©6<?  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
'  1449 
The  Future  of  the  Milk  Business 
Insuring  What  We  Have  Won 
PRODUCERS  AND  DISTRIBUTORS.— A  sense 
of  security  and  rest  is  the  one  groat  danger  to  the  dairy 
interests  at  the  present  time.  If  milk  producers  get  to 
feel  that  the  contest  is  all  over,  and  that  they  have 
now  secured  a  price  for  their  milk  for  all  time,  they 
are  preparing  a  sad  awakening  for  themselves.  Ever 
since  the  early  dawn  of  history  the  distribution  of 
wealth  has  been  the  great  conflict  of  mankind.  Food 
is  the  most  important  form  of  wealth,  and  the  dis¬ 
tributors  of  food  have,  therefore,  become  the  lords 
of  the  manor  of  feudal  days.  By  prudent  and  farsee- 
ing  methods  the  distributors  of  food  secure  the  imple¬ 
ments  and  means  of  distribution,  and  put  themselves  in 
a  position  by  which  they  are  able  to  manipulate  and 
monopolize  food  products  and  reduce  prices  to  the  pro¬ 
ducer  at  the  time  that  they  are  advancing  the  cost  of 
living  to  the  consumer. 
TIIE  DAIRYMEN’S  ADVANTAGE.— For  the  first 
time  in  40  years  the  dairymen  of  the  New  York  pro¬ 
ducing  section  have  made  a  dent  in  the  system  by  mak¬ 
ing  the  price  of  milk  for  themselves.  They  were 
driven  to  it  by  dire  necessity.  Tito  farmer  did  not 
rebel  until  the  dealers  had  driven  home  their  advan¬ 
tage  so  persistently,  or  to  such  an  extreme  that  the 
fanner  had  no  choice  but  to  fight  or  go  into  bank¬ 
ruptcy.  The  dealers  have  learned  their  lesson.  They 
will  curb  their  avarice  for  some  time  to  come.  They 
realize  their  mistake  now.  If  they  had  given  the  pro¬ 
ducer  just  enough  to  keep  body  and  soul  together  they 
might  have  escaped  the  contest  in  the  fight.  They 
might  have  maintained  the  fiction  that  the  farmer  was 
helpless  under  their  organized  control.  They  carried 
their  advantage,  too  far.  They  pressed  the  producer 
beyond  Ids  limit  of  endurance,  and  the  contest  and  the 
result  has  destroyed  the  fiction  that  the  farmer  was 
helpless,  and  that  the.  dealer  was  all  powerful.  No¬ 
body  knows  better  than  the  dealers  that  with  all  their 
money,  all  their  skill,  all  their  ability  of  business  man 
and  lawyer,  they  arc  entirely  helpless  before  an  organ¬ 
ized  militant  body  of  producers.  Without  milk  they  are 
as  helpless  as  babes  in  the  woods.  As  we  have  point¬ 
ed  out  before,  the  farmer  needs  them  as  distributors, 
but  he  can  get  along  without  them.  They  are  not  es¬ 
sential  to  him.  On  the  other  hand  the  dealers  are  en¬ 
tirely  helpless  without  the  farmer.  They  must  have 
milk  in  their  possession  before  they  control  it  and 
before  they  can  make  a  dollar  out  of  it. 
CONTROL  OF  DISTRIBUTION.— The  dealers  in 
milk  not  only  in  Now  York  City  but  throughout  the 
whole  country  have  abundantly  put  themselves  in  pos¬ 
session  of  the  instruments  of  distribution,  and  are  in 
position  to  control  the  means  of  distribution.  They 
have  the  pasteurizing  plants.  They  have  the  cans. 
They  have  the  organized  trade.  They  have  the  in¬ 
fluence  of  State  and  city  functions  and  government. 
They  have  even  worked  up  a  sentiment  through  par¬ 
tisan  advertising  and  repeated  claims  that  the  milk 
distributed  by  big  dealers  is  better  and  more  whole¬ 
some  than  the  same  milk  distributed  in  other  ways. 
