S5/>«?  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
1425 
Farmers  Will  Settle  the  Milk  Question 
It  is  up  to  the  Distributors 
THE  ILL-TEMPERED  DEALERS.— At  last  the 
producers  of  milk  have  somethin r  or  which  to  thank 
the  distributors  of  milk.  When  the  milk  fight  was  over 
it  might  have  been  assumed  that  the  milk  problem  for 
the  present  at  least  was  settled.  The  producers  might 
have  forgotten  the  past  and  gradually  gone  ahead  at¬ 
tending  to  their  barns  and  herds,  and  the  production  of 
milk,  and  gradually  neglected  the  more  important  work 
of  perfecting  their  organization  for  the  future  sale  and 
distribution  of  their  product. 
The  dealers  have  prevented  this  apathy  by  refusing 
to  accept  the  new  conditions  gracefully'  and  by  ex¬ 
hibiting  a  disposition  of  temper  and  bitterness  which 
it  was  their  Teal  interest  to  suppress.  In  the  city  they 
have  advanced  the  price  to  the  consumer  aud  have 
actually  influenced  in  different  ways  an  excessive  city 
supply  and  a  reduced  consumption  of  milk.  They  have 
done  nothing  whatever  to  increase  the  consumption. 
DECEPTIVE  PUBLICITY— Through  the  inspira¬ 
tion  of  some  of  them,  city  papers  controlled  by  them 
have  set.  up  a  howl  and  a  scare  about  poor  milk,  and 
dirty  milk,  and  diseased  milk,  until  families  have  be¬ 
gun  to  feci  that  the  only  safe  thing  to  do  is  to  go 
without  milk  entirely.  The  agricultural  papers  have 
saved  the  dealers  some  embarrassment  by  refusing  to 
accept  their  advertising,  on  the  ground  of  its  want  of 
truth  and  candor,  but  many  of  the  county  papers  in 
country  districts  have  accepted  the  advertisement,  and 
in  that  way  the  dealers  have  been  able  to  exhibit  to 
the  producers  the  full  extent  of  their  irritation  and  ill- 
temper.  The  producer  has  been  warned  in  plain  words 
that  the  milk  problem  is  not  settled,  and  judging  by 
the  past  experience  and  the  temper,  and  the  announce¬ 
ments  in  the  advertisements,  they  have  come  to  real¬ 
ize  the  problem  that,  confronts  them  in  the  future. 
TIIE  PRODUCERS  UNDERSTAND.— Go  through 
the  milk  producing  sections  where  you  will  today  and 
you  find  but  one  sentiment.  That  sentiment  is  that 
farmers  must  own  their  own  pasteurizing  plants  and 
shipping  cans,  and  that  in  the  city  they  must  control 
their  own  selling  agency.  This  is  not  a  new  doc¬ 
trine.  It  has  been  preached  by  The  R.  N.-Y.  for  years, 
but  it  required  the  lute  experience  in  the  milk  contest 
and  the  present  attitude  of  the  dealers  to  fully  con¬ 
vince  producers  of  the  Teal  necessity  of  this  reform. 
PRACTICAL  CO-OPERATION.— Producers  are  not 
content  just  now  with  the  sentiment  nor  with  the 
fallacy  of  the  situation.  They  are  getting  right  down 
to  practical  work.  In  every  county  of  the  State  meet¬ 
ings  are  being  held,  and  organizations  are  being  per¬ 
fected  for  the  control  of  these  utilities.  Some  whole 
counties  have  taken  the  work  up  as  a  unit  and  the 
information  is  coming  that  within  a  year  every  shipping 
plant  in  the  whole  county  will  be  under  the  owner¬ 
ship  of  the  farmers  themselves  and  be  controlled  by 
them.  The  county  organizers  and  the  Farm  Bureau 
agents  are  rendering  efficient  work  in  this  connection. 
It  requires  only  a  unification  of  system  by  the  League 
in  order  to  perfect  this  work.  From  the  present  pros¬ 
pect  the  dairymen  will  never  again  be  caught  in  a  po¬ 
sition  where  they  are  unable  to  ship  milk  except 
through  the  permission  and  courtesy  of  the  milk  dis¬ 
tributing  dealers. 
