665 
Notes  from  Department  of  Foods  and 
Markets 
The  apple  market  drags  along  without  much  change. 
When  fancy  apples  can  he  had,  they  bring  a  good 
price.  Fancy  Greenings  sold  during  the  week  up  t.o 
$3.50  per  barrel  and  fancy  Baldwins  $3  to  $3.25.  A 
lot  of  really  high  quality  Xewtowns  last  week  brought, 
np  to  $5  a  barrel.  There  is  however,  very  little  of 
the  fancy  fruit  on  tin'  market  and  very  much  of  me¬ 
dium  to  poor  grades  and  prices  range  from  $2.75  to 
$3  on  good  Grade  A  stock,  with  lower  prices  for  other 
grades,  according  to  quality. 
The  apple  situation  this  year  has  been  peculiar.  The 
Federal  Government  underestimated  the  crop  at  the 
beginning  of  the  season.  Other  observers  did  the  same 
thing  and  these  estimates  favored  the  advancing  of 
prices  during  the  late  .Summer  and  Fall  months.  Not¬ 
withstanding  the  small  estimate  in  August,  speculators 
were  disposed  to  buy  close  with  a  view  to  big  profits 
later  on.  $2  a  barrel  was  their  published  limit  for 
grade  A  apples.  The  announcement  of  the  Department 
of  Foods  and  Markets  to  hold  public  auction  sales  dur¬ 
ing  the  season,  stimulated  the  activity  of  speculators 
with  the  avowed  purpose  of  getting  control  of  all  the 
high-class  fruit,  with  a  view  of  keeping  it  away  from 
public  sales.  The  auction  sales  conducted  by  the  De¬ 
partment  in  the  orchards  standardized  the  price  of 
barreled  apples  throughout  the  United  States  and 
Canada,  and  stimulated  speculative  buying.  During 
September,  Octoher  and  November,  prices  of  apples  in 
consuming  centers  ranged  high.  The  speculators,  how¬ 
ever.  felt  certain  of  still  higher  prices  during  the  Win¬ 
ter  and  refused  to  let.  the  apples  they  controlled,  on  to 
the  market.  As  a  result  small  growers  who  had  no 
facilities  for  storing,  found  a  ready  and  a  profitable 
market  at  the  auction  sales. 
On  December  1st.  the  report  showed  that  apples  in 
storage  aggregated  ti.154.S55  barrels.  This  was  1.200.- 
000  barrels  more  than  was  held  in  storage  the  corres¬ 
ponding  time  the  year  previous.  Notwithstanding  this 
large  holding,  speculators  still  adhered  to  the  prospect 
of  higher  prices  later  on  and  refused  to  put  the  fruit, 
on  the  market.  Tn  the  meantime  California  and  Flor¬ 
ida  kept  a  steady  supply  of  citrus  fruit  in  the  market, 
and  established  a  regular  and  steady  demand  for  it.  to 
the  exclusion  of  apples.  The  result  of  this  holding 
policy  is  that  on  April  1st.  we  had  2,017.111  barrels 
of  apples  yet  in  cold  storage,  and  the  speculators  are 
grudgingly  putting  these  on  the  market  at  a  loss  to 
themselves,  which  is  estimated  to  he  $1.50  a  barrel, 
with  an  aggregate  loss,  as  estimated  in  the  New  York 
Sun.  to  the  apple  speculators  in  the  whole  country  for 
the  year  of  $N. 000.000. 
From  the  opening  of  the  season  the  advice  of  the 
Department  of  Foods  and  Markets  was  to  keep  a  full 
volume  and  steady  supply  of  fruit  in  the  New  York 
market,  with  the  assurance  that  the  demand  would  he 
increased  from  day  In  day  by  getting  the  producer  and 
the  consumer  closer  together  and  by  reducing  the  cost 
of  distribution.  Nearly  all  of  the  New  York  State 
growers  followed  the  advice  to  their  own  profit  and 
either  sold  through  the  Department  or  to  the  specula¬ 
tors.  The  dealers  had  the  opportunity  to  make  reason- 
aide  profits  on  their  holdings  during  the  Full  months. 
