Ghe  RURAL.  NEW-YORKER 
119 
Endorses  the  Foods  and  Markets  Dept. 
[The  fruit  growers  of  New  York  owe  a  debt  of 
gratitude  to  Charles  G.  Porter  for  liis  great  work  at 
rhe  Panama  Exposition.  By  his  courage  and  tact  and 
perserverancc  Mr.  Porter  made  it  possible  for  New  York 
to  outer  the  apple  competition  and  make  an  astonish¬ 
ing  record  at  prize-winning.  The  following  letter  from 
such  a  man  comes  with  double  force  right  to  the  poiut 
now  that  the  air  is  full  of  wild  and  vindictive  state¬ 
ments  about  the  Department.  No  other  answer  to  them 
js  needed.] 
I  was  very  much  gratified  at  tlio  action  taken  by  the 
New  York  State  Fruit  Growers’  convention  at  the 
meeting  at  Powers’  Hotel  last  Wednesday  evening, 
when  the  resolution  endorsing  the  work  of  the  Market 
and  Foods  Department  and  pledging  its  support  to  the 
Department  for  the  coming  year  was  unanimously 
adopted. 
All  fruit  growers  of  the  State  should  endorse  the 
work  of  this  Department  and  give  it  their  support  in 
every  way  possible.  It  may  he  true  that  men  like 
T.ewis  Morrell  of  the  Eastern  part  of  the  State  and 
Frank  Bradley  of  Western  New  York,  who  have  worked 
for  years  in  getting  a  satisfactory  market  for  their 
fruit,  would  not  like  to  commence  all  over  again  by 
sending  their  fruit  for  the  Foods  and  Markets  Com¬ 
mission  to  dispose  of,  but  they  can  and  I  believe  they 
will  give  the  Department  their  support  iu  any  other 
way  possible. 
There  lias  been  adverse  criticism  of  the  work  of  the 
Department  and  undoubtedly  .mistakes  have  been 
made  which  may  not  have  given  the  grower  just  what 
he  ought  to  have  had,  and  the  grower  may  not  have 
given  the  Department  just  what  he  should  have  given 
it.  hut  is  there  a  firm  in  New  York  City  doing  busi¬ 
ness  on  a  large  scale  that  does  not  make  mistakes  to 
the  loss  of  some  one,  especially  the  first  year  of  op¬ 
erations? 
It  is  not  up  to  the  fruit  growers  to  criticise  the  De¬ 
partment  for  some  reported  mistake,  but  to  join  hands 
and  go  to  the  aid  of  the  Commissioner,  and  help  fill 
lip  the  holes  wherein  the  mistakes,  if  any,  may  lie,  that 
the  business  may  be  carried  on  profitably  to  all  the 
fruit  interests  of  the  State. 
We  are  growing  fruit  far  superior  to  that  of  any 
other  section  of  the  world.  At  the  Panama  Exposition 
there  was  no  fruit  shown  as  attractive  as  the  New 
York  State  exhibit.  Among  the  eight  other  States 
showing  fruit,  not  one  showed  near  the  number  of 
varieties  as  did  New  York,  which  showed  25.  No 
Srate  showed  the  variation  of  color  that  was  seen  at 
the  Now  York  exhibit.  No  other  fruit  exhibited  was 
as  uniform  in  size  as  that  of  New  York,  and  the  largest 
apple  shown  was  in  the  New  York  exhibit.  The  New 
York  exhibit  received  the  largest  and  more  prizes  than 
any  other  State.  It  is  generally  conceded  that  the 
flavor  of  New  York  apples  is  superior  to  that  of  ap¬ 
ples  grown  anywhere.  We  have  the  goods,  and  every 
grower  should  put  his  shoulder  to  the  same  selling 
wheel  that  it  may  he  properly  and  profitably  turned 
so  that  New  York  fruit  may  he  put  into  the  hands  of 
the  consumers,  of  all  the  consumers  of  the  whole  world. 
With  all  the  consumers  readied,  the  talk  of  over-pro¬ 
duction  will  cease.  There  cannot  he  over-production  if 
all  the  consumers  of  the  world,  who  want  apples  can 
g«-t  them  at  a  price  within  reach. 
The  New  York  Foods  and  Markets  Department  can 
bring  about  these  conditions  if  all  the  people  interested 
will  give  them  a  helping  hand.  There  is  much  being 
said  about  the  middlemen.  I  cannot  see  how  we  are  to 
market  all  our  fruit  successfully  without  them,  and 
they  should  he  encouraged  and  handled  fairly,  that  we 
may  have  their  honest  cooperation. 