CITY  DISTRIBUTION. — The  city  agency  is  a  sim¬ 
ple  proposition.  The  men  who  sell  milk  in  the  city  are 
the  men  who  control  it.  No  man  can  sell  it  until  he 
controls  it.  If  the  producers  turn  the  milk  over  to  the 
dealers,  the  dealers  will  control  it  and  sell  it.  If  the 
producers  keep  the  milk  in  their  own  possession  and 
sell  it  through  their  own  agencies,  then  the  producers 
will  control  it,  and  this  is  what  they  are  now  preparing 
to  do.  The  future  of  the  large  dealers  in  this  work 
will  depend  upon  themselves.  If  they  nurse  their  dis¬ 
appointment  and  their  temper,  and  proceed  in  the  way 
they  have  marked  out  for  themselves  in  the  last  month 
or  two,  their  days  will  be  numbered.  If  they  use  their 
organizations  and  their  experience  to  help  effect  an 
efficient  and  economic  system  of  milk  distribution,  they 
will  save  their  organizations  and  they  will  be  able  to 
make  a  reasonable  profit  on  their  actual  investment, 
and  reasonable  returns  for  their  own  services  and 
work.  From  the  first  we  have  contended  that  there  was 
no  desire  to  disturb  existing  business  or  to  replace 
present  agencies  by  new  ones.  Economy  in  distribu¬ 
tion  WOO  Id  best  be  served  by  using  the  agencies  now 
in  the  work,  but  this  cannot  he  done  without  the  co¬ 
operation  of  the  dealers  themselves.  If  they  persist  iu 
the  extravagance  and  wasteful  methods  that  they  have 
been  pursuing,  aud  if  they  still  insist  on  their  unham¬ 
pered  right  to  make  prices  to  producers  and  to  con¬ 
sumers  without  let  or  hindrance  from  either,  they  will 
have  to  face  the  consequences  of  their  own  inability  to 
see  tile  trend  of  a  new  order  of  things. 
TIIE  MOST  INSISTENT  PU Bl. 10  QUESTION.— 
This  new  order  the  producers  are  demaudiug;  the  con¬ 
sumers  are  demanding;  a  large  part  of  the  small  and 
independent  dealers  are  demanding  it.  The  small  deal¬ 
ers  are  delighted  to  see  its  approach.  The  members 
of  the  Legislature  all  over  the  Stale  have  pledged  them¬ 
selves  to  help  bring  about  the  reform  in  the  distribu¬ 
tion  of  milk  and  other  foods.  Candidates  for  Gov¬ 
ernor  both  made  an  issue  of  it  in  the  last  campaign. 
The  result  may  be  hampered  and  delayed  by  one  in¬ 
fluence  or  another  for  a  time,  but  the  people  are  not 
in  a  temper  to  be  trifled  with  on  the  issue.  They  un¬ 
derstand  the  significance  of  the  35-cent  dollar  as  never 
before.  They  know  that  the  Department  of  Foods  and 
Markets  is  an  agency  for  the  correction  of  ahoses  in 
the  distribution  of  food,  and  big  men  and  small  men, 
laymen  and  politicians,  women  of  all  classes  and  of 
varying  degrees  of  wealth  and  culture,  are  demand¬ 
ing  the  reform  in  food  distribution.  The  demand  for 
it  comes  from  the  city  and  farm,  and  from  one  end  of 
the  country  to  the  other.  We  are  now  in  u  position 
where  this  reform  may  he  worked  out  gradually  and 
progressively.  If  attempt  is  made  to  pass  it  by  and  re¬ 
tard  it,  it  will  come  later  on  through  drastic  measures. 
Notes  from  Department  of  Foods  and 
Markets 
204  Franklin  St.,  New  York  City 
Men  who  do  not  like  the  Department  of  Foods  aud 
Markets  are  hard  to  suit.  When.it  is  making  large 
Sales  of  produce  at  auction,  they  condemn  the  public 
•‘ales  system.  When  sales  arc  made  privately  then  they 
raise  a  storm  of  protest  and  fault-finding  because  the 
goods  are  not  all  sold  at  public  auction.  They  would 
like  sales  made  to  produce  the  poorest  results.  They 
want  to  discredit  the  work,  aud  of  course,  if  the  De¬ 
partment  could  lie  nagged  into  doing  as  they  direct, 
failure  would  natural!}'  follow. 
The  Department  believes  in  the  auction  system  of 
selling  when  conditions  are  right,  but  the  auction  re¬ 
quires  a  full  and  steady  supply  of  goods  from  day  to 
day.  If  the  goods  can  be  shipped  iu  definite  and 
standard  grades,  so  much  the  better.  When  condi¬ 
tions  are  right,  the  Department  sells  goods  at  auction. 
