  firms 
can  boost  the  prices  just  as  soon  as  they  are  bountifully 
supplied  at  low  prices. 
The  statement  is  only  too  true.  The  week  before 
Thanksgiving  the  city  dealers  fixed  the  price  of  tur¬ 
keys  at  26  cents  a  pound ;  but  for  the  three  days  be¬ 
fore  Thanksgiving  and  after  shipments  had  been  made 
the  price  was  quoted  down  to  18  cents.  It  was  a  re¬ 
port  on  the  street  that  one  receiver  wired  a  shipper  on 
Monday  morning  that  his  car  of  dressed  poultry  had  not 
arrived,  when  as  a  matter  of  fact  he  had  already  un¬ 
loaded  the  car,  but  did  not  receipt  for  it  until  after 
trading  hours  for  the  day.  By  this  trick  he  was  able 
to  settle  with  the  shipper  at  IS  cents  instead  of  26 
cents  a  pound.  The  difference  to  him  was  $16.  Be¬ 
sides  the  lx-cont  quotation  was  pure  fiction,  A  few 
sales  may  have  been  made  at  this  figure  to  make  a 
record;  but  the  bulk  of  the  turkeys  were  billed  out 
at  26  cents,  and  the  people  who  received  18-Cent  re¬ 
turns  were  simply  robbed  of  the  difference. 
We  are  pleased  to  see  the  Produce  News  telling  the 
truth  about  these  transactions.  Three  months  ago  it 
disputed  Commissioner  Dillon’s  statement  that  dealers 
manipulated  prices  of  apples.  It  insisted  that  prices 
New  York  State  News 
That  the  ice  cream  men  are  driving  the  brewers  out 
of  business  in  prohibition  States  was  the  declaration 
made  at  a  dinner  in  connection  with  the  eighth  annual 
convention  of  Ice  Cream  Manufacturers  held  in  Roches¬ 
ter  recently.  John  F.  O'Brien,  of  New  York  City,  a 
large  wholesale  dealer  in  ice  cream,  stated  that  in 
several  “dry”  States  the  breweries  are  being  converted 
into  ice  cream  factories,  and  that  where  once  thousands 
of  gallons  of  beer  was  brewed  in  West  Virginia  and 
Virginia  establishments,  there  is  now  being  turned  into 
ice  cream  thousands  of  quarts  of  cream  daily.  Mention 
was  also  made  of  the  efforts  of  the  ice  cream  makers  of 
this  State  to  cooperate  with  State  and  local  authori¬ 
ties  in  improving  sanitary  conditions  on  farms  where 
milk  aud  cream  are  produced.  W.  M.  Kaufman,  of 
Amsterdam,  was  chosen  as  president  of  the  association 
for  the  coming  year. 
The  first  trial,  so  far  as  the  larger  cities  of  this 
State  are  concerned,  of  the  commission  form  of  govern¬ 
ment  will  begiu  January  1st.  in  Buffalo,  the  population 
of  which  is  near  to  500,000.  For  10  years  past  the 
friends  of  non-partisan  government  of  cities  in  the  city 
of  Buffalo  have  fought,  to  secure  the  establishment  of  a 
better  era  in  municipal  affairs. 
The  State  Department  of  Agriculture  has  in  prepara¬ 
tion  a  bulletin  entitled  “The  Horse  Industry  in  New 
York  State,”  which  continues  the  plan  outlined  some 
time  since  of  Farm  Bureau  Director  Edward  Van  Al- 
styne  for  a  series  of  bulletins  dealing  with  each  branch 
of  farming  endeavor.  The  “Horse”  bulletin  will  be  is¬ 
sued  in  January  and  will  shortly  be  followed  by  a  bul¬ 
letin  of  the  series  to  be  known  as  "The  Fruit  Indus¬ 
try  of  New  York  State.”  This  will  be  profusely  illus¬ 
trated.  C. 
