Gfce  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
1007 
Notes  from  Department  of  Foods  and 
Markets 
204  Franklin  St.,  New  York  City 
Money  for  Milk  Men 
New  York  State  dairymen  who  wish  to  organ  ;ze  co¬ 
operative  creameries  and  shipping  stations  will  be  in¬ 
terested  to  know  that  the  Land  Hank  has  already  as¬ 
sisted  one  association  of  milk  producers  to  finance  a 
plant.  This  plant  is  the  cooperative  association  at 
Hurleyville,  Sullivan  County,  New  York.  The  mort¬ 
gage  on  this  creamery  was  first  taken  up  by  the  First 
Farmers’  Saving  and  Loan  Association,  and  then  as¬ 
signed  to  the  Laud  llauk,  which  advanced  the  money 
for  it.  The  Land  Hank  is  now  selling  its  bonds  at 
4% %>,  and  loans  the  money  on  first  mortgages  held  by 
local  associations  at  5%.  The  mortgages  are  filed  with 
the  State  Comptroller  and  new  bonds  issued  against 
them  as  the  money  is  needed.  Two  issues  of  bonds  of 
$50,000  each  have  already  been  issued,  and  this  money 
1ms  been  placed  on  mortgages  in  addition  to  the  $100,- 
000  of  capital  funds  of  the  bank.  Farmers  now  have 
a  system  in  New  York  State  to  finance  not  only  their 
individual  farms  but  also  the  plants  of  their  cooper¬ 
ative  associations.  A  mortgage  may  he  placed  on  a 
plant  to  help  i mv  for  construction  and  this  may  be 
paid  for  in  small  annual  payments  out  of  the  earnings 
f<t'  (he  business.  No  State  and  no  country  in  the  world 
is  better  provided  for  land  credit,  and  for  facilities  to 
encourage  cooperation  in  marketing  farm  crops  than 
New  York  State.  Th  •  work  is  progressing  slowly  and 
surely.  It  is  probably  building  on  a  more  stable  founda¬ 
tion  than  if  it  sprung  up  spontaneously. 
“I  received  your  check  for  the  veal  calf  and  thank 
you  most  sincerely  for  it.  You  made  u  clear  gain  for 
me  of  $6,  as  I  could  only  get  $10.30  for  the  calf  up 
here.  I  find  that  only  a  few  people  know  of  your  De¬ 
partment,  but  I  am  doing  my  best  to  let  them  know 
what  you  have  done  for  me.” 
Gile,  N.  Y.  J.  wackek. 
It  is  said  that  doctors  make  their  best  reputation  on 
patients  that  would  get  well  without  a  doctor,  and  it 
seems  to  bo  true  that  commission  dealers  and  market 
departments  make  their  reputations  on  the  goods  that 
are  easiest  to  sell  and  that  command  the  best  prices. 
Calves  and  other  meat  products  have  ruled  high  for 
some  time  back  and  it  has  been  easy  to  make  good 
sales.  All  that  has  been  required  is  to  use  good  sense 
in  making  the  sale  and  the  right  kind  of  knowledge  of 
the  market  and  the  right  prices  to  ask.  The  goods  are 
in  demand  and  sell  well  under  that  kind  of  salesman¬ 
ship.  The  Department  furnishes  the  salesmen  and  the 
facilities  and  of  course  makes  an  accurate  return  for 
tlie  shipments. 
The  Department  has  promised  shippers  account  sales 
•and  checks  on  the  day  following  the  sales.  This  record 
lias  not  always  been  kept  because  express  companies  and 
railroad  sometimes  delay  putting  in  their  bill  for  express 
and  freight  for  several  days,  and  account  sales  cannot  be 
made  out  until  the  freight  and  express  bills  are  received. 
When  the  transportation  companies  delay  us  we  are 
forced  to  delay  the  returns  to  the  shipper,  blit  in  every 
case  the  returns  are  sent  from  the  Department  as  soon 
as  possible,  and  we  want  the  shippers  to  understand  the 
reason  for  the  occasional  delays  which  are  beyond  our 
control. 
