G/><?  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
439 
Notes  from  Department  of  Foods  and 
Markets 
If  the  New  York  State  Department  of  Foods  and 
Markets  did  nothing  else  except  investigate  the  com¬ 
plaints  that,  are  coming  in  from  farmers  on  account  of 
shipments  to  commission  dealers  and  others,  it  would 
fully  justify  i,ts  existence.  This  work  requires  prac¬ 
tically  the  entire  time  of  one  investigator  at  the  pres¬ 
ent  time  and  the  orospects  are  that  the  number  of  com¬ 
plaints  will  increase  as  shippers  begin  to  realize  the 
thorough  nature  of  the  service  that  is  being  conducted 
for  them.  Here  is  a  reply  from  one  shipper  received 
during  the  present  month : 
You  could  not  imagine  how  surprised  and  pleased  I 
was  on  receipt  of  the  check  of  $182.05  which  you  sent 
me.  This  account.  I  am  quite  sure,  would  never  have 
been  collected  if  it  were  not  for  your  kind  efforts. 
I  thank  you  and  I  would  gladly  pay  you  if  you  would 
accept  .it.  a.  young. 
Highland.  N.  Y\ 
The  above  letter  refers  to  the  closing  of  a  shipment 
of  fruit  during  the  past  Summer.  Because  of  the 
authority  vested  in  the  Department  to  examine  hooks 
and  call  witnesses,  it  is  able  to  make  a  thorough  in¬ 
vestigation  and  get  at  the*  facts  in  most  cases  and.  of 
course,  when  this  is  done,  the  interest  of  the  shipper  is 
quite  generally  secure.  The  exceptions  occur  when  the 
dealer  sells  the  produce  and  neglects  to  keep  a  proper 
record  <>f  the  transaction.  One  of  the  records  of  our 
investigation  will  illustrate  this  difficulty. 
In  August  last,  a  State  grower  shipped  plums  to  a 
commission  dealer  in  the  City  of  New  York.  The  re¬ 
turns  made  credited  the  grower  with  25  cents  a  crate, 
containing  82  baskets.  The  sale,  therefore,  was  for  less 
than  one  cent  a  four-pound  basket.  The  Depart¬ 
ment  was  selling  plums  about  this  time  on  the  auction 
sales  from  eight  to  10  cents  a  basket.  The  investigator 
found  that  the  record  on  the  commission  dealer’s  books 
corresponded  with  the  figures  given  in  the  account  of 
sales,  but  when  he  tried  to  find  the  name  and  address 
of  the  buyer,  he  was  informed  that  the  goods  had  been 
sold  for  cash  and  no  record  of  the  buyer's  name  or  ad¬ 
dress  was  kept  and  the  investigator  could  go  no  further. 
It  will  he  remembered  that  the  original  commission 
hills  all  provided  that  the  cum  mission  dealer  would  he 
required  to  keep  a  record  of  the  name  and  address  or’ 
the  buyer  i.n  every  ease.  This  provision,  was  success¬ 
fully  fought  by  the  commission  dealers  and  was  taken 
out  of  the  bill  before  it  became  a  law.  It  was  one 
of  the  most  important  provisions  of  the  hill  and  farm¬ 
ers  should  insist  that  the  law  he  amended  to  include 
such  a  provision. 
While  so  far  the  Department  has  been  fairly  success¬ 
ful  in  getting  adjustments  of  claims  and  collections, 
there  are  some  cases  like  the  above  plum  sales  and 
some  cases  where  goods  have  been  shipped  to  irresponsi¬ 
ble  parties  where  no  satisfactory  adjustment  could  be 
made.  The  advantage  of  the  Service,  however,  is  not 
entirely  in  the  individual  adjustments  made.  It  is 
more  largely  in  the  knowledge  of  the  dealer  that  such 
a  State  agency  exists  for  the  benefit  of  the  producer  and 
shipper  and  as  the  service  increases  and  becomes 
better  known,  it  is  believed  that  the  activities  of  the 
Department  will  have  a  wholesome  effect  on  crooked 
dealers  and  that  its  work  will  meet  the  approval  and 
the  cooperation  of  the  honest  houses  in  the  trade. 
