721 
Notes  from  Department  of  Foods  and 
Markets 
One-third  of  the  apples  held  in  storage  in  the 
Cnited  States  and  Canada  on  December  1st.  last,  wore 
still  in  storage  on  the  first  day  of  April.  There  were 
13.9  per  cent,  more  apples  in  storage  on  April  1st  this 
year  than  on  the  corresponding  day  in  1915,  and  the 
oolding  of  apples  in  barrels  this  year  shows  an  ex¬ 
cess  of  68.9  per  cent,  over  the  number  of  barrels  held 
n  storage  a  year  ago. 
The  speculators  in  apples  have  followed  the  practice 
of  gamblei-s  rather  than  the  business  of  distributing 
fruit  over  the  natural  apple-consuming  season.  Ap¬ 
ples  might  have  been  sold  during  the  whole  season  at 
a  fair  profit  to  the  dealers  who  stored  them.  They 
’hose  rather  to  keep  the  market  short  and  to  hold 
'or  big  profits.  As  a  result,  many  of  them  are  now 
carting  rotten  apples  away  from  the  storehouses  in 
New  York  State,  and  taking  a  loss  on  the  apples  that 
rhey  are  yet  grudgingly  putting  on  the  market.  The 
practice  is  little  short  of  criminal.  It  is  to  be  regretted 
aecause  it  keeps  New  York  State  apples  out  of  the 
narket  when  the  season  is  right  for  their  ennsump- 
ion.  and  in  that  way  prevents  the  development  of  the 
market  for  New  York  apples.  The  system  is  wasteful 
.n  allowing  apples  to  rot  in  storage  rather  than  permit 
hem  to  find  a  market  while  they  are  fit  for  human 
:ood.  In  some  seasons  the  dealer  may  make  up  for 
he  wastage  in  a  higher  price  to  the  consumer,  but 
vaste  is  always  to  be  deplored,  and  is  always  a  cause 
:>f  loss  to  producer  and  consumer.  It  can  seldom  he 
made  the  means  of  profit  even  to  the  dealer  or  specul¬ 
ator. 
The  proportion  of  fancy  fruit  coming  to  the  market 
s  small.  What  does  come  of  this  quality  is  in  good 
leinnnd  and  brings  good  prices.  The  bulk  of  the  nr- 
•ivals  is  of  an  inferior  grade,  and  sells  in  accordance 
with  the  quality. 
The  potato  market  was  slightly  off  during  the  last 
week.  New  potatoes  are  coming  in  greater  supply,  and 
resh  vegetables  of  every  sort  are  in  supply  and  are 
laving  their  effect  on  the  potato  market.  Fancy  pota¬ 
toes  have  sold  from  .$3  to  .$3.50.  but  the  hulk  of  the 
New  York  State  supply  is  not  of  a  high  quality  this 
year,  and  prices  rule,  of  course,  in  proportion  to  the 
juality  of  the  individual  shipments. 
Summary  of  returns  made  shippers  of  eggs  and  mis¬ 
cellaneous  products  for  the  week  ending  April  27th. 
1916 : 
APPLES.— 10  bids.  Ben  Davis  $1.10:  7  Baldwin 
$1.90:  6  $1,60:  2  $1.10;  1  Beil  Davis  $2.05;  1  Green¬ 
ing  $1.55;  19  Baldwin  $1.10;  2  55c:  2  65c:  3  Russet 
$1.35;  25  Spy  $2.10;  26  81.50;  21  Xewtmvn  $1.95; 
19  $2.40:  2  $1.60:  15  Ben  Davis  $1.65;  21  82.40;  30 
$1.65:  24  Newtown  $2.45:  18  $1.20:  17  $1.10;  7  Green¬ 
ing  $1.05:  10  Newtown  $2.35;  59  $2.80;  23  $2.70; 
6  Ben  Davis  $1.70:  14  $1.75;  6  $2.50:  9  $2.40:  9 
Baldwin  $2.95:  1  $1.55;  1  King  81.45;  1  Newtown 
$2.15 ;  5  Newtown  $1.75. 
POTATOES. — 7  sacks  $2.65:  5  crates  85c:  168  sacks 
( 1 65  lbs.)  $2.50;  122  (150  lbs.)  $2.50;  274  (165  lbs.) 
