She  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
ioz3 
The  Milk  Situation 
The  annual  meeting  of  the  Dairymen's  League  is 
scheduled  for  December  8th  at  Utica,  N.  Y.  It  will 
be  an  important  meeting.  Perhaps  the  most  far- 
reaching  in  its  effect  of  any  agricultural  meeting  yet 
held  in  the  .State.  The  future  of  the  League  will 
largely  depend  upon  what  is  done  at  that  meeting, 
and  the  people  of  the  whole  country  as  well  as  of 
the  State,  are  watching  the  progress  of  this  organi¬ 
zation.  Its  continued  success  will  give  encourage¬ 
ment.  and  hope  not.  only  to  dairymen,  but  to  pro¬ 
ducers  of  every  class  in  every  State  in  the  Union. 
The  League  is  organized  as  a  business  profit-mak¬ 
ing  corporation  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  New 
Jersey.  It  should  be  incorporated  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  and  the  charter  of  the  New  Jersey  cor¬ 
poration  annulled.  Tt  should  be  organized  under 
the  Cooperative  law  and  the  cooperative  principles. 
The  stock  of  the  present  company  con  I  d  be  trans¬ 
ferred  at.  the  same  face  value  to  the  new  co¬ 
operative  company. 
The  present  organization  is  crude  at  best  and  its 
duties  but  imperfectly  defined.  Lawyers  have  at¬ 
tacked  it  on  legal  grounds,  and  whatever  may  be 
the  justification  for  the  criticisms  of  it  from  a 
legal  point  of  view,  from  either  civil  or  criminal 
considerations,  the  organization  should  be  relieved 
of  even  the  possibility  of  legal  attack,  and  this  can 
be  effectively  accomplished  through  a  corporative  co¬ 
operative.  company.  There  is  and  has  been  no  in¬ 
tention  of  dividends  or  direct  profits  to  the  stock¬ 
holders  in  any  event.  The  mutual  benefit  of  the 
stockholder  members  in  a  better  system  for  the 
sale  of  their  milk  is  the  real  benefit  to  be  attained. 
It  is  to  he  cooperative  in  effect.  It  may  as  well  be 
cooperative  in  form.  When  the  League  was  or¬ 
iginally  organized  we  had  no  cooperative  law  in  the 
State.  We  have  now  and  it  should  be  utilized. 
It  is  no  criticism  of  the  original  organizers  to  say 
that  the  company  needs  reorganization  now.  We 
have  progressed  in  rho  cooperative  movement  in 
nine  years.  Any  of  us  ought  to  improve  now  on 
what  we  would  have  done  then. 
The  charter  should  he  broad  enough  to  cover  the 
requirements  of  the  members,  and  definite  enough 
to  define  its  purposes  and  modes  of  operation,  and 
in  sufficient  detail  to  cover,  not  only  the  general 
plan,  but  the  regional  and  local  requirements.  The 
territory  is  too  large,  and  the  interest  too  diversified 
to  he  all  handled  practically  from  a  single  centre. 
The  parent  organization  might  well  provide  for 
issuing  charters  and  defining  the  duties  and  priv¬ 
ileges  of  regional  associations  covering  territories 
that  have  common  interests  of  their  own  in  effecting 
tlie  general  organization.  The  local  sections  when 
properly  organized  should  also  have  a  charter  au¬ 
thorizing  the  local  members  to  perform  local  func¬ 
tions,  particularly  to  own  and  equip  pasteurizing 
plants  for  the  handling  of  shipments  of  milk. 
Among  the  other  tilings  we  want  a  purchasing 
department  in  this  organization,  as  well  as  a  selling 
and  marketing  agency.  We  can  buy  grain  and  feed 
from  the  cooperative  farm  companies  of  the  North¬ 
west  cheaper  than  the  local  dealers  can  buy  it  from 
large  jobbers  with  which  they  deal  and  when  wo 
show  our  large  demand  there  is  not  a  mill  or  large 
dealer  in  the  whole  country  who  will  not  only  ac¬ 
cept  our  orders  but  solicit  our  trade.  We  can  buy 
many  other  kinds  of  supplies  in  the  same  way. 