With  these  influences  and  their  long  experience  buck 
of  them  they  are  not  going  to  abandon  the  advantages 
that  they  have  enjoyed  for  so  many  years,  uud  that 
have  meant  big  salaries  and  big  dividends  on  watered 
stock  for  themselves.  For  a  while  they  will  play  the 
game  with  more  care.  They  will  offer  a  little  better 
price  for  milk.  If  the  producer  is  lulled  by  these  con- 
eeasions  and  concludes  that  the  milk  problem  is  set¬ 
tled,  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  the  milk  pro¬ 
ducers  will  be  in  as  deplorable  a  condition  in  the  fu¬ 
ture  as  they  have  been  in  the  past. 
PERFECTING  ORGANIZATION.— The  way  to 
avoid  the  future  calamity  is  to  prepare  for  it  now. 
Producers  in  various  parts  of  the  State  ask  us  if  there 
will  be  another  milk  fight  April  first.  We  doubt  it. 
If  the  producers  perfect  a  strong,  militant  organi¬ 
zation.  and  are  fully  prepared  for  a  contest,  there 
won’t  be  one.  If  the  farmers  remain  satisfied  with 
what  they  have  already  accomplished  and  neglect  the 
perfection  of  their  organization,  the  dealers  will  como 
pretty  close  to  making  the  price  fur  milk  after  April 
first. 
FUTURE  POSSIBILITIES. — The  organization  and 
preparation  for  the  future  demands  that  the  sale  and 
distribution  in  the  city  be  considered  by  the  producers 
quite  as  much  as  the  making  of  the  milk  on  the  farm. 
It  is  not  necessary,  and  it  would  hardly  be  wise  for 
tin*  farm  organization  to  attempt  the  distribution  of  all 
of  their  milk  in  the  city.  The  dealers  have  investments 
in  distribution  and  if  they  will  distribute  milk  effi¬ 
ciently  at  a  reasonable  profit,  it  is  better  not  to  dis¬ 
turb  them.  They  have  plants  in  the  country  involving 
large  investments,  and  it  is  not  necessary  to  disturb 
all  of  them,  though  it  would  undoubtedly  he  wise  for 
the  producers  to  buy  them  lip  and  operate  them  where 
this  can  he  done  with  profit-  The  more  milk  the  farm¬ 
ers  prepare  and  complete  for  the  market,  the  better  off 
they  will  be,  but  in  any  event  the  producers  need  to 
control  enough  pasteurizing  plants  and  enough  city 
trade  to  standardize  the  quality  of  the  goods  and  the 
cost  of  distribution. 
IMMEDIATE  ACTION  NEEDED— No  time  should 
be  lost  in  perfecting  the  organization  for  this  work. 
Valuable  time  is  already  being  lost.  This  is  the  con¬ 
cern  of  every  man  who  produces  milk,  and  every  mem¬ 
ber  of  the  League  should  consider  himself  a  committee 
of  one  to  perfect  the  work  and  to  help  set  it  in  mo¬ 
tion  by  every  means  at  his  command.  Success  now  in 
this  organization  means,  not  only  a  prosperous  dairy 
industry  for  the  State  of  New  York,  but  it  means  an 
equally  successful  system  for  the  distribution  and  sale 
of  every  other  food  product  produced  on  the  farms  of 
the  State. 
Notes  from  Department  of  Foods  and 
Markets 
204  Franklin  St.,  New  York  City 
EGGS. — Nearby  eggs  continue  in  light  supply. 
Very  few  reached  top  quotations  and  bulk  of  the  re¬ 
ceipts  are  selling  at  a  wide  range.  Fancy  white  State 
and  nearby  henneries  08c;  prime  nearby  whites  45c 
to  00c:  nearby  white  pullet  eggs  45c  to  55c;  Western 
and  Southern  gathered  whites  40c  to  55c.  Fancy  State 
and  nearby  hennery  browns  45c  to  52c;  State  and 
nearby  gathered  browns  and  mixed  3Tc  to  44e. 