If  you  wish  to  publish  this  letter  or  any  portion  of 
it.  I  have  no  objection.  ciias.  o.  porter. 
Albion,  N.  Y. 
An  Auction  Market  for  Hay 
Hay  is  an  important  crop  in  the  T'nited  States.  It 
is  an  important  crop  in  the  State  of  New  York.  This 
year  it  is  third  in  importance  to  corn  and  wheat  and 
more  important  than  cotton,  which  receives  more  pub- 
lie  attention,  particularly  in  Wall  Street,  The  value 
of  the  hay  crop  is  estimated  at  $912. .*120.000 ;  the  value 
of  wheat  is  estimated  at  ${>30,202,000.  It  is  true,  how¬ 
ever.  that  bay  is  not  handled  commercially  with  the 
system  and  method  that  is  applied  to  other  leading 
crops,  and  is  less  profitable  on  that  account. 
In  New  York  City  there  is  no  central  market  for 
hay.  each  railroad  having  its  own  terminal  and  its 
own  market  The  New  York  Central  and  West  Shore 
R.  It.  have  a  market  at  West  33rd  Street.  The  Lack¬ 
awanna  has  a  market  on  the  dock  at  West  2Slh  Street. 
The  Erie’s  market  is  on  the  New  Jersey  side,  but  de¬ 
livers  at  Chambers  Street  dock  in  Manhattan.  In 
Brooklyn  there  are  at  least  four  markets,  one  iu  Long 
1-dnnd  City,  another  in  Williamsburg,  one  in  East  New 
York  and  a  fourth  at  Bush  wick  Station.  The  prices 
of  hay  at  these  various  markets,  for  hay  of  the  same 
grade  and  on  the  same  day,  vary  sometimes  as  much 
as  $2  per  ton  or  even  more.  The  cause  of  this  varia¬ 
tion  is  that  there  is  either  a  glut  of  a  particular  kind 
of  hay  at  the  low-priced  market,  or  a  shortage,  at  the 
high-priced  market.  Sometimes  the  low-priced  market 
lacks  delivery  facilities  for  the  buyer. 
The  facilities  for  delivery  meau  for  the  most  part, 
what  is  known  in  the  city  as  ’■free  lighterage."  Cars 
coming  into  Jersey  City  are  subject  to  free  lighterage 
to  any  part  of  the  city,  including  the  Brooklyn  mar¬ 
kets.  but  if  a  car  is  lightered  from  Jersey  City  to  the 
dock  at  West  33rd  Street  and  sold  there,  it  has  had 
one  lighterage  and  will  not  be  moved  from  33rd  Street 
free  to  an  East  River  point.  On  the  other  hand  a  car 
arriving  via  the  New  York  Central  at  33rd  Street  is 
entitled  to  one  lighterage  and  may  be  sold  there  and 
lightered  free  to  East  River  points.  Hay  may  be  sold 
at  the  New  York  Central  track  at  33rd  Street  Market 
or  on  the  Jersey  City  market  of  the  Erie,  and  ho  light¬ 
ered  free  from  either  of  these  markets,  but  for  cars 
coming  on  the  Pennsylvania,  D.  L.  &  W.  R.  It.  aud  Le¬ 
high,  they  are  lightered  before  they  reach  the  terminal 
markets,  and  are  not  again  subject  to  lighterage  with¬ 
out.  extra  charge. 
Practically  all  the  hay  coming  to  the  market  is  sold 
on  commission,  and  between  dealer  and  railroad  and 
embargo,  and  lighterage,  the  man  without  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  system  and  intimate  connection  with 
the  dealers  and  the  railroads,  has  a  slim  chance  iu  the 
New  York  City  market.  When  the  dealers  are  pretty 
well  stocked  up  with  hay,  and  have  considerable  supply 
going  on  track  toward  the  city,  or  a  good  supply 
on  boat  from  Canada,  an  embargo  keeps  buy  out  of  the 
market  until  the  dealers  succeed  in  moving  off  their 
surplus.  When  this  is  accomplished  and  a  high  level 
of  prices  is  secured  up  goes  the  embargo  and  in  slides 
the  hay  on  track  for  a  good  price  to  the  dealers  that 
have  it  ready  just  outside  the  city  gates.  By  the  time 
the  “up-State”  farmer  is  ready  to  ship,  the  market  is 
again  congested,  and  if  another  embargo  does  not  stop 
him  he  reaches  a  low  market. 
