RURAL.  NEW-YORKER 
1161 
The  Battle  for  Milk  Prices!  Fall  In! 
Let  Us  All  Understand  the  Question 
INSINCERE  AGITATION,— Milk  producers  should 
not  be  soothed  to  a  sense  of  security  and  contentment 
by  the  noise  raised  at  the  present,  over  the  milk  prob¬ 
lem,  and  the  sore  prospects  of  an  advance  to  producers 
for  the  price  of  milk.  The  advance  in  price  will  come 
from  no  philanthropic  motive  and  from  no  sense  of 
fairness  to  the  producer  or  from  sympathy  with  his 
burdens.  It  will  come  purely  from  necessity.  The 
noise  comes  to  some  extent  from  those  with  a  genuine 
interest  in  the.  cause;  to  a  greater  extent  from  those 
who  find  it  for  the  time  being  a  popular  subject;  but 
the  noise  and  confusion  come  mostly  from  those  who 
see  the  great  possibilities  in  the  present  crisis  for  the 
good  of  producers  and  consumers,  and  who  wish  to 
muddle  the  problem  now  and  prevent,  the  adoption  of  a 
plan  that  will  settle  the  milk  question  for  all  time. 
ALTERING  AN  UNJUST  SYSTEM.— Milk  pro¬ 
ducers  are  not  contending  for  a  mere  advance  iu  the 
price  of  milk  to  themselves.  This  is  but  an  incident 
of  the  problem.  They  are  protesting  against  a  system 
that  has  placed  themselves,  their  business  and  their 
families,  under  the  arrogant  control  of  the  milk  trust. 
The  time  is  propitious.  A  little  foresight  and  wise 
leadership  now  will  place  the  milk  business  on  a  safe 
basis.  It  will  secure  an  economic  and  efficient  dis¬ 
tribution  of  milk.  It  will  establish  a  system  that  will 
take  the  price-making  out  of  the  hands  of  a  half  dozen 
men  who  control  the  milk  trust;  and  establish  prices  to 
producer  and  consumer  on  the  basis  of  supply  and  de¬ 
mand.  It.  will  advance  the  price  of  milk  to  producer 
and  consumer  alike  when  it  is  scarce,  and  it  will  re¬ 
duce  the  price  likewise  when  it.  is  plentiful,  but  it  will 
avoid  a  surplus  because  the  low  price  to  consumer  will 
at  such  times  increase  the  consumption.  We  want 
no  more  two  cent  per  quart  milk  to  the  fanner  and 
at  the  same  time  12  cents  per  quart  to  the  consumer. 
PRICE  ADVANCES. — Most  of  the  noise  is  intended 
to  obscure  these  conditions.  Already  the  price  to  the 
consumer  is  advanced.  The  reasons  for  the  advance 
sound  plausible,  but  when  the  time  comes  we  will  show 
that  joker  in  the  arguments.  The  producer  is  as  much 
concerned  in  these  advances  to  the  consumer,  as  he  is 
concerned  in  a  living  price  to  himself.  So  long  as  the 
dealer  can  make  arbitrary  prices  to  Ihe  consumer  he 
can  control  consumption  ;  and  so  long  as  lie  restricts 
consumption  he  can  make  the  price  to  the  producer. 
Under  sueh  circumstances  a  little  advance  to  the  farmer 
now  'would  mean  nothing  permanent.  It  may  be  re¬ 
duced  again  at  will  or  kept  for  years  again  below  the 
cost  of  production.  We  cannot  have  a  milk  revolution 
every  six  months  to  force  reasonable  prices.  The  deal¬ 
ers  realize  all  this.  Let  this  crisis  pass  over  with  no 
permanent  plan  adopted  to  regulate  prices  and  the  pres¬ 
ent  movement  would  be  a  failure,  viewed  from  .ultimate 
results. 