They  might  have  reduced  (heir  holdings  and  their  losses 
by  keeping  a  constant  supply  in  the  market  during  the 
Winter  and  increasing  the  consumption.  They  chose 
to  hold  for  big  gains  and  they  must  now  take  the  conse¬ 
quences  of  a  had  judgment. 
A  ppl  cs  being  practically  all  out  of  the  growers’  hands, 
shipments  to  the  auction  last  week  were  light  and  no 
fancy  or  high  grade  quality.  Sales  were  as  follows: 
APPLES.  3  hhls.  Baldwin  $2.15:  3  Ben  Davis 
$1.75:  2  Stark  $1.85;  2  N.  W.  Greening  $1.95;  2  Pip¬ 
pin  $3.5(1;  30  Greening  $2.70;  5X  $2.05:  10  $2.25;  14 
$2.15;  2  $2.35;  21  Baldwin  $2.70;  3  $2.30;  S  Russel 
$2;  2  $1.70:  11  Greening  $3.20;  IS  $2.10;  0  Pomeroy 
$3:  1  Phoenix  $4.05;  107  Baldwin  $2.50;  3  $1.N5;  2 
$1.05;  1  $2.25;  5  $1.75:  1  $1.00;  133  $2.15;  0  $1.00;  3 
Ben  Davis  $2.10:  1  $1.00. 
POTATOES.— 34  sacks  $2.75;  10  $2.90;  10  $2.S0; 
193  $2.75:  20  $3;  205  $2.95;  5  $2.75;  15  hkts.  SOc. 
Summary  of  returns  made  shippers  of  eggs  and  mis¬ 
cellaneous  products  for  week  ending  April  13th,  1916: 
EGGS. — y»  ease  duck  eggs  39c :  1  case  duck  eggs 
38c:  1  case  duck  eggs  30c:  1  -use  27c:  120  cubes  20c; 
2  coses  25 14c ;  50  cases  25c;  29  cases  2414c;  32  cases 
21c:  0  cases  23J/»c;  18  cases  23c:  1  case  22c;  1  ease 
21 14  e. 
MTSGEl.LANEt  >TTS. — 1  dressed  calf.  79  lbs.,  13c; 
2  dressed  calves.  193  lhs.,  15e;  3  dressed  calves,  215 
lhs..  13c;  I  dressed  calves.  299  lhs.,  12V>e;  1  live  calf, 
110  lhs.  11  Vie:  3  dressed  pigs,  290  lhs.  13c;  1  pkg. 
butter.  22  lhs.,  34c;  23  gallons  syrup  90c  per  gal.;  11 
lhs.  butter  33c:  9  squabs  $2.50;  1  doz.  canned  peaches 
$1 :  1  doz.  canned  peaches  75c;  1  coop  geese,  29  lhs.. 
15c  per  lh.;  5  coops  poultry.  257  lhs..  20c;  1  dressed 
calf.  120  lhs..  1444c;  1  calf's  liver  00c;  0  eases  A-gradc 
honey  $3.00  per  ease;  1  dressed  calf,  91  lhs..  15c ;  4 
pails  butter  (10  lhs.  eachl  30c;  2  dressed  calves.  172 
lhs..  15c;  1  box  livers  $1.50;  1  dressed  calf.  45  lhs.. 
10c;  1  tub  butter  (04  lhs.)  20c;  .3  dressed  calves.  241 
lhs..  14c;  1  hag  calves’  livers,  head  and  feet.  $2:  42 
gallons  syrup  $1  per  gal.;  30  lhs.  butter  31c;  1  basket 
string  beans  $4:  1  basket  string  beans  $3;  7  bids, 
parsnips  00c;  15  hags  onions  00c. 