$2.25:  12  (90  lbs.)  $1.15. 
EGGS. — 3  doz,  duck  eggs  38c;  6  doz.  duck  eggs  37o; 
1  case  duck  eggs  36c;  1  %  cases  duck  eggs  32c;  5  eases 
26c :  1  ease  25% c :  46  cases  25c:  16  cases  24  %c ;  157% 
eases  24c;  3  cases  23%;  53%  en  es  23c;  3  cases  22c; 
8  cases  21c. 
MISCELLANEOUS. — 107  bags  wheat.  12.088  lbs.. 
$1.22  per  bu. ;  2  tubs  butter,  60  lbs.,  32c  per 
lb.;  2  packages  butter,  100  lbs..  35c  per  lb.;  1 
barrel  cabbage  $1.25;  2  coops  poultry  (old  cocks)  94 
lbs.,  loe:  1  box  squabs.  %  doz.  $1.50;  1  calf.  98  lbs.. 
14%c;  1  basket  beans  $4;  1  basket  beans  $3.50;  1 
coop  fowl.  106  lbs..  23c;  10  bags  beans.  1280  lbs..  $8.50 
per  cwt. ;  1  pkg.  butter.  15  lbs..  28c:  2  calves.  228  lbs., 
14c:  1  calf,  64  lbs..  12%c;  1  barrel  beans.  223  lbs.,  9c 
per  lb.;  1  bag  beans.  58  lbs.,  5c  per  lb.;  1  calf.  4  17  lbs., 
I2%c:  1  hog,  186  lbs..  12c:  1  calf.  S3  lbs..  1414c:  1 
calf,  101  lbs.,  15c;  1  liver  50c:  1  box  butter.  30  lbs., 
35c:  10  lbs.,  butter  32c;  44  squabs  $21.56:  1  barrel 
nuts  5c  per  lb.:  3  boxes  butter.  14  lbs.,  35c,  SI  lbs., 
32c ;  6  sacks  parsnips  50c. 
Boxes  of  cherries  containing  10  pounds  of  fruit  from 
California,  arriving  by  express,  have  been  sold  at  auc¬ 
tion  by  the  Fruit  Auction  Co.  this  week  as  follows; 
Advance,  $2.12  to  $3.75;  Knight’s  Black,  $1.75  to 
$4.12:  Purple  Guigne,  $1.87  to  $5.50;  Chapmans  $1.62 
to  $10. 
Mr.  Dillon  is  very  much  in  hopes  that  the  cherry 
growers  of  New  York  State  and  the  other  ehorry- 
growing  sections  of  the  Eastern  country  will  this  year 
be  able  to  grade  and  pack  their  cherries  so  that  when 
they  arrive  for  sale  by  the  Department,  they  will  re¬ 
ceive  some  of  the  benefits  of  the  auction  system,  which 
the  California  cherry  growers  are  now  receiving. 
The  Chicago  Milk  Strike 
The  milk  trouble  was  caused  by  the  big  dealers  in 
and  around  Chicago  offering  $1.33  for  3.5  milk  for  the 
coming  six  months,  that  is,  April  first  to  October  first, 
and  the  farmers  askiug  $1.55  for  the  same.  This  is 
rhe  average  price  for  milk  for  six  months  per  100 
pounds.  The  final  settlement  was  that,  the  dealers 
were  forced  to  give  the  farmers  the  price  asked.  The 
cause  of  the  whole  trouble  in  this  section  was  due  to 
rwo  things:  the  high  cost  of  land  and  to  not  farming 
rhe  land  intensively  enough. 
The  farmers  do  not  raise  the  stock  they  use  for 
milking,  preferring  to  pay  as  high  as  $125  for  a  cow. 
Then  they  have  a  large  quantity  of  feed  to  buy,  which 
should  be  raised  upon  the  farm.  Then  the  land  values, 
causing  land  to  rent  as  high  as  $7  per  acre  per  year, 
cause  a  farmer  either  to  make  every  inch  count,  or  else 
get  more  for  his  milk,  which  he  has  done  by  forcing 
Gfce  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
the  dealers  to  pay  for  it,  and  they  have  thrown  this 
back  upon  (he  consumer. 