The  quality  of  small  fruits  coming  into  New  York 
City  improved  considerably  during  the  last,  week,  and 
prices  have  averaged  better.  Some  shipment#,  put  up 
in  attractive  form,  have  brought  faucy  prices.  Cherries 
of  good  quality  and  carefully  faced  in  boxes  sold  as 
high  as  12  cents  a  pound.  The  range  of  Department 
prices  for  the  week  follows: 
Summary  of  sales  of  miscellaneous  farm  products 
during  the  week  ending  July  13th,  1010 : 
EGGS. 
113  cases  . $0.31 
3  cases  . 30^4 
27  cases  . 30 
25  cases . 2!) 
1  case  . 28% 
04  %  cases  . . 28 
7  cases  . 27*4 
50  cases . 27 
1  case  . 20  *4 
2  cases  . 20 
1 1  cases  . 25 
1  case  . .' . 24 
,211 14  cases. 
5  lbs.  . . . 
11  lbs.  ... 
23  lbs.  .  . . 
00  lbs.  . .  . 
30  lbs.  .  .  . 
30  lbs.  ... 
38  lbs.  .  .  . 
475  lbs.  . .  . 
BUTTER. 
078 
10  lbs.  bacon 
M  EATS. 
VEGETABLES. 
3  hampers  cucumbers  . 
2  hampers  cucumbers  . 
3  hbls.  potatoes  . 
4  hbls.  potatoes  . 
3  hbls.  potatoes  . 
5  hbls.  potatoes  . 
5  hbls.  potatoes  . 
2  hbls.  potatoes  . 
7  bbls.  potatoes  . 
3  bags  potatoes  . 
2  bags  potatoes  . 
10  orates  tomatoes  . 
3  erates  onions  . 
13  baskets  peas  . 
12  baskets  peas  . . 
5  baskets  peas  . 
7  baskets  peas  . 
1  basket  peas  . 
4  baskets  beans  . . 
2  baskets  beaus  . 
2  baskets  beans  . 
$0.25 
.2344 
.25 
.25 
.25 
.30 
$0.22 
$0.50 
.20 
3.00 
2.00 
2.50 
2.00 
1.75 
3.00 
2.75 
2.75 
2.25 
1.00 
5.00 
1.50 
1.25 
1.00 
.70 
.60 
1.50 
1.25 
1.00 
FRUITS. 
15  24-qt.  crates  cherries  . $0.00 
25  24-qt.  crates  cherries  .  1.00 
6  boxes  cherries  .  1.25 
6  baskets  cherries  .  1.50 
6  baskets  cherries  . 65 
18  baskets  cherries  . .60 
((’outSaiied  on  page  1023.) 
A  Plan  for  Reorganizing  the  Milk  Business 
The  Producer  Obtains  a  Fair  Showing 
THE  OLD  SELLING  SYSTEM.— For  the  most 
part,  in  New  York  State,  the  milk  producer  hands  his 
milk  over  to  the  dealer  with  authority  to  finish  it  and 
sell  it  and  set  a  price  on  it,  The  price  includes  what 
the  farmer  is  to  get  and  what,  the  consumer  is  to  pay. 
So  long  as  this  policy  is  continued,  and  thirty  thou¬ 
sand  farmers  hand  their  milk  over  individually  to  the 
dealer,  s<>  long  will  milk  sell  for  less  than  the  actual 
cost  of  production.  If  any  manufacturer  turned  his 
raw  products  over  to  another  concern  to  finish  and  to 
sell,  with  authority  to  make  its  own  price  for  the 
goods  and  with  authority  to  charge  the  consumer  what 
it  liked,  the  result  to  the  manufacturer  would  be  the 
same  as  it  now  is  to  the  thirty  thousand  farmers  who 
supply  milk  to  New  York  City.  This  system  has  been 
in  operation  for  more  than  forty  years.  It  has  worked 
with  entire  satisfaction  to  everyone  except  to  the  man 
Who  produces  milk.  If  there  has  been  any  advantage 
ie.  this  system  to  the  producer,  it  has  not  developed  in 
forty  years.  That  would  seem  long  enough  for  a  test, 
ami  the  only  rational  conclusion  for  the  producer  is  that 
the  system  must  he  changed. 