That  Car  oi  Frozen  Apples 
I  have  your  letter  containing  check  for  $77.80  in 
Sctlement  of  claim  for  freezing  of  my  carload  of  apples, 
and  I  thank  you.  Another  time  I  will  try  to  avoid 
shipments  in  cold  weather.  1  am  well  satisfied  with 
my  first  shipment  and  I  believe  you  are  doing  a  good 
work  for  both  the  producer  and  the  consumer.  1  have 
some  butter  to  ship  now.  and  next  year  hope  to  have 
some  shipments  of  potatoes  for  you.  G.  E.  e. 
Michigan. 
In  reporting  this  sale  of  apples  some  weeks  back  it 
£*/»e  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
wac  explained  that  the  price  was  low  because  the  ap¬ 
ples  had  frozen  in  transit  because  of  delay  and  cold 
weather.  The  Department  put  in  the  claim  and  got  a 
prompt  settlement,  securing  the  grower  a  fair  price 
for  the  goods. 
False  Market  Quotations 
Do  false  quotations  in  price  currents,  issued  from 
New  York  City,  discriminate  against  the  New  York 
producer?  Some  shippers  do  not  seem  to  realize  the 
injury  done  by  false  quotations.  Let  us  illustrate  from 
a  live  poultry  situation  developed  last  week.  Indiana 
and  other  Western  live  poultry,  weighing  five  pounds 
or  heavier  per  head,  sold  to  large  dealers  at  three  cents 
above  the  quotations.  Tn  other  words,  the  dealers  in¬ 
duced  the  price  current  editors  to  publish  the  price  of 
this  grade  of  live  poultry  at  three  cents  below  the  sill¬ 
ing  price.  If.  however,  a  shipper  from  New  York  or 
adjacent  States  made  a  shipment  of  this  grade  of  poul¬ 
try  to  New  York,  it  would  sell  for  no  higher  than  the 
quotations  in  the  price  current,  which  would  he  actu¬ 
ally  three  cents  below  the  honest  price  of  the  poultry. 
This  same  thing  occurs  almost  daily  in  quotations  on 
butter  and  cheese  and  many  other  products.  It  is 
done  with  a  deliberation  and  with  a  purpose,  and  yet 
there  sire  men  in  farm  official  circles  in  the  State  of 
New  York  who  wish  us  to  apply  the  soft,  pedal  to  cus¬ 
toms  of  Ibis  kind  and  talk  about  making  friends  in  a 
system  that  makes  a  practice  of  this  kind  of  trickery. 
There  may  lie  honest  men  in  the  business,  blit  the 
system  is  such  that  no  one  man  can  resist  and  to  say 
the  least  none  of  them  protest  against  the  system. 
Auction  vs.  Private  Sale 
During  the  first  week  of  April  a  prominent  grower 
in  Virginia  shipped  a  carload  of  Ben  Davis  apples  to  a 
commission  dealer  in  New  York  City.  It  was  sold  in 
hulk  on  the  dock  at  $2.35  a  barrel.  The  buyer  brought 
samples  of  them  to  the  auction  rooms,  and  catalogued 
them  for  resale  a  few  days  later.  They  were  sold  at 
auction  for  $2.(15  a  barrel.  The  grower  lost  just  30 
cents  a  barrel  on  the  gross  price  for  the  privilege  of 
making  a  private  sale.  lie  probably  paid  10  per  cent, 
commission  besides.  The  auction  commission  is  five 
per  cent.  We  are  not  able  to  make  many  such  com¬ 
parisons  because  it  is  not  easy  to  get  records  from  the 
private  sales;  hut  all  the  records  we  do  get  show  an 
advantage  in  the  auction  sales. 
Another  shipment  of  California  boxed  Newtowns  were 
bought  by  a  speculator  on  the  dock,  and  resold  at  an 
advance  in  the  auction  rooms.  The  original  price  was 
not  made  known,  hut  the  dealer  was  satisfied  with  the 
auction  sale  and  evidently  made  a  profit.  The  logic  of 
the  situation  is  that  all  perishable  fruit  will  be  sold 
in  New  York  City  at  auction  in  the  future. 