The  writer  feels  that  the  farmers  were  not  justified 
entirely  in  all  they  asked,  as  they  were  not  getting  all 
that  can  he  made  from  their  land  and  until  they  do 
(his  they  should  not  raise  the  price  of  milk.  I  can 
find  you  many  instances  right  around  here  where  many 
farmers  say  they  can  make  good  money  at  the  dealers’ 
price  of  $1.33  and  were  willing  to  work  under  it  for 
the  next  six  months. 
Attached  are  two  advertisements  occurring  in  Chicago 
papers  in  the  last  week  which  give  the  cost  and  profit 
to  the  big  dealers  on  a  quart  of  milk  delivered  in  Chi¬ 
cago,  these  figures  I  feel  arc  very  nearly  correct,  as 
a  year  ago  1  happened  to  know  what  it  cost  one  of 
the  big  companies  to  handle  the  milk.  If  all  milk 
were  sold  by  the  quart  in  bottles  in  Chicago,  the  deal¬ 
ers  could  pay  the  price  asked  and  not  raise  theirs 
there,  blit  a  large  share  is  sold  wholesale  and  is  con¬ 
densed  and  evaporated,  which  brings  do'  a  the  average 
per  quart. 
The  writer  is  afraid  that  this  is  only  the  beginning 
of  this  trouble,  as  next  Winter,  when  the  contracts 
arc  issued,  the  farmers  Will  ask  an  increase,  and  the  deal¬ 
ers  will  he  unable  to  grant  it  on  account  of  low  market 
for  bottled  milk;  this  forces  them  to  turn  it  into  butter 
or  evaporate  it  and  store.  There  is  no  demand  in  the 
Winter  for  condensed  milk,  as  ice  cream  is  nut  used 
thou.  This  fact  makes  the  dealers  face  a  loss  on  all 
they  take  at  a  high  price,  or  the  farmers  will  have  to 
sell  this  milk  somewhere  else  and  become  competitors 
with  themselves. 
The  farmers  did  not  use  any  actual  violence  in  this 
strike  except  in  one  or  two  places.  They  entered  one 
factory  and  told  the  superintendent  and  men  to  leave 
as  they  were  going  to  shut,  it  up,  but  no  light  took 
place.  They  used  moral  persuasion  upon  the  fanners 
who  had  signed,  and  dumped  a  few  cans  of  milk  which 
they  offered  to  pay,  and  in  some*  cases  did  pay  for,  on  the 
spot.  About  all  flint  was  necessary  was  to  show  those 
who  had  signed  contracts  that:  they  could  dispose  of 
the  milk  elsewhere,  and  lliat  they  wen*  out  to  stay 
this  time,  which  they  had  never  done  before. 
For  once  the  newspaper  accounts  were  as  fair  as 
could  be  written :  they  gave  the  essential  details  cov¬ 
ering  both  sides  alike  and  so  far  as  the  writer  knows 
were  correct. 
The  farmers  simply  blockaded  the  factories  one  at 
a  time,  until  they  had  induced  the  signers  to  quit,  and 
this  forced  the  factories  to  shut  down,  until  they  had 
signed  at  the  farmers’  price.  As  soon  as  they  had  done 
this  they  were  allowed  to  open  up  again  and  take  all 
the  milk  they  could  handle.  In  fact  some  of  rhe  fac¬ 
tories  took  the  farmers’  milk  several  days  until  all  fac¬ 
tories  had  signed  at  the  price  asked.  IT.  T.  Tiroxrr.soN. 
McHenry  Co..  Ill. 
R.  N.-Y. — We  think  the  cost,  of  city  distribution  is 
too  high.  In  the  advertisement  mentioned  the  cost  was 
given  as  follows : 
The  dealers  are  now  paying  the  farmers  $1.55 
per  100  lbs . $1.55 
Cost  of  handling  in  eouutry  per  100  lbs . 20 
F  rei ght  to  C  h  i  ca  go . 25 
Gross  cost  delivered  in  Chicago  per  100  lbs . $2.00 
Two  quarts  are  lost  in  each  100  lbs.  iu  handling,  so 
that  there  are  but  4(5  quarts  left  in  each  1(H)  lbs.,  al¬ 
though  the  dealer  pays  the  farmer  for  48  quarts  in 
each  100  ibs. 
per  qt. 