AUCTION  NOTES 
During  the  last  week,  the  receipts  of  apples  have 
been  unusually  heavy  in  the  general  market  and  Mon¬ 
day  the  receipts  were  125  cars,  which  was  the  heaviest 
daily  receipt  for  a  long  time.  The  receipts  remained 
heavy  during  the  week.  The  disposition  of  holders 
seems  to  be  now.  to  put  the  apples  on  the  market  and 
accept  what  they  bring.  The  demand  from  the  Middle 
West  has  been  disappointing.  At  this  time  of  year, 
there  is  usually  a  pretty  good  demand  for  Western 
New  York  apples  in  the  Middle  States.  It  has  not  de¬ 
veloped  as  yet  this  season,  and  there  is  some  specula¬ 
tion  as  to  whether  it  will  develop  at  all  or  not.  The 
export  trade  is  about  one  million  barrels  short  of  last 
year.  A  large  portion  of  the  fruit  arriving  the  early 
part  of  last  week  and  the  week  before  during  the  cold 
weather,  came  in  chilled  or  frozen  and,  of  course, 
the  price  of  this  stock  was  low.  Tt  ran  from  $1.50  to 
$1.75  a  barrel.  Fair  to  good  went  as  high  as  $2.50. 
Baldwins  of  fair  quality  sold  from  $2.00  to  $2.75  and 
Greenings  from  $2.50  to  $2.75.  During  the  last  week, 
the  proportion  of  prime  or  fancy  fruit  was  exceedingly 
small.  A  few  very  fancy  Baldwins  sold  from  $8  to 
$8.25  and  fancy  Greenings  from  $8  to  $8.50.  One 
particularly  fancy  small  shipment  of  Greenings  was 
reported  as  high  as  $4.  Some  of  the  Grant  Ditchings 
Spies  which  were  sold  in  the  auction  sales  in  Septem¬ 
ber  with  the  run  of  the  orchard  at  $3.40,  sold  during 
the  past  week  as  high  as  $0  and  $6.25  a  barrel  at  pri¬ 
vate  sale  by  the  dealer. 
The  record  of  two  days’  sales  follows: 
APPLES.— 26  bids,  King  $2.75;  11  $3.30;  13  $2.45; 
or,  Greening  $2.70;  4  $2.75 ;  16  $2.45;  1  $1.85;  19 
Baldwin  $2.00;  10  $2.70;  10  $2.65;  0  $2.60;  2  $1.85; 
11  King  $3.40;  1  $2.10;  2  Gi Ili flower  $2.80;  43  Green¬ 
ing  $3;  25  82,60;  14  $2;  2  Swaar  $2.50;  6  Seek 
$2.20;  8  Bellflower  $2.05;  17  Greening  $8.10;  6  $2.00; 
1  $2.20;  2  $2.45;  2  Peck's  Pleasant  $3.10;  8  Spitz 
$2.60;  2  $2.80;  3  Tolman  $2.65;  2  $2.45;  1  Falla- 
water  $2.50;  3  Spy  $2.25;  3  King  88.20;  1  $2.75;  2 
Jonathan  $2.45;  2  Hubbardston  $2.20:  1  $1.65;  1 
Snow  $2.60;  10  Baldwin  $2.50;  11  $2.40;  14  $2;  IS 
Hubbardston  $2.10:  0  $1,65;  1  Pound  Sweet  $1.80; 
71  Baldwin  $2.00;  20  $2.30;  8  $2.25;  6  Russet  $1.75;  1 
Baldwin  $2.55:  6  $2.05;  1  $2.70;  10  $2.40;  11  $8.35; 
50  $2.70:  19  $3;  2  King  $2.30;  4  Greening  $1.50;  1 
Spv  $3.70;  1  $8.75;  51  Baldwin  $2.60;  1  $1.10;  25 
Greening  $1.80;  27  King  $1.85;  2  $1.15;  3  Cranberry 
Pippin  $2.30;  2  Swaar  $2.20;  1  Ben  Davis  $1,70;  4 
Gillifiower  $1.70;  6  Spy  $2.10;  10  Baldwin  $.1,60;  6 
Greening  $1.40:  2  Spy  $1.80;  1  Cranberry  Pippin 
$1.55 ;  1  Baldwin  $2.05. 