An  Inspector’s  Mistake 
Some  weeks  back  we  referred  to  the  condemnation  by 
an  agent  of  the  Board  of  Health  of  a  single  barrel  of 
apples  in  a  ear  lot  from  Mr.  14.  C.  Brown  of  Hoosick, 
N.  Y..  in  a  shipment  to  Olivit  Brothers  of  New  York. 
Tt  was  suggested  that  the  discovery  of  a  single  barrel 
of  decayed  apples  in  a  car  of  1  GO  barrels  was  unusual. 
The  trade  papers  condemned  the  suggestion  in  the 
Strongest  language  at  tlieir  command;  and  accused  The 
14.  X.-Y.  of  innuendo  and  reckless  assumption  of  facts 
without  trustworthy  information.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  we  spared  them  the  embarrassment  of  details, 
which  the  trade  papers  might  have  learned  for  them¬ 
selves  if  they  were  anxious  to  he  exact.  The  young  and 
inexperienced  man  who  insj . ted  the  apples  had  no  in¬ 
formation  to  show  where  the  apples  that  he  con¬ 
demned  came  front.  lie  was  shown  a  barrel  of  decayed 
apples  with  no  marks  or  name  to  identify  it.  The 
agent  told  him  it  belonged  to  the  Brown  car;  and  lie 
accepted  the  agent’s  word  and  issued  the  certificate. 
For  all  he  know  that  barrel  of  apples  may  have  come 
from  China.  The  Brown  apples  were  marked  and  sten¬ 
ciled,  and  it  is  not  clear  how  this  one  barrel  happened 
to  he  both  decayed  and  unmarked.  Anyway  the  whole 
available  truth  about  the  condemnation  has  not  yet 
been  told  by  the  trade  press. 
On  behalf  of  the  Health  Department  it  may  be  said 
that  the.  inspector  was  a  new  man,  and  while  disciplined 
for  his  carelessness,  is  helieved  to  have  acted  in  good 
faith.  In  the  past  years  tin*  city  inspection  service 
was  left  much  to  the  man  in  the  field.  At  the  present 
time  the  inspectors  are  under  careful  supervision,  and 
the  abuses  complained  of  in  the  past  are  pretty  well 
eliminated. 
Protested  Egg  Check 
During  October.  1915,  I  shipped  10  cases  of  fresh 
i  ggs  to  14.  I*.  Ellis  of  Tenafly.  X.  .T„  and  3210  Broad¬ 
way.  Now  York  City.  <  >n  December  1st  lie  sent  me 
check  for  $125  which  went  to  protest  and  I  have  been 
unable  to  collect  since,  l’lease  look  it  up  for  me. 
Michigan.  F.  .T.  p. 
The  Department  has  exhausted  its  patience  in  efforts 
to  collect  this  claim.  Mr.  Ellis  acknowledges  the  debt 
and  promises  payment  from  time  to  time,  but  always 
breaks  the  promises.  Nothing  remains  but  suit  and  the 
possibility  of  being  able  to  realize  on  judgment,  which 
may  or  may  not  be  successful. 
The  Department  has  not  felt  that  it  is  organized  to 
get  the  returns  for  eggs  that  it  could  get  if  organized 
to  sell  direct  to  consumers;  hut  it  does  get  the  whole¬ 
sale  price ;  and  the  returns  are  sure  and  prompt.  At 
the.  beginning  there  was  a  little  delay  in  making  out 
account  sales,  but  all  returns  now  go  out  the  day  fol¬ 
lowing  sale.  It  certainly  is  an  improvement  on  Mr. 
Ellis. 