These  46  quarts  cost  us,  therefore,  delivered  iu 
Chicag. . . $  .0434 
The  cost  of  labor  in  handling  and  delivery  to 
customers  in  Chicago  is . 0300 
Making  the  actual  cost,  delivered  to  customers.  .0734 
The  farmers  are  entitled  to  a  fair  share  of  the  selling 
price.  By  raising  the  price  the  dealers  take  one  cent 
more  at  retail  ami  pay  the  farmers  less  than  half  a  cent 
additional.  We  want  all  sides  of  this  case  presented  in 
a  fair,  impartial  way.  In  New  York  State  farmers 
must  get  more  for  their  milk  or  get  out  of  the  business. 
The  Milk  Business  of  Providence,  R.  I. 
A  large  portion  of  the  milk  furnished  Providence, 
R.  L.  is  supplied  by  the  small  dealer.  By  this  is  meant 
the  man  who  carries  from  100  to  500  quarts  on  his 
route,  with  a  wholesale  trade  of  about  one-third  put 
out  at  stores,  and  the  rest  delivered  to  houses.  About 
60  routes  are  supplied  iu  tins  manner.  This  milk  is 
produced  at  the  owner’s  farm  supplemented,  by  his 
neighbor,  and  he  thus  has  an  opportunity  for  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  quality  he  sells.  These  dairies  are  located 
from  four  to  seven  miles  from  the  city. 
There  are  a  number  of  dealers  whose  business  plants 
are  located  in  the  immediate  suburbs  of  the  city.  They 
collect  milk  by  sending  teams  out  to  the  farms,  or  else 
contract  for  hauling,  though  some  receive  by  tra;n.  A 
number  of  these  dealers  use  a  separator  and  dispose 
of  skim  milk  to  the  bakeries  and  cream  to  patrons. 
Stone  pasteurize  a  part  of  their  milk.  Many  of  those 
milk  merchants  run  several  mutes,  and  dispose  of  a 
great  deal  by  wholesale.  They  all  bear  an  excellent 
reputation  for  business  credit,  and  the  farmers  in  the 
outlying  districts  seem  satisfied  with  the  treatment 
they  receive,  as  the  contract  amount  is  always  taken, 
and  the  dealers  stand  the  loss,  if  any,  of  surplus  milk. 
The  Providence  Dairy  Company  is  the  largest  indi¬ 
vidual  concern  engaged  in  rhe  business.  Their  milk 
largely  comes  from  Connecticut  by  train.  They  pas¬ 
teurize.  to  a  large  extent,  and  keep  au  inspector  con¬ 
stantly  engaged  in  looking  after  the  producing  end. 
They  wholesale  to  a  great  extent,  but  make  many  house 
deliveries. 
The  condition  in  which  the  milk  is  received  by  the 
consumer  is  influenced  b.v  the  length  of  time  necessary 
to  bring  it  from  the  producer.  For  instance:  milk 
hauled  today  to  the  city  or  suburban  milk  dealer,  is 
that  which  was  milked  last  night  and  this  morning  at 
the  farm.  It  is  mixed,  hottled  and  iced  by  the  dealer 
this  afternoon,  and  delivered  tomorrow  morning.  Thus 
it  is  24  and  36  hours  old  by  the  time  it  reaches  the 
consumer.  This  will  also  apply  to  the  milk  that  comes 
in  by  train. 
The  milk  brought  in  by  team  direct  from  the  farms  is 
of  the  milkings  of  the  day  previous,  and  is  therefore  12 
and  24  hours  from  the  cow.  There  arc  a  few  of  the 
nearby  dairies  who  milk  in  the  morning  before  start¬ 
ing  the  teams,  and  thus  no  milk  is  over  14  or  16 
hours  old.  During  the  Winter,  some  dealers  make 
afternoon  deliveries,  a  matter  which  concerns  their  con¬ 
venience  rather  than  the  age  of  their  milk. 
Prices  range  from  eight  cents  up  to  13  cents,  the 
first  the  price  from  stores,  and  the  latter  that  of  the 
certified  and  special  herds.  Nine  cents  is  the  price 
most  in  vogue. 