The  feed  dealers'  association  brags  that  it  has  de¬ 
stroyed  our  cooperative  bureau  in  the  State  Agri¬ 
cultural  Department  and  we  know  the  boast  is  all 
too  true.  But  if  'we  organize  this  work  well,  no 
other  organized  interests  can  touch  it  with  their 
blighting  or  political  hands.  We  can  save  more 
money  annually  on  this  purchasing  department 
alone  than  we  ever  made  before  out  of  milk  in  any 
<  ne  year  of  our  lives. 
We  must  not  only  provide  good  clean  milk :  but 
we  must,  ourselves  prove  to  the  world  that  it  is  pure 
and  clean  and  good.  We  must  still  the  tongues  that 
knock  miik  as  a  trade.  We  must  refute  the  argu¬ 
ment  that  a  band  of  city  inspectors  is  necessary  to 
secure  clean  wholesome  milk  for  city  consumption. 
We  can  do  this  in  a  system  of  our  own.  We  owe 
it.  to  the  dairy  industry  of  the  State  to  do  it.  Many 
dealers  now  use  a  label  to  deceive  and  hoodwink 
Hie  consumer.  We  must  use  it  to  assure  her  and 
guarantee  her  a  definite  quality  of  milk.  We  must 
make  the  mark  of  our  organization  on  a  bottle  of 
milk  mean  even  more  to  the  housewife  than  a  Tif¬ 
fany  stamp  on  a  piece  of  silver  or  gold. 
The  by-laws  also  need  to  he  revised  and  enlarged. 
They  should  go  into  considerable  detail,  defining  the 
duties  and  limitations  of  the  different  branches  of 
the  organization.  They  should  be  very  definite  in 
order  to  direct  the  officers  to  maintain  a  uniformity 
in  administration  of  the  different  branches,  and 
particularly  of  the  local  branches.  In  addition  to 
the  constitution  and  by-laws  a  brochure  of  instruc¬ 
tions  would  be  of  great  service,  not  only  to  the  lo¬ 
cal  officers  and  organizers,  tint  also  to  the  individual 
members. 
The  League  has  started  out  well.  It  has  attract¬ 
ed  Hie  attention  of  the  whole  country,  and  farmers 
everywhere  and  in  every  line  are  looking  to  it  as  a 
model  for  efficient  organization.  Tt  was  originally 
organized  with  the  one  purpose  of  organizing  milk 
producers  to  withhold  milk  in  order  to  compel  deal¬ 
ers  to  pay  a  better  price  for  it.  As  sometimes  ex¬ 
pressed  it  was  organized  to  create  a  strike,  rt  has 
now  gone  past  this  purpose.  It  is  a  selling  agency, 
which  means  that  it  must  not  only  be  equipped  to 
sell  milk  and  get  a  fair  price  for  it,  but  it  must 
also  increase  the  consumption  of  milk  and  adver¬ 
tise  its  economic  value  as  a  food  product.  Its  mem¬ 
bers  and  its  authorized  branches  must  own  and 
equip  and  manage  pasteurizing  plants,  and  possibly 
manufacturing  plants  for  butter  and  cheese  in  some 
sections.  If  not  all  it  must  certainly  own  and  con¬ 
trol  a  part  of  the  cans  necessary  to  ship  milk  to 
market.  In  other  words  it  must  be  a  strong,  vigi¬ 
lant,  active  organization,  fully  equipped  and  ever 
ready  to  promote  the  best  interests  of  its  members 
in  the  distribution  and  sale  of  milk.  It  must  see 
that  the  consumer  gets  the  milk  at  a  reasonable 
cost,  for  production  and  ‘distribution,  with  a  reason¬ 
able  profit  to  producer  and  distributor,  and  without 
speculative  features  or  excessive  profit  to  anybody. 
The  cheaper  milk  can  he  sold  to  the  consumer,  the 
larger  will  he  the  consumption  of  it,  and  the  large 
consumption  will  require  farms  run  to  their  full 
capacity  with  a  cheaper  cost  of  production  and 
greater  cost,  to  the  farmer. 