When  the  Department  of  Foods  aud  Markets  had 
made  arrangements  to  handle  10  carloads  of  hay  for 
the  Onondaga  County  Alfalfa  Growers'  Association, 
the  city  supply  of  hay  was  limited  and  prices  were  rul¬ 
ing  high.  It  was  a  good  time  for  sale.  The  dealers 
knew  that  before  the  farmers  or  the  Department,  and 
succeeded  iu  getting  the  embargo  in  time  to  prevent  a 
successful  sale.  When  the  embargo  was  lifted  the 
dealers  lmd  lmy  enough  ready  to  slip  in  to  keep  the 
market  overstocked  since. 
No  producer  can  go  by  the  quotations.  These  quota¬ 
tions  are  often  made  on  asking  price  and  there  may  be 
no  sales  for  some  days  at  tlie  quotation.  The  quota¬ 
tions  on  hay.  like  the  quotations  on  other  farm  products 
are  not  often  what  the  goods  sell  for,  but  always  what 
the  dealers  want  the  price  to  appear  to  ho. 
In  the  New  York  market  there  is  one  favorable  con¬ 
dition  to  the  grower.  The  men  who  buy  the  hay  have 
no  love  for  the  men  who  control  it  and  sell  it  to  them, 
and  when  thorough  organization  aud  the  right  kind  of 
Steady  and  prompt  transportation  can  be  secured,  an 
auction  market  for  hay  iu  the  city  will  he  welcomed 
by  the  buyers  and  consumers  of  hay,  and  the  pro¬ 
ducer  will  have  a  ready  market  at  better  prices  than  he 
can  hope  to  receive  through  the  present  system  of  pri¬ 
vate  sales  aud  embargo  manipulations. 
John  j.  DII.I.ON,  Commissioner. 
New  York  State  Dept,  iff  Foods  &  Markets. 
Notes  from  the  Auctions 
The  apple  market  has  continued  a  little  quiet  and 
prices  have  been  ruling  low.  During  last  week  it  re¬ 
quired  fancy  grades  to  bring  $3  a  barrel.  Dealers  who 
have  apples  in  storage  are  reporting  sales  at  a  loss  and 
the  Government  report  and  the  association  report  of 
the  holdings  in  storage  indicate  that  there  are  more  ap¬ 
ples  in  storage  now  than  there  were  at  this  time  last- 
year.  Both  the  dealers  and  the  growers  who  are  hold¬ 
ing  apples  in  cold  storage  seem  to  he  inclined  to  hold 
back  shipments  aud  to  influence  prices  by  keeping  the 
market  short.  Iu  our  judgment  they  are  making  an 
error.  They  are  curtailing  consumption  and  people 
are  finding  something  else  to  eat.  and  they  seem  to 
forget  that  even  in  this  situation,  apples  are  practically 
a  dollar  a  barrel  higher  now  than  they  were  at  this 
time  last  year  when  the  crop  was  nearly  a  million  bar¬ 
rels  less  than  it  is  now.  W  lien  the  large  crop  was  first 
announced  the  Department,  of  Foods  and  Markets  of¬ 
fered  its  services  to  growers  and  dealers  foi  the  dis¬ 
tribution  of  the  sip  plus  Crop.  The  policy  was  to  keep 
the  market  well  supplied,  to  keep  the  distributors  busy 
forcing  the  goods  into  the  hands  of  consumers  and  by 
increasing  consumption  to  increase  the  demand  and  in¬ 
cidentally  the  price.  This  policy  has  not  as  yet  been 
followed.  Rather  the  reverse  course  hits  been  taken,  of 
holding  hack  the  fruit  with  an  apparent  effort  to  main¬ 
tain  higher  prices.  In  the  meantime  the  apple  .season 
is  passing  and  it  will  not  he  long  before  new  products 
will  he  claiming  their  share  of  attention.  Our  advice 
to  growers  again  is,  to  ship  promptly,  steadily  and  reg¬ 
ularly.  Immediate  prices  will  not  be  high  hut  the  fruit 
will  be  moved,  aud  if  the  supply  is  regular  the  averages 
will  ho  good. 
Auction  sales  for  two  days  last  week  were: 
APPLES. — 14!)  bids.  Rome  Benutv  $2.75;  16  Beu 
Davis  $2.25:  10  $2.10;  12  $2.05:  1  Newtown  $2.20; 
1  King  $2.5)0;  2  li.  Sweet  $2.20;  2  Seek  $2.25 ;  10  Bald¬ 
win  $2.50;  4  $1.N5;  0  $2.10;  10  Baldwin  $2.75;  50 
$2.70;  70  $2.05;  $  $2.10;  2  $2.35;  2  Spv  $3.05;  2 
Twenty  Ounce.  $2.20. 