BETTER  PRICES  MAY  BE  HAD.— The  Depart¬ 
ment  of  Foods  and  Markets  has  already  demonstrated 
that  milk  can  he  sold  for  more  money  than  farmers  are 
now  getting  for  it.  Where  milk  has  been  assembled  by 
the  producers  in  their  own  creamery  or  milk  station  and 
kept  in  their  owu  control,  the  Department  has  found 
customers  for  it  at  prices  ranging  from  thirty  to  forty 
cents  a  run  above  the  dealers’  schedule  of  prices.  At 
present  the  available  supply  is  not  large  enough  for 
this  demand.  If  the  milk  were  available.  m»n'_  eon- 
tracts  could  be  made  today  nti  the  same  terms.  We  are 
not  therefore  discussing  theories  or  possibilities;  we 
are  simply  stating  what  has  already  been  done  under 
the  most  unfavorable  circumstances.  It  is  true  that 
the  volume  has  been  small  compared  with  the  whole 
supply,  hut  the  small  volume  only  makes  the  task 
harder.  With  an  increased  volume  in  the  hands  of  the 
Department-  and  the  larger  the  better — it  would  be 
easier  to  sell  the  milk  at  a  more  favorable  price. 
CO-OPERATION  ESSENTIAL.— With  a  compre¬ 
hensive  plan  and  a  business  system,  milk  can  be  sold 
on  the  basis  of  supply  and  demand,  and  by  proper 
methods  the  consumption  can  always  be  increased,  to 
absorb  an  extra  supply.  The  individual  fanner  work¬ 
ing  alone  is  helpless.  The  cooperation  of  producers  is 
essential.  Each  location  must  have  a  producers'  asso¬ 
ciation.  These  can  be  organized  very  simply.  If  it  is 
thought  necessary  to  build  a  shipping  station,  this  cau 
he  financed  without  much  ready  cash  by  the  producers. 
The  Land  Rank  has  furnished  the  money  for  one  asso¬ 
ciation  and  it  can  do  the  same  for  others.  If  it  is 
found  that  a  building  is  not  necessary  —anil  it.  is  not 
always  necessary — then  there  need  he  little  expense  to 
the  individual  iu  effecting  the  organization.  The  pro¬ 
ducer,  however,  must  refrain  from  making  individual 
contracts  for  his  milk.  Each  producer  must  make  the 
organization  his  agent  for  the  sale  of  his  milk,  so  that 
all  the  milk  of  the  neighborhood  will  be  sold  by  the 
association  and  not  by  the  individual  producer  as  it  is 
now  done.  Then  the  association  may  appoint  the  De¬ 
partment  of  Foods  and  Markets,  or  some  other  organ¬ 
ization.  as  its  agent  for  the  sale  of  the  milk.  If  the 
Department  should  have  charge  of  the  sales,  it  would 
catalog  the  milk  of  the  different  associations  and  sell 
it  as  experience  and  conditions  require,  either  at  auc¬ 
tion  or  at  private  sale,  and  on  daily,  weekly,  monthly 
or  yearly  contracts,  as  circumstances  demand. 
THE  DEALERS’  ATTITUDE —The  Department 
does  not  believe  in  disturbing  existing  business  condi¬ 
tions  if  it  Can  he  avoided.  It  believes  in  utilizing  ex¬ 
isting  agencies  rather  than  attempting  to  destroy  them 
and  to  create  others.  Any  radical  disturbance  results 
in  a  waste,  and  waste  has  no  place  iu  an  economic  sys¬ 
tem  of  distribution.  Some  of  the  best  men  in  the  dis¬ 
tribution  of  milk  are  beginning  to  see  the  producer’s 
side  of  the  milk  problem  as  it  has  been  presented  by  the 
Department,  us  they  never  saw  it  before.  They  admit 
many  of  our  contentions,  and  when  they  get  to  a  point 
where  they  are  willing  to  pay  a  fair  price  and  a  reason¬ 
able  profit  for  the  production  of  milk,  the  farmer  and 
the  farmer’s  agents  will  negotiate  with  them  on  business 
principles;  but  the  time  will  never  come  again  when 
the  dealer  will  he  able  to  make  his  own  price  to  the 
producer  and  set  his  own  demauds  on  the  consumer. 