PERMANENT  BASIS  REQUIRED.— For  these 
reasons  we  caution  the  producers  and  consumers  of 
milk  to  disregard  the  present  noise  and  commotion,  to 
call  their  leaders  in  council,  and  to  adopt  a  plan  now 
to  put  the  distribution  of  milk  on  a  permanent  business 
basis.  All  that  is  required  is  organization  of  the  pro¬ 
ducers  to  furnish  the  milk  in  bulk  and  au  open  market 
in  the  city  of  New  York  where  any  dealer,  large  or 
small,  can  buy  milk  and  be  protected  by  the  State  in 
the  delivery  of  it.  The  Department  of  Foods  and  Mar¬ 
kets  has  ample  power  to  establish  the  market  and  to 
regulate  the  trade  5 ml  protect  the  patrons  of  the  mar¬ 
ket.  It  needs  only  the  means  for  the  initial  cost,  and 
the  business  will  pay  its  own  way.  The  time  is  propi¬ 
tious  now  to  have  these  things  settled.  Farmers  will 
never  have  a  better  opportunity.  We  are  approaching 
a  State,  election  and  we  have  a  right  to  exact  from  can¬ 
didates  a  pledge  of  their  attitude  towards  these  distri¬ 
bution  problems,  and  we  have  a  right  to  take  into  con¬ 
sideration  the  records  of  the  candidates  on  these  ques¬ 
tions.  Tub  R.  N.-Y.  is  not  partisan  in  polities,  but  it 
does  not  hesitate  to  say  that  it  will  he  an  advocate  of 
the  candidate  that  pledges  definite  proper  support  for 
our  distribution  problems,  and  whose  past  records  give 
reasonable  assurance  of  a  practical  recognition  of  these 
pledges  after  election. 
“  A  Pure  Food  Graft  ” 
James  W.  Holme*  Dairy  and  Food  Commissioner  of 
Michigan,  describes  what  be  calls  “a  pure  food  graft.” 
which  seems  to  be  worked  successfully  in  some  locali¬ 
ties. 
A  man  appeared  in  Lansing.  Mich.,  called  himself 
“an  expert  milk  sanitarian.”  Ilis  name  was  Stewart 
T.  Todd.  Mr.  Ilolmc  says  that  Mr.  Todd  was  not  con¬ 
nected  with  any  health  board  or  dairy  department,  lie 
seems  to  have  had  no  experience  iu  milk  lines  except 
that  he  was  formerly  engaged  in  newspaper  work.  In¬ 
stead  of  milking  cows  he  seemed  to  be  an  expert  in 
milking  the  producer.  Mr.  Todd  seemed  to  have  spent 
four  days  in  Lansing.  He  visited  a  number  of  dairies 
and  milk  supply  stores,  and  looked  them  over.  Ho 
found  them  all  right,  and  then  solicited  an  advertise¬ 
ment  for  a  local  paper.  A  full  page  of  these  were 
printed  and  they  cost  the  dairymen  $255.  There  were 
several  dairies  Which  were  inspected  and  passed  as 
good,  but  since  they  would  not  pay  for  the  advertising 
they  were  not  mentioned  by  name  in  the  paper.  This 
was  a  holdup  game  pure  and  simple.  It.  was  a  plan  for 
getting  a  lot  of  advertising  out  of  these  dairymen,  for 
a  man  who  did  not  advertise  was  practically  placed  on 
a  black  list.  Mr.  lleline  says  that,  several  dairymen 
who  paid  for  this  advertising  said  that,  was  cheaper 
than  trying  to  explain  to  their  customers  why  they  were 
not  officially  endorsed  iu  this  report.  One  local  ice 
cream  dealer  was  offered  au  advertisement  for  $55. 
When  he  refused  to  pay  it  a  competing  firm  iu  another 
city  was  given  the  advertising  witnout  inspection.  This 
whole  proposition  is  based  on  a  form  of  blackmail.  Cer¬ 
tain  people  have  done  their  best  to  frighten  the  public 
by  telling  them  how  dangerous  impure  milk  may  be. 
These  people  have  confidence  in  their  local  paper,  and 
when  this  paper  comes  out.  with  advertisements  of  cer¬ 
tain  dairymen  and  neglecting  to  advertise  others,  the 
public  jumps  to  the  conclusion  that  only  those  who  are 
advertised  have,  pure  and  wholesome  milk.  The  fact 
js  that  these  advertisements  are  simply  a  commercial 
proposition;  in  fact  they  represent  a  holdup  game  in 
an  effort  to  force  the  dairymen  to  pay  for  advertising 
so  as  to  make  a  good  showing  before  the  public.  Such 
inspections  are  worse  than  useless,  and  when  such  a 
fellow  comes  through  a  neighborhood  working  in  con¬ 
nection  with  advertisements  of  this  sort,  he  is  simply 
trying  to  bleed  the  milk  producers,  and  get  them  to  put 
up  money  on  the  basis  of  a  holdup  game. 