Summary  of  returns  made  shippers  of  eggs^and  mis¬ 
cellaneous  products  for  week  ending  March  2nd.  101(5: 
EGGS.  8  eases  20e ;  20  23c;  17  23V2c;  27  25c;  24 
26c;  1  26 </•'■;  0  27c:  1  2714c;  21  28c;  28  29c;  1 
2! H->c ;  5  80c:  2  31c;  1  24c. 
MISCELLANEOUS. — 1  coop 
pigs.  125  lbs..  12c;  4  pigs,  108, 
lbs..  10c;  3 
1  bbl.  poul¬ 
try,  114  lbs..  18c;  1  bbl.  poultry,  86  lbs.,  18c;  1  calf, 
li6  lbs.,  i7V>c;  2  pkgs.  butter,  10  lbs.,  32c. 
fowl.  50 
lbs.,  12c; 
The  Farmer  and  the  Commission  Men 
Probably  very  few  farmers  have  had  a  similar  ex¬ 
perience  to  one  I  had  some  time  ago.  I  shipped  five 
bushel-baskets  of  Oldenburg  apples  to  a  well-known 
commission  house,  for  which  I  received  only  IS  cents. 
Now,  the  five  baskets  cost  me  10  cents  each,  total  50 
cents.  This  is  the  problem,  bow  many  cents  on  the 
dollar  I  made.  Some  smarter  man  than  1  ever  expect, 
to  be  will  please  figure  this  out  for  me;  meanwhile  I 
keep  the  inspiring  documents  of  thijs  profitable  trans¬ 
action  framed  up  and  in  front  of  my  eyes  all  the  time, 
and  I  never,  no  never,  will  he  caught  doing  business 
with  commission  houses. 
But  my  experience  is  as  nothing  compared  with 
what  a  neighbor  suffered,  This  man,  whom  we  shall 
call  Smith,  (because  that  happens  to  be  his  correct 
name),  shipped  a  few  barrels  of  apples,  addressing 
them  to  the  Foods  and  Markets  Department  at  New 
York.  These  apples,  however,  were  side-tracked  at  some 
siding  and  left  to  freeze:  result  total  loss.  Naturally 
Smith  was  led  to  think  that  the  cause  of  all  this  ^was 
the  carelessness  of  the  Department,  and  he  decided 
that  the  old  commission  houses  wore  good  enough  for 
him,  he  would  never  ship  to  the  Department.  But, 
and  with  this  but  does  light  shine,  immediately  after 
the  loss  on  these  apples  Smith  received  a  letter  from 
a  commission  man.  let  us  call  him  Skinner,  (because 
that  is  not  his  real  name),  asking  him  to  ship  him  his 
apples.  Smith  was  wondering  how  Skinner  ever  found 
his  name  and  the  fact  that  he  had  apples  to  sell.  The 
only  explanation  is  this;  Surely  did  Skinner  have  in¬ 
side  and  guilty  information  of  what  befell  to  Smith’s 
apples.  And  Smith  is  not  the  only  victim  of  such  ras¬ 
cally  treatment.  When  we  read  the  rottenness  of  the 
poultry  market  in  New  York  city,  where  murder  is  the 
order  of  the  day.  as  in  the  Baft  case,  why  should  we 
think  it  impossible  for  the  commission  trade  to  run 
the  roller  over  the  average  and  undefended  farmer? 
It  is  up  to  the  Foods  and  Markets  Department  to 
take  these  matters  up  and  prevent  such  things  from 
happening  all  the  time.  We  fanners  are  payiug  tuxes 
in  support  of  this  Department,  and  it  is  only  right  that 
we  should  expect  to  get  our  money's  worth  in  proper 
protection  against  unprincipled  rascals. 
Columbia  Go.,  N.  Y.  D.  E.  SIRAMARO. 
R.  N.-Y. — We  have  seen  this  farmer’s  check  for  IS 
cents!  Here  is  a  copy  of  a  “return”  from  the  same 
commission  man  : 
1  basket  of  apples  (Ft  70c . $  .70 
Freight  . 26 
Commission  . 20  .46 
$  .24 
This  same  man  sold  one  basket  of  apples  for  80 
cents  and  charged  freight  26  cents,  commission  10  cents, 
or  a  total  of  86  cents.  The  shipper  owed  him  six  cents 
and  paid  for  the  basket.  The  Department  could  and 
would  do  just  such  work  as  Mr.  Siramaro  suggests  if 
it  could  be  given  the  money  with  which  to  do  it.  No 
one  can  give  such  service,  for  nothing.  If  you  waut  it 
tell  Gov.  Whitman  and  your  member  of  tin*  Assembly 
so. 