The  inspection  of  milk  has  been  for  years  conducted 
rigorously  by  the  official  elected  for  that  purpose,  re¬ 
inforced  by  a  corps  of  collectors  of  samples.  The  pros¬ 
ecution  of  any  dealer  whose  milk  fails  to  come  up  to 
the  standard  is  prompt,  and  numerous  convictious  have 
been  made  and  published.  The  milk  is  inspected  for 
quality  and  cleanliness,  and  during  the  past  10  years 
a  campaign  has  been  conducted  among  the  farms  sup¬ 
plying  the  city.  These  inspectors  investigate  the  dairies 
in  both  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  as  well  as 
Rhode  Island,  that  send  milk  to  the  city.  All  this  has 
resulted  in  improvement,  and  I  think  it  is  a  safe  asser¬ 
tion  that  Providence  has  a  milk  supply  that  will  rate  as 
good  as.  if  not  better,  than  the  average  city  of  its  size. 
Ill  Solving  the  problem  of  eliminating  the  time  con¬ 
sumed  in  the  handling  of  milk,  the  auto  truck  has  cot 
as  yet  found  its  place.  One  local  dairy  farmer,  who  had 
tried  it  out,  in  relating  his  experience  sirid.  that  the  in¬ 
telligence  of  the  horse,  in  knowing  the  route,  stopping 
at  customers,  starting  at  whistle  or  step  of  driver,  and 
observing  the  rules  of  the  road,  going  to  and  from  the 
farm,  when  the  driver  was  sleepy,  more  than  made  ir> 
any  possible  gain  of  time  by  the  extra  speed  of  the  auto, 
•lust,  how  far  this  really  holds  good,  if  statistics  of  time 
were  kept,  l  am  not  certain,  yet  very  vivid  recollec¬ 
tions  of  the  writer's  own  experience  on  a  300-quart  milk 
route,  confirms  the  idea  that  the  horse. will  hold  his  own 
in  the  retail  delivery  of  milk,  for  Some  time  to  come. 
The  suburban  milk  dealer  can  profitably  use  the  auto 
truck  for  collecting  milk  from  the  farmers  iu  the  coun¬ 
try.  One  dealer  in  Last.  Providence,  handling  G00 
quarts  daily,  formerly  had  his  supply  hauled  to  his  plant 
from  the  farms  over  the  State  line  in  Massachusetts. 
’Fills  collecting  route,  covering  some  24  miles,  was  per¬ 
formed  by  contract  with  a  teainer.  The  cost  to  the* 
dealer  was  five  cents  per  can.  lie  informs  me  that  at 
the  present  time  a  1%-ton  truck  does  the  work  at  a 
cost  of  8.5  cents,  counting  interest  on  $2,200.  the  price 
of  the  truck,  lie  plans  to  have  a  surplus  of  milk  in 
Winter  to  tide  him  over  one  delivery,  in  case  of  snow 
interfering  with  the  truck,  though  we  seldom  get  a 
storm  that  blocks  the  road.  Many  of  the  suburban 
dairy  plants  yet  haul  their  supplies  by  team,  but  slowly 
the  auto  trucks  are  increasing  in  number  for  this  pur¬ 
pose.  Two  of  llie  larger  dairy  companies  have  light 
auto  deliveries  for  special  service,  and  trucks  for  haul¬ 
ing  from  the  railroad  station  to  their  bottling  and  pas¬ 
teurizing  plants.  F.  jj  c 
New  York  State  News 
.  MANY  BILLS  BLGOME  LAWS, — Gov.  Whitman 
is  busy  with  his  80-day  hills  and  signed  several  of  them 
this  week.  Among  the  most  important  to  the  rural 
reader  are  the  following: 
1  be  Walters’  bill  providing  for  the  sale  of  the  aban¬ 
doned  (*anal  lands  and  structures  and  giving  preferen¬ 
tial  right  of  purchase  to  cities  and  villages. 
Senator  \\  hitney  s  bills  placing  the  State  Reserva¬ 
tion  at  Saratoga  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  State 
Conservation  Commission,  and  the  appropriation  of 
$1. >2.000  for  maintenance  and  improvement 'of  the  re 
servation.  These  acts  take  effect  immediately. 