PRIVATE  SALES:  EGGS.— 15  cases  small  40c;  1 
case  small  35c:  4  cases  12c;  1*4  case  small  38c ;  2  cases 
small  33c ;  0  eases  4 Sc ;  1  ease  34c. 
MISCELLANEOI’S. — 30  lbs.  chickens  23c;  2*4  pair 
guineas  $1  pair;  2  pigs,  145  lbs..  12c:  1  pig.  10N  lbs., 
10i,4c;  50  lbs.  fowls  15c;  2  hogs,  100  lbs.,  0c ;  1  hog, 
00  lbs.,  10c;  L  hog.  307  lbs.,  0140;  1  hog,  177  lbs..  6c; 
2  pails  butter,  20  lbs..  28c;  1  box  butter,  18  lbs..  31c. 
Experiments  in  trying  to  carry  Winter  wheat  suc¬ 
cessfully  through  the  Winter  are  being  tried  in  Dako¬ 
ta  one  plan  is  to  seed  iu  the  corn  and  leave  the  stalks 
standing  to  catch  the  snow.  The  other  is  to  put  straw 
on  the  young  wheat.  For  a  Winter  grain,  however, 
rye  is  much  surer. 
New  York  Apples  in  San  Francisco 
List  of  the  Medal  Winners 
Mr.  Chas.  G.  Porter  of  Albion.  N.  Y.,  who  had  charge 
of  the  New  York  exhibit  at  the  Panama-Pacific  Expo¬ 
sition,  made  an  interesting  report  relating  to  that  ex¬ 
hibit,  at  the  recent  meeting  in  Rochester  of  the  New 
York  .State  Fruit  Growers'  Association.  The  fact  that 
New  York  earned — and  was  awarded — the  grand  prize 
for  "Best  display  and  largest  collection”  of  apples, 
exhibited  under  the  disadvantages  of  heiug  thousands 
of  miles  from  home,  and  right  at  the  home  of  the  world 
famous  Western  fruit,  is  certainly  a  wonderful  achieve¬ 
ment,  and  one  of  which  every  resident  of  the  State  may 
justly  he  proud. 
The  conditions,  as  first  imposed,  governing  the  en¬ 
tries  in  the  contest  for  prizes,  were  such  as  to  prohibit 
tlie  entry  of  New  York  fruit,  and  at  one  time  Mr.  Por¬ 
ter  decided  that  he  would  not  make  the  attempt.  How¬ 
ever,  after  a  long,  unpleasant  and  hard-fought  strug¬ 
gle.  he  gained  some  concessions,  ami  entered  the  New 
York  exhibit  in  the  contest.  lie  expected  but  few  if 
any  prizes,  as  at  the  beginning  15 r/r  was  taken  off  all 
New  York  fruit  because  it  was  not  in  boxes.  The 
Westerners  surely  were  after  the  lion’s  share  of  the 
honors,  and- evidently  intended  to  take  them 
Mr.  Porter  has  earned  unlimited  praise  and  credit 
for  the  very  able  and  successful  manner  in  which  he 
managed  the  exhibit  from  start  to  finish,  with  the  many 
obstacles  to  overcome.  He  has  had  several  years’  ex¬ 
perience  as  superintendent  of  the  fruit  department  at 
the  State  Fair.  Mr.  A.  B.  Buckholz,  State  Orchard 
Inspector  at  Albion,  very  ably  assisted  Mr.  Porter  in 
soliciting,  collecting  and  packing  the  fruit,  and  in  set¬ 
ting  up  the  exhibit.  He  was  with  the  exhibit  for  sev¬ 
eral  weeks  after  the  opening  of  the  Exposition.  Mr. 
Buckholz  for  several  years  has  had  charge  of  the  Or¬ 
leans  County  exhibit  of  fruit  at  the  State  Fair.  Also 
to  Senator  Whitney,  as  Commissioner  of  the  fruit  de¬ 
partment  iit  the  Exposition,  aud  E.  C.  Gillett  of  Penn 
Yan,  secretary  of  the  New  York  State  Fruit  Growers’ 
Association,  many  thunks  are  due  for  the  success  of  the 
New  York  exhibit  in  California. 
Do  not  forget  that  New  York  won  the  grand  prize 
for  "Best  display  and  largest  collection,"  after  it  was 
discounted  1 5r,4  because  not  in  boxes.  Many  medals 
below  the  gold  were  for  15114  fruit  which  was  not 
judged  until  Summer  of  1915.  The  biggest  apple  in  the 
entire  exhibit  of  all  States  was  a  Wolf  River,  grown 
by  G.  G.  Ditchings  of  Onondaga  County. 