The  interests  of  producer  and  consumer  are  to  a  large 
extent  identical,  A  condition  which  forces  farmers  out 
of  the  production  of  milk  is  a  peril  to  the  city  con¬ 
sumer.  The  consumer  begins  to  realize  this  danger  of 
a  threatened  short  supply,  and  he  begins  to  realize  that 
it  is  to  ills  interest  to  see  that  the  farmer  receives  a 
reward  that  will  induce  him  to  continue  to  produce  an 
ample  supply  for  the  needs  of  the  city.  The  needs  of 
both  producer  and  consumer  must  he  consulted  in  the 
future.  If  the  dealer  takes  a  reasonable  part  in  these 
consultations  and  in  the  adjustment  of  prices  to  the 
producer  and  the  adjustment  of  the  cost  of  economic 
service  to  the  consumer,  he  will  have  nothing  to  fear, 
but  much  to  gain  in  the  comprehensive  organization  of 
producers.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  he  should  selfishly 
attempt  to  maintain  the  system  that  he  Inis  so  long 
maintained  with  disaster  to  the  producer,  he  would  in¬ 
vite  a  contest  that  might  well  prove  disastrous  to  his 
own  organization. 
ORGANIZATION  DETAILS. — From  the  nature  of 
the  business.  (Lie  farmer  cannot  market  his  milk  as 
an  individual.  He  must  do  it  through  organizations. 
The  organizations  may  be  so  simply  and  sn  easily 
framed  that  no  obstacle  is  raised  by  this  necessity.  The 
Department  of  Foods  and  Markets  will  furnish  blank 
papers  for  the  organization,  and  where  necessary,  will 
also  furnish  an  experienced  organizer  to  complete  the 
work.  Some  of  these  organizations  alrcadv  exist.  Some 
local  organizations  of  producers  in  the  State  are  in  a 
loose  form  and  can  easily  and  readilv  be  converted  into 
a  standard  corporate  association.  The  numerous  local 
associations  can  then  he  readily  federated  with  one 
another  in  one  agency  lo  do  the  selling  ami  to  see  that 
the  farmer  gets  a  fair  price  and  receives  his  money 
promptly. 
PROMPT  WORK  NEEDED.— If  the  work  of  or¬ 
ganization  is  taken  up  promptly  there  is  time  enough 
yet  to  complete  the  organizations  so  that  the  milk  can 
be  sold  for  October,  when  many  of  the  present  con¬ 
tracts  expire,  and  iu  anticipation  of  this  work,  110  pro¬ 
ducer  individually  and  no  farmers'  association  should 
cuter  a  new  contract  for  milk  on  the  expiration  of  con¬ 
tracts  now  existing.  The  sale  of  the  milk  must  he 
open  to  everyone  in  free  open  competition.  This 
will  open  the  milk  supply  to  large  and  small  dealers  on 
equal  terms,  and  if  the  dealers  come  forward  in  the 
same  spirit  and  bid  for  the  milk  in  open  market  and 
contract  for  it  on  equitable  terms,  it.  is  our  belief  that 
with  the  proper  organization  and  the  proper  disposition 
on  the  part,  of  the  producers’  agent,  satisfactory 
sales  can  he  made  and  no  disturbance  created.  If, 
however,  the  large  dealers  refuse  to  pay  a  reasonable 
price  for  the  milk,  depots  must  be  established  in  suitable 
locations  in  the  city  where  milk  can  he  sold  at  whole¬ 
sale  to  small  dealers,  to  storekeepers,  bakers,  ice  cream 
manufacturers,  hotels  and  institutions.  Last  Winter 
the  Legislature  neglected  to  give  the  Department  an  ap¬ 
propriation  to  establish  these  depots  and  a  creamery  to 
use  up  any  surplus  of  milk  that,  may  accumulate.  Such 
facilities  would  be  helpful  in  the  extreme  and  would 
put.  the  producers  in  a  position  to  market  milk  strictly 
on  the  basis  of  supply  and  demand.  Temporary  facil¬ 
ities  are,  however,  available  for  these  distribution 
depots  in  the  city.  With  milk  and  cream  thus  available 
in  the  city,  consumers-  will  not  go  without  it  to  sup¬ 
port  a  monopoly  for  a  small  number  of  large  dealers,  no 
matter  how  powerful  and  important  they  may  have 
seemed  to  be  when  milk  could  only  reach  the  city 
through  them.  New  York  children  will  not  go  hungry 
for  milk  while  the  supply  sufficient  for  their  uses  is 
within  the  city  limits.  The  large  dealer  could  face  sm  li 
a  situation  only  with  alarm  for  his  own  position,  and 
most  of  them  are  too  smart  to  sulk  in  empty  ware¬ 
houses  while  new  agencies  serve  their  abandoned  cus¬ 
tomers. 