With  these  functions  and  possibilities  before  it, 
the  organization  should  he  a  model  in  form  and  in 
efficiency.  The  opportunity  is  promising,  and  our 
prediction  is  that  the  dairymen  will  rise  to  the  oc¬ 
casion  and  form  an  organization  that  will  give  ex¬ 
perience  and  hope  to  farmers  everywhere. 
Notes  from  Department  of  Foods  and 
Markets 
204  Franklin  St.,  New  York  City 
EGGS. — Nearby  white  eggs  in  light  supply  with 
very  slow  demand.  Liberal  supply  of  mixed  eggs. 
Best  white  State  and  nearby  henneries  are  selling  slow 
at  65c.  The  bulk  of  the  white  eggs  coming  are  selling 
from  50c  to  GOe  per  dozen.  Best  State  and  nearby 
hennery  browns  50c  to  56c.  Nearby  gathered  brown 
and  mixed,  40c  to  50c;  gathered  whites,  40c  to  50c; 
nearby  white  pullet  eggs,  45c  to  55c. 
BUTTER. — Best  Western  Creamery  butter,  43c  to 
4314c;  Western  good  to  fancy,  40c  to  42c;  best  East¬ 
ern  dairy  in  tubs.  3Se  to  41c;  Eastern  dairy  in  mixed 
packages,  33c  to  37c;  Eastern  dairy  in  prints,  38c  to 
41c. 
CHEESE. — Best  large  and  small  State,  25c  to 
2514c;  good  to  fine,  2414c  to  24 % c ;  common  to  fair, 
21c  to  2344c;  part  skims,  17c  to  22c. 
DRE88ED  POULTRY.— Demand  for  Thanksgiving 
turkeys  was  quite  disappointing  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  the  prices  last  week  were  so  high  that  most  con¬ 
sumers  could  not  afford  to  pay  the  price.  Buyers  held 
off  until  the  market  dropped  5c  per  pound.  Turkeys 
went  freely  from  2fic  to  30c  on  ice  and  30c  to  32c  dry 
picked.  On  Wednesday  market  further  declined  to  2Ge 
and  28c  on  ice  and  28c  to  30c  dry  picked.  Some  fancy 
Maryland  turkeys  sold  from  34c  to  35c,  going  to  the 
fancy  trade.  Roasting  chickens  sold  22c  to  26c;  ducks 
18c  to  22c ;  geese  16c  to  23c. 
LIVE  POULl'RY. —  Receipts  the  first  four  days 
this  week  160  ear  lots.  22  of  which  were  turkeys  and  5 
straight  cars  of  ducks  and  geese.  Virginia  turkeys 
sold  28c  to  30c ;  Tennessee  and  Kentucky  from  2Gc  to 
28c ;  State  turkeys.  30c  to  32c:  fat  gees**  18c  to  20c; 
ducks  17c  to  20c;  light  ducks  and  geese  2c  to  3e  less; 
Leghorn  fowls  16c  to  1644c;  Leghorn  chickens  16c 
to  174/,c;  heavy  colored  chickens  and  fowls  1744c  to 
18e. 
DRESSED  CALVES. — Country  dressed  calves  in 
moderate  supply.  Prime  to  fancy  veals  sold  from  18 14 e 
to  1044,0;  medium  to  good,  17e  to  ISe;  common  lie  to 
16c;  dressed  buttermilks  12c  to  14c. 
N.  B. — The  Health  Department  of  the  City  of  New 
York  has  ordered  that  all  country  dressed  calves  must 
be  opened  all  the  way  through  the  breast  and  throat. 
Shippers  are  cautioned  to  be  careful  to  out  through 
the  center.  After  the  calf  is  cooled  the  breast  may 
be  protected  by  drawing  the  skin  together  with  a  stout 
cord, 
LIVE  CALVES. —  Marker  one-half  cent  higher  than 
last  week.  Fancy  veals  1244c  to  14c;  prime  11  %c  to 
4  244c;  fair  to  good.  ll%c  to  12c;  common  1044c  to 
lie;  veal  culls  Sc  to  9c;  buttermilks  6e  to  7c;  yearlings 
6c  to  6V2c. 