Notes  from  Department  of  Foods  and 
Markets 
204  Franklin  St.,  New  York  City 
A  letter  from  a  shipper: 
“I  wish  to  thank  you  for  the  fine  prices  you  ret  rued 
last  week  for  the  fowls  aud  eggs  wbieb  I  sent  you  to 
sell.  They  were  great.  I  have  been  telling  my  neigh¬ 
bors  and  friends  of  your  place  and  some  of  them  are 
going  to  send  their  produce  to  you.  I  am  sending  an¬ 
other  case  of  eggs  to-day. 
New  York.  e.  d.  l.” 
There  is  no  difficulty  about  selling  poultry  aud  eggs 
or  other  food  products  in  New  York  City.  No  less  than 
eight  million  people  are  fed  from  the  New  York  markets 
daily.  That  means  24  million  meals  a  day.  The  people 
want  the  food.  They  want  the  best  and  the  freshest 
food  they  can  find;  and  they  pay  good  prices  for  it. 
They  have  no  favorites  in  the  way  of  dealers  or  com¬ 
mission  men.  The  dealer  who  has  the  goods  gets  the 
trade.  The  Department  has  not  only  been  able  to  get 
the  top  market  price  for  the  best  produce  but  it  has, 
with  eggs  and  other  products,  advanced  the  prices  as 
the  demand  warranted  and  then  insisted  that  the  price 
currents  quote  the  actual  price  received  and  thus  the 
higher  price  has  been  established.  This  one  service 
alone  has  profited  the  producer  much  more  than  the 
cost  of  the  Department.  For  obvious  reasons  the  regu¬ 
lar  dealers  have  an  interest  in  keeping  the  quotations 
less  than  the  actual  selling  prices.  They  then  may 
charge  the  consumer  the  high  price  and  settle  with  the 
shipper  at.  the  quotation.  It  is  doubtful  if  farmers  yet 
fully  realize  the  possibilities  for  them  in  this  work. 
Some  who  do.  have  used  it;  some  appreciate  its  possi¬ 
bilities  who  have  not  yet  been  in  a  position  to  use  them. 
Some  are  conservative  and  prefer  to  see  it  tried  out,  and 
to  the  limit,  before  turning  their  products  through  this 
channel  for  sale.  If  there  ever  was  any  reason  for  hes¬ 
itation,  that  time  has  passed.  The  Department  has  fa¬ 
cilities  equal  to  those  of  any  concern  in  the  produce 
business.  When  the  supply  is  steady  and  large  the 
auction  system  is  available.  When  the  shipments  are 
irregular  in  bulk  and  in  time  of  arrival,  the  Depart¬ 
ment  has  now  the  best  salesmen  to  be  had  to  took  after 
them,  inspect  them  and  sell  them  at  private  sale.  The 
returns  are  prompt  and  accurate;  the  producer  gets 
an  account  of  the  exact  sale.  The  work  is  no  longer 
experimental;  it  is  a  proven  success. 
EGGS. — Fauey  eggs  are  very  firm  and  prices  two 
cents  per  dozen  higher.  White  Leghorns  sold  at  5!)  to 
42  cents  for  fancy.  Many  lots  were  heated  and  sold 
from  53  to  38  cents  according  to  condition.  Selected 
large  brown  hennery  eggs  sold  from  38  to  39  cents; 
small  and  mixed.  35  to  37.  Western  eggs  are  irregular 
quality,  sales  ranging  from  28  to  34  cents.  Shippers 
should  be  careful  to  keep  their  eggs  iu  a  cool  place  until 
they  have  enough  to  make  a  shipment,  and  then  for¬ 
ward  them  by  express,  as  it  is  not  safe  to  ship  by  slow 
freight  under  present  weather  conditions.  Farmers 
should  not  deplete  their  flocks  of  hens,  especially  those 
likely  to  start  laying  early,  us  new  laid  eggs  will  prob¬ 
ably  sell  higher  this  Winter  than  ever  before. 
BUTTER. — Under  heavy  consumptive  ami  export  de¬ 
mand  best  Western  creamery  has  advanced  to  33*4  to 
34  cents,  and  commercial  grades  from  321,4  to  33  cents. 
Best  State  dairy  in  good  demand  at  30  to  31  cents  on 
desirable  packages;  other  lots  soling  slowly  at  27  to  29 
cents,  with  some  defective  at  25  and  20  cents. 