Senator  Horton's  bill  extending  to  the  service  of  bulls 
all  the  provisions  of  the  lien  law  relating  to  the  ser¬ 
vice  of  stallions. 
Assemblyman  W  it  tar’s  hill  requiring  stallions  used 
for  breeding  purposes  to  be  enrolled  and  licensed  by 
the  State  Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  the  liceuse  fee 
to  he  $3  and  renewals  $1. 
Senator  Wellington’s  bill  prohibiting  the  driving  or 
use  of  disabled  horses  which  cannot  be  worked  without 
violation  of  law  against  cruelty  to  animals,  and  pro¬ 
hibiting  the  sale  of  such  animals. 
HOLSTEIN  BREEDERS  MEET. — The  Southwest¬ 
ern  Holstein  Breeders’  Association  met  at-  Kennedy  on 
April  22  and  among  other  tilings  arranged  for  three 
Summer  meetings.  The  question  of  making  the  pasteur¬ 
ization  of  creamery  and  cheese  factory  products  manda¬ 
tory  was  discussed.  \\  bile  nothing  can  lie  done  now 
that  the  Legislature,  has  adjourned,  it  was  voted,  nev¬ 
ertheless.  to  urge  the  passage  of  such  a  law  at  the  next 
session.  It  appears  that  breeders  of  purebred  stock  are 
afraid  to  feed  these  factory  products  on  account  of  the 
possibility  of  their  conveying  disease.  Concerning  dairy- 
legislation  at  Washington  it  was  voted  to  request  the 
Congressman  from  the  district  to  attend  the  dairy  con¬ 
ference  at  Washington  on  May  5,  and  to  oppose  the 
activities  of  the  oleo  interests  in  their  attempts  to 
force  legislation  ini  mi  cal  to  the  dairy  interests.  The 
opening  of  tlie  doors  to  the  practice  of  veterinary  medi 
fine  to  less  qualified  applicants  was  another  question 
discussed  and  a  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted  to 
the  effect  that,  such  qualifications  should  not  be  lowered. 
Hon.  C.  M.  Dow  addressed  the  meeting  on  the  cattle 
industry  iu  the  Southern  republics.  Central  America 
and  the  Canal  /one,  where  he  had  recently  visited.  He 
found  one  400-nnimal  Holstein  dairy  at  San  .Tose, 
Costa  Rica,  where  the  cattle  were  kept  in  well-built  con¬ 
crete  stables.  j.  w.  d. 
Grain  Notes  by  Experts 
The  Kansas  State  Board  of  Agriculture  says  that 
about  five  per  cent,  of  the  Winter  wheat  acreage  will 
he  plowed  up  for  other  crops.  Most  of  the  damage  was 
done  by  dry  winds,  ice  and  sleet.  Fly  injury  appears 
tn  bo  less  than  usual  iu  the  eastern  section  but  quite 
extensive  in  Sedgwick  and  Ellis  Counties,  and  cut¬ 
worm  in  Stafford  and  Decatur.  The  percentage  wheat 
estimate  is  87.4,  or  5.4  lower  than  last  year. 
Lo  Count  reports  the  latest  Spring  noted  in  South 
Dakota:  very  little  plowing  or  seeding  done,  where¬ 
as  Spring  wheat  and  oats  are  usually  up  now! 
Rroomhall’s  Liverpool  report  shows  heavy  grain 
shipments  from  Canada,  Argentina,  Australia  and  In¬ 
dia.  Argentine  wheat  export  is  estimated  at  100.000,- 
600  bushels. 
Grain  stocks  in  store  at  several  ports  of  this  country 
are:  New  York,  wheat,  2.323.000  bushels;  corn,  408,- 
000;  oats,  691,000:  rye.  94.000.  Boston  wheat.  58.000; 
corn,  27.000:  oats.  110.000;  rye.  10,000.  Philadel¬ 
phia.  wheat.  602.000;  corn.  380,000;  oats,  317,000;  rye. 
102.000.  Baltimore,  wheat.  1,480,000;  corn.  813.000; 
nats.  387.000;  rye.  794,000.  New  Orleans,  wheat. 
2.801.000:  corn,  516-000:  oats,  10S.000.  Galveston, 
wheat,  1,855,000;  corn,  239.000. 