BUTTER. — Western  creamery  butter  advanced  one- 
half  cent  a  pound  over  last  week,  selling  at  38c  to 
88 i4r.  The  best  State  dairy  in  tubs  32c  to  35c;  East¬ 
ern  dairy  iu  mixed  packages  2Sc  to  31c. 
2  cases  ...... 
3  cases  . 
1  case  . 
6644  cases. 
46  lbs.  chickens 
33  lbs.  chickens 
130  lbs.  chickens 
870  lbs.  chickens 
70  lbs.  chickens 
720  lbs.  chickebs 
110  lbs.  chickens 
120  lbs.  chickens 
56  lbs.  chickens 
37  lbs.  fowl  . 
153  lbs.  fowl  . 
77  lbs.  fowl  . 
165  lbs.  fowl  . 
6S  lbs.  fowl  . 
620  lbs.  fowl  . 
1141  lbs.  fowl  . 
780  lbs.  fowl  . 
17  lbs.  ducks  . 
60  lbs.  ducks  . 
07  lbs.  ducks  . 
225  lbs.  ducks  . 
POULTRY. 
CHEESE.— There  was  a  sharp  advance  in  cheese 
this  week.  The  best  large  colored  cheese  selling  2244 
to  23c;  8tate  common  to  fair  2044  to  20% c ;  State 
part  skims  good  to  fancy  19c  to  20;  State  part  skims 
ordinary  to  fair  15c  to  18%c;  under  grades  as  to 
quality  20c  to  22c. 
DRESSED  POULTRY. — Iced  chickens  are  selling 
slowly  and  lower;  plump  breasted  turkeys  steady; 
Long  Island  Spring  ducks,  firm,  four  pound  dry-picked 
fowls  19c  to  20c;  small  fowls  1744c  to  18c;  roasting 
chickens  22c  to  23c ;  fancy  Western  turkeys  weighing 
10  pounds  each  27e  to  28c;  light  turkeys  lower.  Fancy 
full-breasted  Maryland  and  Virginia  turkeys  as  high 
as  30  to  32c  per  lb. 
LIVE  POULTRY. — Nearby  White  Leghorn  fowls 
14c  to  15c;  Leghorn  chickens  17c  to  18c;  State  ducks 
and  geese  selling  slowly  at  17c  to  ISc;  roosters  14c; 
turkeys  20c  to  23c. 
DRESSED  CALVES.— Market  higher  than  last 
week.  Fancy  10  to  20c.  Fair  to  prime  17  to  1S42C; 
common  to  medium  15c  to  1644c;  butter  milks  11c  to 
12e.  Veal  calf  pelts  advanced  to  51c  per  lb.,  the  high¬ 
est  price  ever  known. 
9  guinea  hens 
74  lbs.  geese 
BUTTER. 
63  lbs . 
61  lbs . 
120  lbs . 
DRESSED  MEATS. 
471  lbs.  calves  . 
677  lbs.  calves  . 
112  lbs.  calves  . 
375  lbs.  calves  . 
173  lbs.  calves  . 
80  lbs.  calves  . 
SI  lbs.  calves  . 
Liver,  heads  and  tongues  for  . 
2  livers  and  3  heads  for  . 
4  wool  lambs  at  . 
Trimmings  at  . ; 
322  lbs.  pigs  . 
64  lbs.  pigs  . 
VEGETABLES. 
12  baskets  mushrooms  . 
8  baskets  mushrooms  . . . 
4  baskets  mushrooms  . 
LIVE  CALVES.— Fancy.  1214  to  13y2e;  fair  to 
prime,  1114  to  12c;  common,  1044  to  11c;  veal  culls, 
Sc  to  9c;  buttermilks,6e  to  7c;  yearlings,  6c  to  644c. 
DRESSED  PIGS  AND  HOGS. — Dressed  pork  in 
liberal  supply  and  higher.  Roasting  pigs,  12  to  16 
pounds  each.  18c  to  20c  per  pound ;  16  to  30  pounds 
each,  15c  to  17c;  pigs  30  to  50  pounds,  14c  to  15c; 
hogs  60  to  80  pounds,  18c  to  1314c;  SO  to  120  pounds, 
12c  to  13c;  125  to  150  pounds,  lie  to  12c;  150  pounds 
to  200,  lie  to  1114c  ;  over  200  pounds  1014  to  lie. 