CHEESE. — There  is  some  export  demand  and  the 
market  is  firm  and  slightly  higher,  choice  selling  from 
IS  to  1 8  %  cents. 
POULTRY. — (Spring  chickens  scarce  and  Leghorns 
24  to  20  cents.  Very  fancy  Plymouth  Rocks  sold  as 
high  as  27  cents.  Small  White  Leghorn  hens  sold  at 
16%  to  47  cents.  Those  weighing  four  pounds  and  up 
brought  17*4  cents,  and  colored  hens,  17J4  to  18%. 
LIVE  (’ALVES. — The  market  advanced  the  first  of 
the_  week  to  $11  per  100  pounds  on  prime  veals  and 
$7.50  on  buttermilks.  Slow  demand  caused  decline  and 
market  closed  slow  at  $15.50  ou  veals  aud  $7  on  butter¬ 
milks. 
DRESSED  (’ALVES. — Not  many  desirable  State 
calves  coming.  Fancy,  weighing  80  to  1(H)  pounds, 
brought  19  to  20  cents,  but  nearly  everything  showed 
heat,  many  selling  from  10  to  18  cents.  Large  beef 
companies  are  bringing  several  carloads  of  heavy  Kan¬ 
sas  and  Oklahoma  calves  here  each  week  that  they  are 
selling  at  from  10  to  12  cents,  which  interferes  with 
the  demand  for  heavy  State  calves. 
POTATOES. -Values  tending  upward,  but  there  is 
no  speculative  demand.  Best  Jersey  Cobbler  and  Green 
Mountain  brought  $5,  when  closely  graded,  Others  selling 
at.  $2.80  to  $2.90  per  JOS-pOuud  bag.  Long  Island  Coli- 
bjer  and  Bliss  selling  at  $3  per  barrel,  occasionally 
$3.12%,  some  nut  graded  closely  enough  to  bring  over 
$2.75  to  $2.80. 
TOMATOES. — The  hot  weather  has  caused  rapid 
ripening  and  many  are  soft  and  over-ripe,  selling  at 
50  to  75  cents  per  crate.  Fancy  hard,  ripe  Acme  and 
Stone  brought  $1.50  to  $1.75  with  a  few  fancy  Acmes 
at  $2  per  crate. 
CELERY. — Quality  poorer  and  wilted  selling  at.  20 
to  25  cents  per  dozen  roots.  Fancy  heavy  well  bleached 
is  scarce,  bringing  05  to  75  cents. 
ONIONS. —  Continuous  arrivals  of  Western  yellow 
have  depressed  the  local  market,  especially  on  white 
and  yellow,  but  red  onions  are  scarce  and  selling  at 
$1.25  to  $1.50  per  bushel  basket,  white  75  to  $1.50  per 
crate  and  Jersey  yellow  in  baskets,  $1  to  $1.25. 
STRING  BEANS  AND  PF.AS, — Fancy  peas  scarce 
ami  finest  lots  from  Buffalo  brought  $3  to  $3.25  per 
bushel  hamper.  Overripe  a  ml  withered  sold  at  50_  to 
75  cents.  Finest  State  beans  reaching  $1.50  on  green 
and  $1.75  on  wax'. 
APPLES. — Apple  receipts  are  increasing  and  quality 
showing  marked  improvement.  Six  cars  of  Northwest¬ 
ern  Greenings  from  Virginia  came  Monday  and  an  aver¬ 
age  of  three  to  five  cars  a  day  for  remainder  of  week. 
Some  sales  were  quoted  at  $4.25  at  first  but  owing  to 
hot  weathpr,  most  of  the  business  has  been  at,  $4  per 
barrel  with  some  at  $3.75  and  $3.50.  The  first,  car  of 
State  Duchess  sold  at  $1.25  to  $1.35  per  bushel  hamper, 
another  later  went  at  $1.25  per  bushel  hamper.  .Sour 
Bough  brought  $2  to  $3  and  Duchess  in  barrels  brought 
$3.50  to  $4 ;  high  colored  Wealthy  went  at  $4  to  $4.50. 
There  were  four  cars  of  Duchess  in  ou  Friday  that  sold 
at  $2.50  to  $3  per  hid.  The  Fruit  was  shipped  from 
Barker  and  Medina  sections. 