Apples  Must  Be  Well  Packed 
I  have  for  some  time  been  waiting  to  pay  a  debt  of 
gratitude  through  your  columns  to  the  Department  of 
Foods  and  Markets  of  the  State  for  the  exceptionally 
good  returns  they  secured  for  me  on  a  trial  shipment  of 
apples  last  .November.  Pressure  of  other  affairs  has 
compelled  me  to  delay  until  the  present. 
When  1  shipped  my  fruit  I  was  rather  doubtful  about 
receiving  as  much  ;is  $2.50  per  barrel  for  it  from  the 
prices  quoted  in  your  columns,  although  I  had  sprayed 
my  trees  and  carefully  picked,  graded  and  packed  the 
apples.  Imagine  my  pleasure  and  surprise  when  a  few 
days  after  shipping  I  received  a  check  and  an  account 
of 'sales  showing  that  my  grade  A,  Maiden  Blush,  had 
brought  $4  per  barrel  and  a  fair  A  quality  of  Green¬ 
ings  $8.25.  This  was  proving  the  case  of  the  auction 
with  evidence  that  was  convincing  and  I  lost  little 
time  in  bringing  it  to  the  attention  of  my  neighbors, 
who  had  sold  their  fruit  on  the  tree  to  a  local  buyer  for 
$1.25  per  barrel  with  the  obligation  of  hauling  the  bar¬ 
reled  fruit  to  the  steamboat  dock  some  nine  miles  away. 
Since  this  experience  I  have  attended  two  auctions  at 
the  warerooms  of  the  Department  in  New  York  city, 
and  I  now  understand  the  difference  between  the  prices 
I  received  and  those  often  appearing  in  your  weekly 
auction  review.  1  confess  my  visits  depressed  me.  Not 
because  of  anything  lacking  in  the  management  or  meth¬ 
ods  of  making  the  sales,  hut  because  of  the  appearance 
and  qualify  of  the  fruit  that  had  been  sent  for  sale. 
The  prices  it  brought  were  good  for  its  kind.  The 
quality  and  pack,  however,  was  much  below  that  of 
other  New  York  apples  1  saw  the  same  day  at  different 
commission  houses  in  the  vicinity  of  the  fruit  auction 
and  very  much  inferior  to  the  Western  apples  which 
subsequent  investigation  showed  me  were  handled  ex¬ 
clusively  by  the  high-class  retail  fruit  dealers  of  the 
city.  An  examination  of  a  barrel  of  Spy,  on  my  sec¬ 
ond  visit  on  February  16,  showed  that  the  old  practice 
of  a  good  top  and  second  layer  covering  an  ungraded 
assortment  below  the  standard  stamped  on  the  barrel 
head  still  prevails,  in  spite  of  our  packing  law  and  the 
fact  that  this  practi.ee  fools  only  the  packer,  for  the 
prospective  purchasers  examine  the  fruit  before  the 
auction.  Had  the  pack  and  quality  of  that  lot  becu 
up  to  its  top  layer  it  would  easily  have  brought  $4 
per  barrel.  As  it  was  $2.70  was  the  best  the  auctioneer 
could  draw.  The  shipper  of  that  fruit  may  he  sore 
when  he  receives  his  returns,  but  he,  in  common  with 
other  fruit  growers  of  this  State,  must  realise  that  if 
we  are  to  continue  the  honest  market  that  the  State 
has  now  established  for  the  sale  of  our  produce  we 
must  support  the  market  properly,  and  increase  the 
reputation  of  the  pack  and  quality  of  New  York  fruit. 
My  pride  in  the  achievements  of  this  State  was  con¬ 
siderably  dampened  when  iu  reply  to  my  inquiry,  ad¬ 
dressed  to  various  retail  fruit  dealers,  why  they  didn’t 
handle  New  York  apples,  they  said  they  couldn’t  get  the 
pack  or  fine  appearance  of  the  Western  fruit.  They 
didn’t  say  quality.  They  admitted  the  superiority  of 
the  New  York  apple  on  that  count.  Apples,  they  said, 
sell  mostly  on  appearance.  Few  buy  by  name.  A 
regular  buyer,  however,  who  by  accident  buys  an  apple 
of  quality  invariably  asks  for  that  kind  again.  So 
here,  Mr.  New  York  Apple  Grower,  is  your  chance. 