New  York  State  News 
labor  BUREAU  DISCONTINUED. — Announce¬ 
ment  is  made  by  the  Department  of  Agriculture  that 
the  Bureau  of  Farm  Labor  has  been  discontinued.  It. 
is  said  that  this  action  was  taken  because  the  State 
Industrial  Commission  has  bureaus  in  several  cities, 
and  because  New  York  City  and  the  Federal  Govern¬ 
ment  have  similar  bureaus.  The  bureau  was  estab¬ 
lished  in  1905  and  was  designed  to  distribute  immi¬ 
grants  in  the  farming  districts  to  supply  the  demand  for 
farm  labor.  The  bureau  has  found  employment  for  50,- 
000  persons  since  its  establishment. 
SOME  FORESTRY  MATTERS. — At  the  recent 
meeting  of  the  Northern  New  York  Development 
League  held  at  Potsdam,  a  resolution  was  adopted  plac¬ 
ing  the  league  on  record  as  opposing  t.he  government 
development  and  ownership  of  water  powers  as  against 
private  development,  and  further  that  the  development 
ot  water  powers  in  northern  New  York  he  immediately 
undertaken  with  private  capital  rather  than  wait  for 
possible  Federal  or  State  aid.  The.  Shields  water  pow¬ 
er  hill  now  before  Congress  was  approved.  Much  dis¬ 
cussion  was  given  the  question  of  opposing  the  bill, 
backed  by  the  Conservation  Commission,  which  would 
prohibit,  the  cutting  of  beech,  birch  and  maple  timber 
in  the  forest  preserve  but  the  league  decided  to  go  on 
record  against  it.  Geo.  W.  Sisson,  .Ti\,  was  elected 
president  of  the  League. 
CHAUTAUQUA  FRUIT  GROWERS*  ORGANIZE. 
— The  organization  of  the  Chautauqua  Fruit  Growers’ 
Association  was  perfected  at  a  meeting  on  April  8  at 
Ashville.  The  association  is  purely  co-operative  and  is 
designed  to  grade,  pack  and  market  the  apple  products 
of  the  county.  The  capital  stock  is  $10,000.  J.  R. 
Pa!  me  tor  of  Lakewood  is  temporary  president.  It  is 
planned  to  erect  three  packing  houses  the  first  year, 
one  at  Clmuey's  Point,  one  at  Ashville  and  one  at  Watts 
Flats.  Possibly  there  may  he  another  at  Jamestown. 
The  success  of  the  project  is  assured  from  the  outset  as 
those  interested  in  the  organization  usually  have  about 
1.2,000  barrels  of  apples  in  their  orchards,  It  is  very 
probable,  that  this  number  will  be  doubled,  however. 
THE  STOCK  TRANSPORTATION  LAW.— The 
bill  which  increases  the  time  limit  from  24  to  28  hours 
during  which  stock  may  he  kept  on  hoard  ears  in  trans¬ 
portation  has  passed  both  houses  and  will  receive  the 
Governor’s  signature.  This  is  a  measure  in  which  the 
legislative  committee  of  the  State  Grange  has  been  in¬ 
terested  and  for  two  or  three  years  has  been  active  in 
promoting,  and  to  them  much  credit  is  given  for  the 
enactment  of  the  law. 
Peach  Prospects 
The  peach  lmds  that  T  have  examined  so  far,  I  find 
in  perfect  condition.  WMF 
Belle  Mead,  N.  J. 
from  <0  to  !*!>  per  cent,  ot  the  peach  buds  in  this 
neighborhood  are  frozen.  As  near  as  I  can  find  out, 
some  of  the  large  orchards  near  here  are  practically  all 
frozen.  j.  s.'g. 
Morristown,  N.  .T. 
One  of  the  largest  growers  here  claims  80  per  cent, 
injury.  Orchards  that  I  have  inspected  all  .show  dead 
buds.  The  Elherta  and  Belle  of  Georgia  are  very  badly 
hurt,  75  per  cent,  at  least.  Carman,  Miss  Lolo  anil 
Iron  Mountain  all  right  so  far.  F.  w.  K. 
New  Brunswick.  N.  .T. 
One-half  of  last  year  is  all  we  are  expecting. 