ECONOMY  -IN  DISTRIBUTION.— There  is  room 
for  economies  in  city  distribution.  These  must  be 
adopted.  The  wastage  of  glass  bottles  is  appalling. 
There  is  also  a  wastage  in  loss  of  cans,  The  equip¬ 
ment  of  some  distributing  plants  is,  to  say  the  least, 
extravagant,.  When  ten  to  fifteen  delivery  wagons  pass 
the  same  door  every  morning  to  deliver  milk,  there  is 
a  serious  waste  of  time  and  energy.  All  this  extrava¬ 
gance  and  waste  adds  to  the  original  cost  of  production 
and  affects  both  producer  and  consumer  unfavorably. 
These  sources  of  waste  must  he  eliminated,  and  the  ex¬ 
travagance  of  multiplied  deliveries  must  be  corrected. 
Milk  is  delivered  in  small  towns,  where  customers  are 
widely  distributed,  at  a  much  less  cost  than  in  New 
York  City  where  population  is  congested  and  where  a 
single  wagon  and  man  can  deliver  larger  quantities 
than  in  the  sparsely  settled  sections  of  smaller  towns. 
If  one  principal  delivery  were  made  every  morning  at 
two  cents  or  even  one  cent  below  the  present  price, 
every  family  that  wished  to  economize  in  its  living  ex¬ 
pense  would  manage  to  accept  its  milk  when  the  wagon 
was  on  the  route,  and  that  would  take  in  a  large  bulk 
of  the  deliveries  in  one  trip.  If  others  wanted  later 
deliveries,  they  might  justly  be  charged  more  for  the 
service,  hut  the  reduced  price  to  the  frugal  people 
would  increase  the  consumption.  Such  a  delivery  is 
feasible  and  Unless  we  are  to  have  a  franchise  for  the 
distribution  of  nvilk  under  city  or  State  control,  one 
general  delivery  must  result  from  an  open  free  milk 
market.  When  producers  are  organized  to  invite  bids 
for  the  exclusive  distribution  of  milk  in  New  York  city, 
they  will  probably  find  lis-ely  competition  for  the  sor- 
x  ice  and  the  lowest  bid  would  hardly  exceed  one-half 
the  present  cost,  of  distribution. 
THE  PLAN  IN  DETAIL.— The  plan  is  simple.  The 
producers  form  an  organization  and  make  it  their  agent 
for  the  sale  of  all  their  milk.  The  associations  appoint 
the  State  Department  of  Foods  and  Markets,  or  some 
other  agency,  to  sell  all  the  milk  of  the  association.  No 
milk  is  to  be  sold  by  an  individual  Farmer  or  an  in¬ 
dividual  association.  Those  who  prefer  to  keep  the 
producers  everlastingly  selling  as  individuals  tell  the 
(armor  that  under  such  a  plan  he  loses  entire  control  of 
Itis  product.  Sometimes  they  make  the  farmer  believe 
it.  The  truth  is,  however,  that  by  such  a  plan  the 
farmer  for  the  first  time  retains  control  of  his  product 
until  it  is  sold.  He  controls  his  agent  and  can  make 
the  price  and  the  terms  on  which  his  product  is  sold. 