LIVE  SHEEP  AND  LAMBS.— Spring  lambs  10c  to 
lOUjc:  old  ewes  5c  to  OV4e;  dressed  hothouse  lambs 
weighing  30  pounds  and  up  $10  to  $10.50;  25  to  2S 
pounds  $8  to  $9  per  carcass. 
DRESSED  HOGS  AND  PIGS. — Roasting  pigs  10 
ro  15  pounds  each,  18c  to  20c;  15  to  20  pounds  each. 
16c  to  18c:  2-5  to  30  pounds  each,  15c  to  16c:  light 
pigs,  40  to  60  pounds  each,  13%o  to  1444e;  medium 
hugs,  80  to  KM)  pounds.  12V4c  to  1344c;  hogs  weighing 
100  to  120  pounds  each.  12c  to  1244c;  125  to  150 
pounds,  11 14c  to  12c;  150  to  200,  lie  to  1144c ;  over 
200  pounds.  1014c  to  lie. 
RABBITS. — Prime  cottontails  in  fair  demand. 
Jacks  selling  slowly  and  lower.  Prime  cottontails  per 
pair  30c  to  35c;  iced  cottontails  per  pair  15c  to  25c; 
prime  jacks  per  pair  75c  to  85e. 
IIONEY,  MAPLE  SYRUP  AND  BEESWAX.— 
Fancy  No.  1  clover  comb  honey  14c  to  15c  per  pound; 
clover  comb  common  to  good  lie  to  13c;  clover  ex¬ 
tracted  6%c  to  74/4c:  buckwheat  comb  11c  to  12c; 
buckwheat  extracted  644c  to  7c.  Maple  syrup  $1,15  to 
$1.20  per  gallon.  Maple  sugar  15c  to  16c  per  pound. 
Beeswax  market  firm,  receipts  light  ;  domestic,  31c  to 
33e  per  pound ;  foreign  30c  to  31c. 
NUTS. — Chestnuts  per  60  pounds  $10  to  $14;  hick- 
orymits  per  HO  pounds  $3.30  to  $4.50;  bullnuts  per  60 
pounds  $1  to  $2;  black  walnuts  per  60  _ pounds  $1  to 
APPLES. — Receipts  moderate,  demand  good  for 
fancy  high  colored  fruit.  The  entire  market  is  a 
trifle  lower  than  last  week.  McIntosh  $4  to  $6.50; 
Northern  Spy  $2.50  to  $6;  Jonathan  $3  to  $6.25; 
B  Grade  $2  to  $3 ;  ungraded  $2  to  $3. 
POTATOES. — Southern  potatoes  arriving  in  larger 
quantities.  There  is  a  limited  demand  on  account  of 
the  high  prices.  Long  Island  $5.50  to  $6;  Maine  Cob- 
$3.75  to  $4 ;  Bermuda  second  crop,  barrel,  $6  to  $6.50. 
Sweet  potatoes,  fancy  Virginia,  barrel,  $3  to  $3.50; 
Jersey,  basket,  $1.25  to  $1.50. 
<>N TONS. — Red  and  yellow,  100  pound  hag,  $3.50 
to  $4.25;  lower  grades  $2.50  to  -$3  per  hundred. 
BEANS. — Marrow,  1016  crop,  12%e  to  13c;  Marrow! 
191?  crop,  12 14  c  to  1214c;  pea  12c;  Red  Kidney, 
choice  1916  crop,  13c :  Red  Kidney,  1015  crop,  1114c 
to  12e;  Imperial,  1915  crop,  10c. 
Summary  of  sales  of  miscellaneous  farm  products 
during  the  week  ending  November  29th,  1916: 
1  case,  doz.  .  .  .  , 
EGGS. 
$0  72 
l1/,  ease,  doz . 
70 
44  case,  doz.  .  .  .  , 
60 
2i/2  cases,  doz.  .  . . 
63 
5  cases,  doz.  .  .  . 
4,4  case,  doz.  . . . , 
. 62 
1  case,  doz . 
61 
1  case,  doz.  .  .  . , 
60 
2  cases,  doz.  .  .  . 
50 
3  cases,  doz.  . . . 
58 
2  cases,  doz.  . .  . 
. 57 
5  cases,  doz.  . .  . 