Moorestown,  N.  .t.  w.  b.  l. 
As  to  the  condition  of  the  peach  buds  in  Monmouth 
County,  N.  J„  a  somewhat  careful  examination  of  them 
leads  me  to  say  that  on  the  average  about  50  per  cent, 
of  the  lmds  have  been  killed.  In  the  sections  nearer 
the  shore  there  has  not  been  so  much  damage  appar¬ 
ently,  and  this  is  especially  trim  of  the  hills  around 
Middletown.  Tn  the  inland  regions  the  damage  as  a 
rule  is  much  more  marked,  although  there  are  some 
notable  exceptions.  I  believe  most  of  the  damage  has 
occurred  on  Elbertas,  in  many  cases  90  per  cent,  of 
these  buds  having  been  killed,  Greensboro  and  Car¬ 
man  have  fared  better  while  Belle  of  Georgia  comes  be¬ 
tween  these  and  Elbertas  in  the  amount  of  injury  done. 
Taking  the  county  as  a  whole,  I  believe  the  estimate  of 
50  per  cent,  live  buds  at  the  present  time  is  about  cor¬ 
rect. 
Freehold,  N.  .T. 
W.  B.  D. 
At  this  date  (April  6)  the  fruit  lmds  on  the  peach 
trees  have  swollen  so  the  live  buds  can  easily  he  seen. 
On  all  trees  that  made  satisfactory  growth  the  past 
season  the  damage  to  buds  will  hardly  exceed  35  per 
cent,  on  the  hardier  varieties  and  about  50  per  cent,  on 
Elbertas.  Reeves,  Craw  ford,  etc.  In  some  orchards, 
i  wing  to  overloading,  insufficient  fertilization  or  that 
for  some  other  cause  entered  the  Winter  in  weakened 
condition,  about  10  per  cent,  generally  shotild  be  added 
to  the  estimate.  Would  consider  the  present  number  of 
live  buds  ample  for  an  average  crop.  E.  s.  s. 
Burlington,  N.  J. 
Government  Apple  Report 
The  holdings  of  apples  in  432  warehouses  reported 
April  1  were  2.021,159  barrels.  Monthly  reports  of 
427  of  these  storages  were  made  as  follows;  boxes  being 
reduced  to  barrels  in  the  figures: 
Dec.  1,  1915 
Jan.  1,  1916 
Feb.  1,  1910 
Mar.  1,  191(5 
Apr.  1,  1910 
6,154,855 
5,402.739 
4,488.845 
3.248,019 
2.017,512 
The  storages  giving  these  figures  were  in  the  follow¬ 
ing  States:  New  York  69;  Illinois  31;  Missouri  24; 
Pennsylvania  23;  Kansas  20;  California,  Ohio  and 
Indiana  IS;  Texas  17;  Virginia.  Iowa  and  Washington 
14;  New  Jersey  and  Michigan  11;  West  Virginia  9; 
Arkansas,  Massachusetts,  Tennessee  and  Georgia  8; 
Wisconsin,  Nebraska  and  Colorado  7;  Oregon  and 
Louisiana  6;  Idaho,  Kentucky,  Maryland  and  Connecti¬ 
cut  5;  Arizona.  Oklahoma  and  Minnesota  4;  North 
Carolina  3;  Utah,  North  Dakota,  Alabama,  Florida  and 
Delaware  2;  New  Mexico,  Montana,  Maine,  Vermont, 
Rhode  Island  and  District  of  Columbia  1.  The  holdings 
in  New  York  Stale  April  1  were  552  per  cent,  of  De¬ 
cember  1;  Illinois  39.5;  Missouri  34;  Colorado  43.9; 
Washington  49.1;  Ohio  42;  Pennsylvania  30.2;  Massa¬ 
chusetts  29.5;  and  New  Jersey  24.6.  The  Comparison 
of  holdings  with  April  made  with  397  Storages,  shows 
588,9(58  barrels  or  455.9  per  cent,  more  than  last  year. 