The  following  list  furnished  by  Mr.  Buckholz,  shows 
the  names  of  those  to  whom  medals  were  awarded,  and 
the  varieties  for  which  they  were  given.  (The  gold 
medal  list  is  not  quite  complete)  : 
II.  L.  Brown,  Carlton — Orange  Quince — Gold  Medal. 
B.  B.  Ferris,  Albion — Twenty  Ounce — Gold  Medal. 
.T.  A.  Hop  worth  &  Son,  Milton — Jonathan — Gold 
Medal. 
G.  G.  Ditchings,  Syracuse-  -Northern  Spy.  Pound 
Sweet,  Twenty  Ounce,  Wolf  River — Gold  Medal. 
R,  C.  Marshall,  Albion — N.  Spv,  Greening — Gold 
Medal. 
F.  Mason,  Albion — Roxbury  Russet  -Gold  Medal. 
Geo.  Pettit,  Lyndouvillo — King — Gold  Medal. 
Eli  Reynolds,  Lookport — Baldwin.  King — Gold 
Medal. 
Leslie  Tanner,  Medina  Fameuse — Gold  Medal. 
A.  Van  Yranken,  Rexford — Delicious.  N.  Spy, 
Wealthy— Gold  Medal. 
B.  S.  Harwood,  Appleton — 20  Ounce — Silver  Medal. 
A.  G.  Snyder,  Albion — King — Silver  Modal. 
A.  Van  Yranken,  Rexford — Winter  Banana — Silver 
Medal. 
C.  A.  Boiler  &  Sons.  Sodus — N.  Spy — Silver  Medal. 
F.  M.  Bradley,  Barker — 1>.  of  Oldenburg — Silver 
Medal. 
E.  W.  Catelipole,  North  Rose — Ben  Davis — Silver 
Medal. 
C.  W.  Harding,  Albion — Baldwin  Silver  Medal. 
B.  II.  Heniou,  Brock  port — Alexander — Silver  Medal. 
J.  A.  Ilepworth  &  Son.  Milton — Baldwin,  Yellow 
Newtown,  N.  Spy,  Sutton  Bty. — Silver  Medal. 
G.  G.  Ditchings.  Syracuse — Alexander,  Wealthy — 
Silver  Medal. 
W .  E.  Howard  &  Sons,  Ilollev — N.  Spv — Silver 
Medal. 
B.  G.  Wilson.  Wn  ter  port — Wealthy — Silver  Medal. 
II.  E.  Wellman,  Kouri. ill — Baldwin — Silver  Medal. 
Clark  Allis,  Medina  — Rome  Bty. — Bronze  Medal. 
Seth  Allis.  IIoHey — N.  Spy  —  Bronze  Medal. 
.T.  S.  Beckwith,  Albion — Greening — Bronze  Medal. 
C.  A.  Boiler  &  Sims,  Sodus — Esup.  Spitzeuburg — 
Bronze  Medal. 
B.  .T.  <  'use,  Sodus — \\  nit’  River — Bronze  Medal. 
Mrs.  B.  L.  Chase,  Dresden — N.  Spy — Bronze  Medal. 
C.  M.  Harding.  Albion — King — Bronze  Medal. 
G.  G.  Ditchings,  Syracuse — King — Bronze  Medal. 
Geo.  R.  Seim  liber,  Ballston  Luke — N.  Spv — Bronze 
Medal. 
Snyder  Bros.,  Albion — X.  Spy — -Bronze  Medal. 
B.  G.  Wilson,  Wa  import — Baldwin — Bronze  Medal. 
James  Austin  &  Son.  Morton— Baldwin — Honorable 
Mention. 
B.  .1.  Case.  Sodus — Baldwin — Honorable  Mention. 
•T.  T.  Christensen,  Penn  Yan — Baldwin — Honorable 
Mention. 
S.  E.  Crowell.  Kendall — Baldwin — Honorable  Men¬ 
tion. 
H.  L.  Brown.  Carlton — Baldwin — Honorable  Men¬ 
tion. 
Geo.  Simpson,  Kent — Baldwin — Honorable  Mention. 
H.  S.  Fullagar,  Penn  Yan — Wage  tier — Honorable 
Mention. 
II.  L.  Hill,  Knowlesville — Baldwin — Honorable  Men¬ 
tion. 
II.  W.  Miles,  Waterport — Baldwin — Honorable  Men¬ 
tion. 
C.  M.  Mower.  Waterport — Baldwin — Honorable 
Mention. 
Snyder  Bros..  Albion — Baldwin— Honorable  Mention. 
A.  \  an  Yranken,  Rexford — Baldwin — Honorable 
Mention.  l.  L.  WOODFORD. 