Pack  and  grade  your  fruit  properly,  so  that  i,t  appeals 
to  the  eye  and  a  good  demand  and  price  will  follow. 
Woodstock,  N.  Y.  B.  L.  z. 
Neglect  of  Local  Markets 
On  page  247  I  note  what  W.  II.  D.  has  to  say  re¬ 
garding  price  of  apples  in  New  York  Gity.  also  your 
statement  following.  I  write  this  to  say  that  the  big 
cities  arc  not  the  only  places  of  high  prices  or  poor 
quality.  I  have  before  me  a  bill  of  goods  from  a  store 
in  a  country  village  of  less  than  1,500  population, 
dated  Jan.  31,  1016.  This  item  is  in  fist:  “One-half  bn. 
apples  $1.60.”  These  are  Russets,  many  with  puck¬ 
ered  scabby  skins  and  are  so  small  that  a  common 
drinking  tumbler  will  hold  two  and  still  have  one-half 
to  three-quarters  of  an  inch  clearance  before  reaching 
top  edge  of  glass.  Boston  and  Bangor  markets  on 
same  date  quote  cooking  Russets  at  50  to  75c  bu.  This 
village  has  two  steam  railroad  stations,  C.  I*.  R.  R. 
and  Bangor  &  Aroostook  B.  R.  It  looks  as  though  the 
apple-hungry  consumers  pay.  E.  G.  S. 
Lily  Bay,  Me. 
It.  N.-Y. — There  is  no  question  about  the  neglect  of 
local  markets.  Many  a  farmer  will  send  small  lots  of 
produce  to  the  big;  city — consigned  to  a  commission 
man — and  get.  a  85-cent  dollar,  when  the  nearby  town 
would  have  absorbed  all  the  goods  uud  returned  twice 
as  much.  In  many  oases  food  is  sent  to  the  big  city 
and  then  sent  hack  to  the  local  market  for  sale.  In 
such  cases  the  handlers  and  dealers  make  a  profit  and 
the  farmer  loses  money.  The  local  consumers  will  not 
buy  all  that  they  should  because  the  price  i,s  made 
too  high  by  all  this  useless  transportation,  while  all 
this  produce  sent  to  the  big  market  helps  to  create 
a  glut  or  surplus  which  enables  the  dealer  to  dictate 
prices.  Tf  the  local  market  were  fully  supplied  first 
by  direct  selling  all  would  be  benefited.  This  is  an 
old  story,  yet  it  is  one  of  the  truest  things  in  business. 
Discussing  the  Big  Milk  Question 
Chenango  County,  N.  Y..  has  the  densest  cow  popu¬ 
lation  of  any  county  in  the  State,  and  possibly  of  any 
in  the  country.  It  is  headquarters  for  a  large  quantify 
of  milk  that  goes  into  New  York  City.  We  were  much 
pleased  then  to  have  Mr.  Emerson  of  the  Department  of 
Foods  and  Markets  come  to  our  county  and  give  a  num¬ 
ber  of  lectures  relating  to  the  proposition  to  enable  the 
Department  to  enter  upon  some  line  of  procedure  look¬ 
ing  to  a  better  outlet  for  milk.  Mr.  Emerson  came  to 
our  town  and  discussed  the  proposed  plan.  He  first 
went  into  details  relating  to  the  work  that  the  depart¬ 
ment  has  done  to  provide  an  outlet  for  fruit,  and  to 
establish  a  pri.ee  that  would  be  paying  to  the  producers. 
He  asserts  that  as  a  result  the  price  of  apples  has  been 
better  than  in  previous  years  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
the  production  was  larger.  New  York,  he  says,  was  the 
first  State  to  establish  a  market  bureau,  and  14  States 
have  since  followed  suit.  This  State  has  accomplished 
a  hundred  times  as  much  as  all  the  others  together. 