PEARS. —  Bartletts  are  arriving  from  up-River  see- 
tions,  but  mainly  mixed  with  windfalls  and  selling  at 
•>•‘•50  to  $4  per  barrel ;  a  few  fancy  brought  $5  to  $5.50. 
(  lapp  Favorite  lack  color  and  sell  at  $4  to  $4.50  per 
barrel.  Fancy  high  colored  lots  brought  $5.  Bell 
pears  brought  $2.50  to  $3.50  per  barrel.  Speculators 
are  said  to  he  paying  $4  to  $4.25  and  even  $4.50  for 
(  lapp  in  the  Hudson  River  section  for  storage  pur¬ 
poses. 
PEACHES. — Small  lots  of  Western  New  York  peach¬ 
es  are  selliug  at  75  to  $1  per  basket,  which  is  extreme¬ 
ly  high  for  that  grade  and  only  possible  on  account  of 
the.  shortage  of  the  Jersey  and  Maryland  peaches, 
which  bring* from  $3  to  $4  in  six-basket  carriers. 
CANTALOUPES. — Jersey  Fordhooks  are  selling  at 
$!._.>  per  bushel  crate;  Maryland  and  Delaware  stand¬ 
ards  bring  $1.25  to  $2.  It  now  looks  as  though  there 
would  be  a  sharp  advance  in  prices  the  coming  week. 
Summary  of  sales  of  miscellaneous  farm  products 
during  the  week  ending  August  24th,  191(5: 
cases  . $0.42 
cases  . 41 
cases  . ! ! ! ! !  HO 
cases  . 39 
cases  . 38 
cases  .  37 
cases  . !  '.36 
cases  .  35 
case  . .35 % 
cases  . 34 
cases  . ! . ! !  !S3% 
cases  . 3,3 
cases  .  ,32 
cases  . Ml 
cases  . 30 
cases  .  29 
cases  . '28 
eases  . 27 
case  .  ok 
200  cases. 
*  BUTTER. 
81  lbs . $0.25 
29  lbs .  .26 
110  lbs. 
DRESSED  MEATS. 
1  calf,  83  lbs . 
%  -  doz.  squabs  for  . 
.$0.18% 
.  1.25 
POULTRY. 
103  lbs.  ducks  . $017 
20  lbs.  ducks  .  .20 
79  lbs.  ducks  . 16 
202  lbs. 
3  jirs.  live  pigeons 
1  pr.  live  pigeons 
87  lbs.  old  cocks  . . 
101  lbs. 
858  lbs.  fowl  . 
788  lbs.  fowl  . 
54  lbs.  fowl  . 
. 17% 
. 16% 
2602  lbs. 
168  lbs.  broilers  . 
•  •••••••• 
9^ 
460  lbs.  broilers  . 
•  •••••••• 
•  ••••••••  «  AM  '  l 
9*> 
478  lbs.  broilers  . 
*•••••«»*  1 
.  22% 
99 
43  lbs.  broilers  . 
3101  lbs. 
VEGETABLES. 
•  •••••••a  (m3. 
HO 
17  baskets  onions  . 
7  baskets  onions  . 
25  baskets  onions  . 
20  baskets  onions  . 
.  1.25 
.  1.00 
. 90 
.  1.12% 
69  baskets. 
5  bbls.  cauliflower  . 
. 3.2o 
1  bbl.  cauliflower  . . 
2  bbls.  cauliflower  . 
.  3.00 
.  2.50 
8  bbls. 
2  bags  corn  . 
.  1.75 
34  bags  corn  . . . 
.  1.50 
2  bags  corn  . 
.  1.25 
8  bags  corn  . 25 
46  bags. 
58  buncl 
bunches  celery  . ; 
bags  beans  .  25 
bag  beans  . . .  2.( 
baskets  Lima  beans  .  1.5 
baskets  Lima  beans  . l.i 
basket  Lima  beans  .  l.( 
baskets  beans  . ' 
basket  beaus  . i 
baskets  beaus  * . - 
bag  dried  beaus,  lb . I 
bags  peas  .  2.< 
bag  peas  . * .  1.1 
baskets  peas  .  1.5 
baskets  peas  . 1. 
baskets  peas  .  l.i 
baskets  pickles  . i 
crates  tomatoes  . 1.: 
crates  tomatoes  .  l.i 
crates  tomatoes  . i 
crates  tomatoes  . . 
(Continued  on  page  1171.) 