LIVE  SHEEP  AND  LAMBS.— Live  lambs  steady; 
Soring  lambs  1014  to  11c ;  live  sheep,  old  ewes,  5c  to 
614c. 
DRESSED  HOT-HOUSE  LAMBS.— Market  active 
at  89  to  $10  per  carcass,  with  some  small  lambs  $8 
to  $8.50  each. 
APPLES. — Fancy  apples  in  light  supply:  ordinary 
fruit  in  good  supply  and  fair  demand.  McIntosh  $3 
to  $6.50;  Wolf  River  $2  to  $4;  Jonathan  $3  to  $0.25; 
Snow  $3  to  $5 ;  Fall  Pippin  $2  to  $4  ;  King  $2.50  to 
$4.50;  Grade  A  Baldwin  $2  to  $4;  Grade  B  Baldwin 
$2.50  to  $3;  ungraded  Baldwin  $1.50  to  $2.50;  fancy 
Greenings  $4  to  $5;  B  grade  Greenings  $1.50  to  $2.50; 
ungraded  Greenings  $1.75  to  $3 ;  Ben  Davis,  A  grade, 
$2.25  to  $2.75;  I>  grade  $1.50  to  $1.75;  Ben  Davis  un¬ 
graded  $1.50  to  82;  Ilubbardston  $2  to  $3;  Spitzen- 
burg  $4  to  $6;  Winesap  $2  to  $5. 
PFARS. — In  moderate  supply.  Seckel  $3  to  $6.50 
per  barrel;  Bose  $3  to  $7;  Clnirgeau  $2.50  to  $5;  An¬ 
jou  $2.50  to  $4;  Kieffer  $1.50  to  $2.50. 
ONIONS. — Liberal  supply  and  active  demand : 
prices  higher  than  last  week.  Orange  County  reds  and 
yellow,  100  pound  bags,  $2.50  to  $4 ;  Massachusetts 
yellow,  100  pound  bag,  $3  to  $4;  Jersey  white,  basket, 
$1.50  to  $3 ;  Ohio  red  and  yellow,  100  pound  bag  $3 
to  $3.50. 
POTATOES. — Prices  continue  high.  Long  Island, 
barrel,  $5.25  to  $5.50;  Maine.  180  pounds  bulk,  $5  to 
$5,25;  Maine  Gobbler,  165-pound  bag,  $4.00  to  $5; 
Maine  Green  Mountain.  105-pound  bag,  $4.80  to  $5 ; 
Jersey  round,  165-pound  bag.  $4.75  to  $5;  Virginia 
second  crop,  per  bnrrel,  $4.50  t<>  $4.75;  New  York 
Slate,  180  pounds  bulk,  $5  to  $5.25. 
NETS. — Chestnuts  In  limited  supply  selling  from  $7 
to  $18  per  00  pounds ;  hiekorynuts  $8.50  to  $4  per  60 
pounds;  black  walnuts  $1  to  $1.25  per  bushel. 
HONEY  AND  MAPLE  SYRUP.— Fancy  clover 
comb,  per  pound.  14e  to  15c;  lower  grades  11c  to  13c; 
clover  extracted  6%c  to  7V4e :  buckwheat  extracted  614 
to  7c;  buckwheat  comb,  11c  to  12c.  Maple  syrup  con¬ 
tinues  in  light  supply  selling  from  $1  to  $1.25  per 
gallon. 
BEANS,  1016  CROP.— Choice  Marrow,  100  pounds, 
$12.50  to  $12.75 ;  choice  pea  beans  $11.75  to  $12 ; 
1916  choice  red  kidney  $12.25  to  $12.50. 
Summary  of  sales  of  miscellaneous  farm  products 
during  the  week  ending  November  8th,  1916 : 
EGGS. 