When  the  conditions  are  not  right  for  auction  sales, 
then  the  goods  are  sold  at.  private  sales.  Tt.  has  not  had 
funds  to  establish  a  salesroom  of  its  own;  so  it  has 
made  arrangements  for  auction  rooms  through  the  best 
auction  house  in  the  city,  and  it  has  secured  private 
salesrooms  through  one  of  the  best  wholesale  houses  in 
the  produce  line.  All  these  sales  are.  conducted  by  ex¬ 
perienced  auctioneers  and  salesmen,  and  they  are  all 
under  constant  supervision  of  the  Department. 
At  the  present  time  the  Department  is  selling  about 
$12,000  worth  of  goods  a  week.  The  commission 
charged  the  producer  is  five  per  cent,  for  this  service, 
lie  gets  all  the  goods  sold  for  less  this  five  per  cent, 
commission  and  transportation  charges.  This  is  sim¬ 
ply  a  demonstration  to  see  what  can  be  done.  Ti  e  De¬ 
partment  does  not  satisfy  every  shipper.  About  1  % 
out  of  every  one  hundred  shippers  complain  of  the  re¬ 
turns.  Sometimes  the  complaint  is  justified.  An  error 
has  been  rnadd  and  is  corrected.  Sometimes  no  ex¬ 
planation  can  be  made.  In  other  cases  the  complaint 
seems  unreasonable.  Goods  are  sometimes  poor,  or 
badly  packed.  The  health  inspectors  sometimes  con¬ 
demn  the  goods  and  they  are  entirely  lost.  Sometimes 
the  railroads  mix  them  up  and  no  doubt  the  Depart¬ 
ment  sometimes  makes  mistakes.  No  doubt  it  some¬ 
times  makes  a  poor  sale.  It  tries  to  do  just,  what  the 
owner  would  do  if  present.  Goods  arrive  late  iu  the 
week  or  just  before  a  holiday.  They  will  not  keep 
over.  They  mi  st  be  sold.  To  bold  them  would  be  a 
greater  loss.  They  are  sold.  It  is  the  only  thing  to 
do;  but  the  price  may  be  considerably  Jess  than  the 
price  for  similar  goods  sold  the  day  before  or  possibly 
the  early  part  of  the  same  day.  Mistakes  of  judgment 
and  of  accounting  do  sometimes  occur;  but  these  are 
not  serious,  und  considering  the  volume  they  are  not 
numerous. 
There  is  no  disposition  to  solicit  shipments  from  those 
who  may  be  able  to  do  ns  well  or  better  elsewhere.  The 
work  is  one  of  demonstration  iu  the  hopes  of  helping 
those  who  need  the  service,  aud  also  to  develop  a  means 
of  cutting  the  distance  between  the  producer  and  con¬ 
sumer. 
EGGS. — Nearby  white  eggs  continue  in  light  supply 
with  good  demand.  Ordinary  receipts  are  moving  slow¬ 
ly  at  a  wide  range  of  prices;  fancy  white  State  and 
nearby  hennery  firm  at  QSe;  best  brown  hennery,  55c 
to  57e;  mixed  brown  and  white  42c  to  50c;  shrunken 
and  held  lower;  shippers  should  candle  all  eggs  before 
shipping  as  both  city  and  Federal  regulations  are  string¬ 
ent.  in  reference  to  the  percentage  of  unmerchantable 
eggs  contained  in  each  case. 
BUTTER. — Fancy  western  creamery  higher  than 
last  week  and  selling  from  38e  to  38%c;  fancy  east¬ 
ern  dairy  in  tubs  33c  to  35%c;  eastern  dairy  in  mixed 
packages  2Sc  to  31c. 
CHEESE. — Demand  continues  firm  and  prices  one- 
half  cert  higher  than  last  week.  Fancy  large  colored 
State  21%  to  22%c;  common  to  good  19%  to  21%c. 
DRESSED  POULTRY— Di  •ossed  iced  chickens  firm¬ 
er,  otherwise  market  slow;  prime  fowls  selling  22  to 
23c;  roasting  chickens  24c  to  25c;  Spring  turkeys 
scarce;  eight  to  ten  pounders  30c  to  32c:  indications 
are  that  prices  will  rule  high  for  the  Thanksgiving 
trade. 