That  he  does  this  in  harmony  with  his  neighbor  does 
not  change  the  principle  of  the  control  in  the  least. 
Heretofore  the  product  paused  out  of  his  hands  to  the 
dealers  and  completely  out  of  his  control.  Except  in 
a  few  isolated  cases,  for  forty  years  the  producer  of 
milk  has  bad  no  voice  in  the  price  paid  him  for  it.  He 
has  none  today.  He  takes  what  is  voluntarily  paid  him, 
and  if  it  were  thought  he  would  keep  on  producing  it 
for  less,  he  would  get  even  less  than  he  is  now  paid. 
The  milk  is  entirely  out  of  the  producer’s  control  now, 
insofar  as  sale  or  price  is  concerned,  and  by  the 
proposed  plan,  by  appointing  an  agent  to  sell  it  in  co¬ 
operation  with  his  neighbor,  he  controls  the  sale  and 
the  price  and  recovers  the  individual  independence 
which  for  more  than  forty  years  has  been  forfeited  to 
the  dealers  in  milk. 
THE  FARMERS'  OWN  AGENT— Under  the  new 
plan  the  farmer  is  served  by  an  agent,  subject  to  his 
own  control  and  his  own  recall.  He  instructs  the  agent, 
who  must  do  his  bidding.  He  has  the  powerful  aid  of  the 
State,  through  the  Department  of  Foods  and  Markets, 
at  his  command  to  see  that  the  rating  for  dairy  and 
methods  are  fair,  that  the  test  for  fat.  content-  is  ex¬ 
act,  and  that  the  inspection  is  without  prejudice.  He 
also  has  the  advantage  of  State  protection  to  the  small 
dealer  in  the  distribution  of  milk  to  customers.  The 
Department  is  ready  to  do  its  part,  and  there  is  every 
indication  that  the  producer  is  willing  and  anxious  at 
this  time  to  assume  his  share  of  the  responsibility. 
While  the  milk  problem  was  probably  never  in  a  more 
desperate  condition  than  at  the  present  time,  the  sit¬ 
uation  is  most  promising  for  a  new  order  of  things  f ■  »r 
the  New  York  producer. 
THE  WHOLE  STATE  INTERESTED.— Whi’e 
Ibis  work  is  addressed  to  milk  producers  it  is  not  cir¬ 
cumscribed  by  individual  interests.  A  great  State  in¬ 
dustry  is  concerned.  The  State  itself  must  lose  or 
gain  by  the  result.  Dairying  is  the  greatest  industry 
of  the  State  and  New  York  has  led  the  other  States 
in  the  volume  and  importance  of  Ibis  industry.  The 
State  cannot  afford  to  Ipfc  such  an  important  industry 
decline;  and  statistics  show  that  it  is  relatively  on 
tin*  decline.  Nut  only  individuals  hut  whole  sections 
of  the  State  are  going  out  of  the  business  of  producing 
milk,  and  unless  the  industry  can  be  put  on  a  paying 
basis,  our  supply  of  milk  will  not  be  sufficient  for  city 
needs,  and  the  Stale  will  lose  the  prestige  and  the  pro¬ 
fits  it  lias  enjoyed  from  its  dairy  farms.  A  slight  ad¬ 
vance  to  the  producer  will  increase  the  production  of 
milk  to  the  normal  capacity  of  the  farms,  and  the  dan¬ 
ger  of  further  advance  to  the  consumer  will  lie  averted. 
A  prosperous  condition  of  our  dairy  farms  will  increase 
their  taxable  value  and  result  in  a  profit  as  well  as  an 
honor  and  glory  to  (he  State. 
For  organization  papers  or  other  information  and 
assistance,  milk  producers  are  invited  to  address  the 
Department  of  Foods  and  Markets,  204  Franklin  Street, 
New  York  City.  joun  ,r.  mr.i.ON\ 
Commissioner. 