23  cases,  doz.  .  .  . 
53 
154^4  cases,  doz.  . .  . 
50 
2  cases,  doz.  . . . 
. 49 
2 
l  V-i 
o 
>2 
1 
11/, 
cases, 
case, 
cases, 
case, 
case, 
case, 
doz. 
doz, 
doz. 
doz. 
doz. 
doz. 
146 
39 
lbs. 
lbs. 
lbs. 
RUTTER. 
.48 
,  .46 
.45 
.  .44 
.42 
.  .38 
.$0.42 
.  .40 
3 
5 
18 
20 
1 
o 
4 
7 
•  ► 
O 
2 
2 
4 
350 
65 
50 
258 
51 
152 
385 
433 
(.12 
267 
189  lbs. 
82  lbs. 
110  lbs. 
39  lbs. 
34  lbs. 
4  lbs. 
baskets 
baskets 
baskets 
baskets 
hag 
bids, 
bids. 
bids, 
bbls. 
bbls. 
bbls. 
bbls. 
lbs. 
lbs. 
lbs. 
lhs. 
lbs. 
lbs. 
lhs. 
lbs. 
lbs. 
lbs. 
VEGETABLES. 
sweet  potatoes . $1.50 
sweet  potatoes .  1.40 
sweet  potatoes . 1.25 
sweet  potatoes .  1.15 
turnips  .  2.00 
turnips  .  1.62^ 
turnips  . 1.50 
peppers  .  2.00 
cabbage  .  2.50 
cabbage  .  2.00 
cabbage  .  1.50 
cabbage  .  1.12 14 
POULTRY. 
turkeys  . $0.35 
turkeys  . 30 
turkeys  . 33 
chickens  . 
chickens  . 
chickens  . 
chickens  . . . 
chickens  . 
chickens  . 
chickens  . 
chickens  . 
chickens  . 
ducks  . 
geese  . 
old  cocks  . 
old  cocks  . 
1044  pair  guinea  hens,  per  pair 
300 
245 
398 
297 
1547 
196 
146 
lbs. 
lbs. 
lbs. 
lbs. 
lbs. 
lbs. 
1  bs. 
fowl 
fowl 
fowl 
fowl 
fowl 
fowl 
fowl 
.26 
.25 
.23 
90 
.21 
.20 
.19 
.18 
.15 
.14 
.20 
.14 
.15 
.90 
°2 
.20 
.19 
.18 
.17 
.1614 
.16 
LETTUCE. 
1  boxes  . $0.65 
0  boxes  . . 60 
10  boxes  . 50 
9  boxes  . 40 
25  boxes  . 374/4 
LIVE  STOCK. 
1350  lbs.  lambs,  per  lb . $0.11 
2  lambs  .  5.00 
DRESSED  MEATS. 
calves-  . 
676 
167 
435 
170 
542 
77 
174 
104 
3 
o 
1 
1 
1 
1 
128 
<  *5-4 
318 
24 
51 
77 
138 
89 
1X6 
430 
321 
217 
441 
lhs. 
lbs.  calves  . 
lbs.  calves  . 
lbs.  calves  . 
lbs.  calves  . 
lbs.  calves  . 
lbs.  calves  . 
lbs.  calves  . 
lbs.  calves  . 
livers  . . . 
livers  . 
liver  and  head  . 
liver  and  bread  . 
box  livers  . 
box  livers  and  heads  . 
lbs.  hogs  . 
lbs.  hogs  . 
lbs.  hogs  . 
lbs.  pigs  . 
lbs.  pigs  . 
lbs.  pigs  . . . 
lbs.  pigs  . 
lbs.  pigs  . 
lbs.  pigs  . . 
lbs.  pigs  . . 
lbs.  pigs  . 
lbs.  pigs  . . 
lbs.  pigs  . 
(Continued  on  page  1531. 
$0.20 
•KD/a 
.19 
.18  44 
.18 
.1744 
.17 
.14 
.13 
.40 
.35 
.70 
.70 
1.75 
1.20 
.14 
.13 
.1244 
.1844 
.17 
.16 
.15 
.141/, 
.14  " 
-13% 
.I.314 
.13  " 
12 