Regarding  milk  the  speaker  claimed  that  they  have  gone 
far  enough  to  determine  that  i.t  is  possible  to  raise  the 
price  to  the  producer  one  cent  a  quart  while  lowering 
it  one  cent  to  the  consumer,  and  at  the  same  time  not  in¬ 
jure  the  trust.  This  is  in  line  with  what  farmers  have 
been  contending  for  a  long  time,  if  the  big  milk  dealers 
will  only  do  business  on  an  economical  basis.  The 
speaker  went  on  to  say  that  there  are  several  cities  in 
the  West  that  have  demonstrated  that  something  of 
the  sort  can  be  done.  It  is  desired  to  establish  a  big 
creamery  in  the  city  that  can  take  care  of  one-fourth 
of  the  production  of  the  State.  If  it  can  do  that  deal¬ 
ers  will  prosper  better  than  now,  as  much  of  this 
amount  will  go  into  butter  and  other  products.  It  will 
regulate  prices  and  give  the  producer  a  better  chance 
than  he  ever  had  before.  Committees  have  been  ap¬ 
pointed  to  draft  resolutions  favoring  the  department 
and  its  plan,  and  to  send  them  to  the  Legislature  and 
the  Governor.  n.  n.  L. 
New  York  State  News 
"  THE  WITTER  BILL. — New  legislation  is  sought  in 
the  so-called  Witter  bill  for  the  suppression  of  bovine 
tuberculosis.  Among  other  things  the  bill  provides  for 
a  physical  examination  of  cattle  at  the  direction  of  the 
Commissioner  of  Agriculture  where  disease  is  apparent, 
and  also  for  the  pasteurization  of  skimmed  milk  or 
whey.  It  also  states  that  skimmed  mill:  or  whey  that 
has  not  been,  pasteurized  shall  not  be  sold,  given  away 
or  returned  to  patrons  of  cheese  factories,  milk  stations 
or  creameries.  Commenting  on  the  bill  the  Commis¬ 
sioner  of  Agriculture  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that 
the  States  of  Pennsylvania.  Wisconsin  and  Michigan 
have  such  laws  on  their  statute  hooks  from  which  bene¬ 
ficial  results  have  beeu  obtained.  lie  cites  the  opinion 
of  veterinarians  of  Oswego  County  which  is  to  the 
effect  that  in  cases  of  foot  and  mouth  disease  skimmed 
milk  was  the  agency  through  which  nine  of  the  affected 
cows  in  that  county  contracted  the  disease.  Regard¬ 
ing  the  physical  test  of  cattle  Commissioner  Wilson 
further  says  that  many  of  the  so-called  "spreaders” 
may  be  eliminated  in  this  manner.  It  consists  of  an 
examination  of  the  external  glands  in  cattle,  the  udder 
and  ait  examination  of  the  lungs.  The  examination  is 
not  made  compulsory  on  the  owner  of  the  cattle  except 
where  the  disease  is  apparent.  The  bill  further  pro¬ 
vides  that  where  a  farmer  wants  to  use  tuberculin  on 
his  cattle  or  mallein  on  his  horses  he  is  not  required  to 
report  to  the  Department  of  Agriculture  unless  asked 
to  do  so  by  the  Commissioner.  There  is  also  a  pro¬ 
vision  iu  the  hi, 11  which  gives  to  the  owner  of  a  cow 
found  to  have  localized  tuberculosis  00  per  cent,  of  the 
appraised  value  if  the  animal  is  killed.  The  present 
law  makes  it  SO  per  Cent.  In  severe  cases  the  bill 
provides  that  the  State  pay  40  per  cent,  of  the  ap¬ 
praised  value  instead  of  50  as  now. 
GRANGE  SCHOLARSHIP?!. — The  committee  on 
State  Grange  scholarships  has  recently  announced  that 
the  annual  competitive  examination  for  these  scholar¬ 
ships  will  be  held  the  third  Saturday  in  June  i.n  each 
county  where  there  are  applicants  for  them.  Anyone 
18  years  of  age  and  not  more  than  25.  who  is  a  mem¬ 
ber  of  a  Subordinate  Grange,  may  take  the  examina¬ 
tions.  The  scholarships  are  given  by  the  State  Grange 
in  the  short  course  in  agriculture  at  the  State  Agricul¬ 
tural  College.  There  are  12  iu  number,  valued  at  $50 
each.  J.  w.  n. 