LIVE  POULTRY. — Live  heavy  fowls  scarce  and 
firm;  light  stock  dragging;  receipts  from  nearby  sec¬ 
tions  light  and  largely  small  Leghorn  stock,  selling 
from  10c  to  17c;  young  roosters  T'c  to  19c;  old  roost¬ 
ers  firm  at  1 1  %o  ;  prime  ducks  IS  to  20c;  geese  10c 
to  17c;  plump  turkeys  23c:  to  25c. 
DRESSED  CALVES. — Liberal  supply,  market  weak 
with  limited  demand;  fancy  white  mealed  calves  10  to 
16%c;  fair  good  14c  to  15c;  common  13c  to  14c;  a  few 
in  had  order  sold  as  low  as  9c;  buttermilks  lie  to  12c. 
LIVE  CALVES. — Live  calves  firm  and  Irglior  than 
last  week;  fancy  12%  c  to  13c;  prime  11  % e  to  12c; 
common  to  good  $9.75  to  $11.75;  buttermilks  G  to  7c; 
yearlings  $0  to  $0.50, 
DRESS MD  PIGS  AND  HOGS.— Roasting  pigs.  12 
to  16  pounds  each,  18c  to  20c  per  pound;  16  to  30 
pounds  each,  15c  to  17c  per  pound ;  dressed  hogs,  60 
to  80  pounds,  13c  to  13%e;  SO  to  120  pounds,  12c  to 
13c ;  125  to  200  pounds,  lie  to  12c. 
LIVE  SHEEP  AND  LAMBS.— Spring  lambs  higher, 
10%  c  to  lie;  old  ewes,  5c  to  6%c  per  pound. 
RABBITS. — Belgian  hares  16c  to  18c  per  pound; 
prime  cottontails  40c  to  45c  per  pair ;  prime  jacks  $1 
to  $1.25  per  pair. 
APPLES. — Light  receipts  of  fancy  stock  which  is 
selling  high;  market  overstocked  with  windfalls  from 
Western  New  York,  selling  from  $1.50  to  82.25  per 
barrel;  McIntosh  84  to  $6;  Jonathan  $3  to  $6;  Bald¬ 
win  $2  to  $4;  Greening  $2.50  to  $5;  King  $3  to  $4; 
Snow  $3  to  $i;  llubbtmlsfon  $2.50  to  $3;  Ben  Davis 
$2  to  $3 ;  Wolf  River  $3  to  $4. 
PEARS. — Moderate  Tocoiots  and  market  high  on 
fancy  stock;  Kietfcrs  in  liberal  supply  and  lower; 
Bose  $3  to  $8;  Glairgeau  $2.50  to  $6;  Anjou  $3  to 
$7;  Kieffer  $1.50  to  $2.25. 
ONIONS. — In  moderate  supply  and  higher;  Orange 
County  reds,  100  pound  bags,  $2.50  to  $3.50.  Orange 
County  yellow  $2.50  to  $3.50;  Jersey  white,  per  basket, 
$1.50  to  $3. 
POTATOES. — Demand  moderate prices  high,  lim¬ 
iting  sales;  F>ong  Island,  barrel  $5.25  to  $5.50;  Maine 
Cobbler.  165-pound  bag,  $4.90  to  $5;  Maine  Green 
Mountain,  165-pound  bag,  $4.80  to  $5;  Jersey  round, 
165-pound  bag,  $4.75  to  $5;  Jersey  Long,  105-pound 
bag,  $4.25  to  $4,75;  New  York  State,  165-ponnd  bag. 
$4.75  to  $5. 
NUTS. — State  and  Pennsylvania  chestnuts,  60 
pounds,  $9  to  $11;  Southern  chestnuts,  60  pounds,  $7 
to  $9.50;  hick ory nuts,  60  pounds,  $3.50  to  $4.50. 
HONEY  AND  MAPLE  SYRUP.— Standard  No.  1 
clover  comb  14c  to  15c;  lower  grades  lie  to  13c; 
extracted  clover  6%c  to  7%c;  extracted  buckwheat 
6%c  to  7c;  buckwheat  comb.  11c  to  12c;  Southern  cs- 
tacted,  per  gallon,  55c  to  70c;  maple  svrup  in  light  sup¬ 
ply,  good  demand,  selling  $1.10  to  $1.25  a  gallon. 