3%  cases  . $0.6S 
11  cases  . 65 
2  cases  . 64 
6  cases  . 63 
114  Case  . 62 
314  cases  . 60 
2  cases  . 58 
1  case  . 57 
y2  case  . , . 55 
4  cases  . 52 
614  cases  . .50 
2  cases  . . . . . 49  - 
9  cases  . 48 
!  2  cases  . 46 
‘  6  cases  . 45 
I  barrel  cabbage  . 
10  barrels  cabbage  . 
6  barrels  cabbage  . 
15  crates  lettuce  . 
13  crates  lettuce  . 
18  crates  lettuce  . 
19  crates  lettuce  . 
5  baskets  lettuce  . 
10  barrels  peppers  . 
367  lbs.  beans  . 
56  doz.  bunches  celery  . 
1  barrel  spinach  . 
3  barrels  sweet  potatoes  . 
3  barrels  sweet  potatoes  . 
1  barrel  sweet  potatoes  . 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
1  box  of  hides  . . . 
431  lbs.  chestnuts,  bu . 
49  lbs.  chestnuts,  bu . . 
27  lbs.  chestnuts,  bu . 
406  lbs.  hiekorynuts,  bu . 
62  lbs.  rabbits  . 
21  lbs.  rabbits  . 
340  lbs.  honey  . 
FRUIT. 
12  bbls.  apples  . 
3  bbls.  apples  . 
22  bbls.  apples  . 
49  bbls.  apples  . 
83  bbls.  apples  . 
147  bbls.  apples  . 
150  bbls.  apples  . 
90  bbls.  apples  . 
107  bbls.  apples  . 
71  bbls.  apples  . 
41  bbls.  apples  . 
I I  bbls.  apples  . 
33  bbls.  apples  . 
11  bbls.  apples  . 
11  bbls.  apples  . . 
5  bbls.  apples  . 
8  bbls.  apples  . 
6  bbls.  apples  . 
5  bbls.  apples  . 
2  bbls.  apples  . 
40  bbls.  apples  . 
16  baskets  apples  . 
2  baskets  apples  . 
S  baskets  apples  . 
18  baskets  apples  . 
7  baskets  apples  . 
5  bbls.  pears  . 
1  bbl.  pears  . 
15  bbls.  pears  . 
2  bbls.  pears  . 
1  bbl.  pears  . 
15  bbls.  pears  . 
0  bbls.  pears  . 
5  bbls.  pears  . 
10  bbls.  pears  . 
6  bbls.  pears  . 
3  crates  pears  . 
1  hamper  pears  . 
6  baskets  pears  . 
1  basket  pears  . . 
5  baskets  pears  . 
3  baskets  pears  . . 
6  baskets  pears  . 
10  baskets  pears  . 
1  box  pears  . 
.43 
.42 
.40 
$0.23 
.22 
.21 
.20 
.10 
.IS 
.17 
.16 
•1814 
.20 
.10 
.18 
i?* 
.16 
.15 
.20 
.18 
.17 
.16 
.90 
.14 
$0.35 
’  .34 
$0.1514 
.15 
.17 
.16 
.1414 
.14 
.1344 
.80 
1.60 
6.00 
.50 
:  it* 
.$0.10 
10 
2.50 
2.20 
2.00 
1.1244 
1.00 
.00 
.80 
.50 
2.50 
.1044 
.20 
.50 
3.75 
2.50 
2.38 
$5.10 
11.00 
12.00 
11.50 
4.50 
.18 
.10 
.07 
. $5.00 
. 4.50 
. 4.00 
. 3.50 
.  3.00 
. 2.75 
. 2.50 
. 2.25 
.  2.00 
.  2.10 
.  1.75 
.  1.65 
. 3.25 
.  3.6244 
.  2.8714 
.  2.37V> 
.  1.6214 
.  1.3744 
. 3.75 
. 1.25 
. 1.50 
. 75 
•  •  •  ■ 
. 50 
. 40 
....  5.00 
_ 3.00 
_ 2.00 
_ 2.50 
....  1.62 
_  1.75 
_ 1.90 
_  1.25 
....  1.40 
. 75 
_ 5.00 
_ 5.00 
_  1.00 
. 75 
. 60 
. 5X 
. 54 
. 50 
_  2.00 