Summary  of  sales  of  m’SCellaneoua  farm  products 
during  the  week  ending  November  1st,  1916: 
EGGS. 
2  cases  . . . 
.  08 
10 
. .80.65 
1 
. ’  63 
2% 
doz.  . . 
.  63 
12% 
CilSOR  . .  .  . . 
.  62 
yk 
case  . 
. 61 
.  64 
4 
cases  . 
.  60 
2 
cases  .  . . 
.  59 
1 
case  •  . . 
.  58 
1 
case  . . 
.  .56 
1 
case  . 
. 55 
1 
case  . 
. .  JJ2 
5 
. 50 
3 
S 
48 
1 
case  . 
.  .47 
2 
cases  . 
5  cases  . 45 
5  cases  .  .43 
1  case . 42 
1  case . .41 
1  case  ....  * . 40 
3  1-6  doz. 
.40 
68  cases  5%  doz. 
BUTTER. 
60  lbs . 
58  lbs . 
10  lbs.  . 
14  lbs . 
14  lbs . 
28  lbs . 
1C4  lbs. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
4  bags  citron  . 
1200  wool  . 
284  chestnuts,  bu.  . . 
135  chestuuts,  bu . 
82  cliestuuts,  bn . 
1  lamb  . . 
95  rabbits  . 
lbs.  CALVES. 
477  . 
214  . 
776  . 
349  . 
229  . 
233  . 
217  . 
104  . 
150  . 
71  . 
$0.32 
.32 
.35 
.22% 
.20 
$0.21  % 
.33 
10.60 
11.00 
9.50 
4.00 
$0.16 
-1414 
.14 
.13 
.11-4 
.11 
Jo 
2S20 
1  1'ver  . . 
1  liver  . 
1  liver  . 
3  livers  and  sweetbreads  . .  . .  . 
5  livers  and  sweetbreads  . . . 
3  livers  and  sweetbreads  . 
1  liver  and  sweetbread . . . . 
lbs.  POULTRY. 
36*4  chickens  . . . 
105  chickens  . . . . . 
557  chickens  . . . 
302  chickens  . 
768  chickens  . . 
215  chickens  . . 
145  chickens  . . . 
.40 
.65 
.40 
.96  2-3 
.63 
1.60 
.95 
$0.24 
210 
211 
.19 
2128 
lbs. 
164 
182 
45 
33 
66-4 
253 
980 
lbs. 
39 
162 
83 
SI 
6 
"bti 
1629 
7 
2 
39 
9 
13 
10 
15 
85 
*) 
10 
•> 
o 
14 
o 
12 
4 
18 
1 
4 
13 
43 
49 
11 
22 
*8 
131 
19 
150 
fowl 
fowl 
fowl 
fowl 
fowl 
fowl 
fowl 
ducks 
ducks 
ducks 
ducks 
ducks 
VEGETABLES. 
lbs.  potatoes  . 
crates  celery  . 
crates  celery  . 
doz.  bunches  celery  . 
doz.  bunches  celery  . 
bbls.  cauliflower  . 
bbls.  cauliflower  . 
crates  lettuce  . 
bs.  lettuce . . . 
crates  tomatoes  . 
bs.  tomatoes  . . . 
bhls.  peppers  . 
onions  . 
onions  . . 
has.  mushrooms  . . . 
FUUIT. 
hills,  apples  . . . . 
bills,  apples  . . 
hbl.  apples  . . 
bbls.  apples  . 
bhls.  apples . 
bbls,  apples . 
bbls.  apples . 
l  Ms,  apples  . 
bbls.  apples  . 
bbls.  apples  . 
bbls.  apples . . . 
bbls.  apples . . 
bbls.  apples  . 
(Continued  on  page  1435.) 
2?0 
.19 
.18  U 
.18'“ 
.17 
216% 
.16 
.19 
.18 
.17 
.16 
.  .$2.00 
..  2.00 
. .  1.75 
. .  .30 
. .  .20 
.  .  2.00 
.  .  2.25 
. .  1.00 
. .  .60 
.  .  1.00 
. .  .30 
. .  2.00 
..  1.12% 
. .  .75 
. .  .95 
.  .$5.50 
.  .  5.25 
. .  4.50 
. .  4.00 
. .  3.75 
.  .  3.50 
.  .  3.25 
.  .  3.00 
-  *2  75 
2.62% 
2.50 
2.37% 
o 
