Sfce  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
1545 
Milk  Dealers  Offer  Higher  Prices 
Last  week  an  up-Rtate  man  called  at  the  office 
of  the  Department  of  Foods  and  Markets.  lie  is  a 
member  of  the  Dairymen’s  League.  lie  is  exper¬ 
ienced  in  cooperative  work,  and  lie  did  good  service 
through  the  milk  light,  hut  now  he  is  worried.  Two 
large  dealers  are,  he  says,  offering  to  pay  and  are 
actually  paying  15c  a  hundred  above  the  League 
price  for  milk,  and  dealers  are  using  this  as  an 
argument,  lo  convince  the  producers  that  the  League 
was  of  no  service  to  farmers,  and  that  they  would 
he  better  off  if  they  had  refused  to  join  the  League 
and  dealt  with  the  milk  dealers  direct  and  in¬ 
dividually.  He  thinks  the  extra  price  was  paid 
for  the  purpose  of  inducing  these  patrons  to  aban¬ 
don  the  League,  and  by  making  the  first,  breach  the 
League  may  he  disorganized  and  so  he  is  troubled. 
We  think  our  friend  fears  without-  reason.  We 
have  a  better  estimate  of  farm  intelligence.  We  do 
not.  believe  that  the  farmer  can  be  misled  by  this 
kind  of  argument.  The  distributors  and  dealers  of 
milk  in  New  York  City  have  a  record  behind  them. 
Whatever  may  be  their  other  sins  they  have  never 
attempted  to  ruin  farmers  bv  making  them  wealthy 
or  prosperous.  Farmers  have  delivered  their  milk 
for  10  years,  and  during  all  that  time  up  to  the 
present  year  they  have  never  succeeded  in  coaxing 
or  forcing  the  dealer  to  pay  their  price  for  milk. 
Whatever  may  be  the  suspicions  of  our  friend,  or 
the  argument  of  the  dealer,  we  do  not.  believe  that 
he  is  paying  more  than  the  League  price  for  milk 
from  conscientious  scruples  about,  taking  it  for  less 
than  it  is  worth.  Milk  is  scarce  in  the  city.  There 
is  not  enough  to  go  around.  The  Department  could 
sell  milk  oil  the  open  market  now  at  prices  consid¬ 
erably  above  the  League  contract  price.  During  the 
last  month  milk  could  have  been  sold  for  from  $.'5 
to  .$4  a  can.  and  if  it  were  not  for  the  combination 
of  dealers,  and  the  monopoly  in  milk  through  the 
control  uf  pasteurizing  plants,  the  producer  would 
be  able  to  get  the  benefit  of  the  greater  price.  It 
is,  therefore,  not  at  all  impossible  or  improbable 
that  in  a  time  like  this  dealers  would  offer  a  little 
more  money  to  stimulate  production  or  compete 
with  each  other  for  natural  supply.  There  is  no 
great  liberality  in  paying  15c  a  hundred  above 
regular  prices  for  milk,  when  the  supply  is  scarce 
and  when  the  buyer  can  sell  it.  at  a  hundred  per¬ 
cent.  profit.  The  test,  will  come  when  the  supply  of 
milk  will  equal  the  demand  or  exceed  it. 
The  farmer  has  received  his  share  of  criticism. 
Some  of  it  is  just  and  a  good  deal  of  it  is  not. 
A  little  of  it.  copies  from  men  who  know,  and  a 
whole  lot  of  it  comes  from  men  who  would  starve 
to  death  on  the  best  farms  in  the  State  if  re¬ 
ceived  as  a  gift  without  mortgage.  With  it  all 
no  man  with  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  farmers 
disputes  their  good  judgment  when  based  on  cor¬ 
rect  information,  and  our  general  contention  is 
that  during  the  last  40  years  the  New  York  dairy¬ 
man  has  had  a  full  and  ample  fund  of  accurate  in¬ 
formation  on  the  dealers’  methods  of  buying  milk 
for  the  Now  York  market.  He  knows  the  records 
of  the  past,  the  conditions  of  the  present,  and  the 
prospects  of  the  future,  and  we  are  not  worried 
about  his  decisions  when  the  time  comes  for  him 
to  stand  up  and  be  counted  with  his  neighbors. 
Wicks  Committee  Activities 
The  Wicks  Committee  continues  to  take  testimony 
on  the  milk  problem  in  the  City  of  New  York.  Its 
testimony  is  voluminous,  and  the  selection  of  com¬ 
petent  testimony  from  the  large  record  Is  going  to 
be  something  of  a  task,  hut  the  record,  if  ever 
brought  to  light.  tvill  reveal  some  very  startling 
conditions.  Perhaps  one  of  the  most  significant 
pages  of  testimony  at  this  time  is  contained  in  the 
evidence  taken  up-Stato  concerning  the  feed  deal¬ 
ers’  association.  It  will  he  remembered  that 
through  the  initiative  of  the  New  York  Agricul¬ 
tural  Society  a  bureau  for  encouraging  the  organ¬ 
ization  of  ^operative  societies,  and  to  help  organize 
them,  was  created  in  the  Agricultural  Department. 
The  work  was  pursued  for  two  years.  Where  the 
associations  attempted  to  buy  their  own  supplies 
at  wholesale,  they  were  opposed  by  trade  interests. 
The  feed  dealers  particularly  opposed  the  work 
when  the  farm  associations  attempted  to  buy  feed 
at  wholesale.  The  testimony  of  the  secretary  of 
the  feed  association  showed  that  he  was  successful 
in  inducing  supply  houses  to  refuse  to  sell  in  ea riots 
to  farm  associations,  and  furthermore  that  the  as¬ 
sociation  had  succeeded  in  closing  up  the  bureau 
by  fireventing  it  from  getting  an  appropriation  to 
continue  the  cooperative  work.  The  fact  is  that  no 
appropriation  for  the  cooperative  bureau  in  the 
Agricultural  Department  has  been  made  for  two 
years.  The  question  before  us  at  the  present  time 
is  whether  or  not  the  feed  dealers  will  he  able  to 
make  their  injunction  permanent.  If  the  feed  deal¬ 
ers  exercise  this  influence  in  the  State,  what  may 
he  expected  from  1  lie  combined  influence  of  the 
milk  organization,  and  produce  dealers’  organiza¬ 
tions  in  the  city?  Will  their  influence  he  sufficient 
to  prevent  the  Department  of  Foods  and  Markets 
from  getting  an  adequate  appropriation  for  its  work 
during  the  coming  year,  or  will  the  people  demand 
relief  from  food  speculation  and  monopoly?  Tn  this 
city,  and  in  fact  in  the  whole  country,  people  have 
become  hysterical  over  the  high  cost  of  living.  In 
his  testimony  before  the  Wicks  committee  last  week, 
Mr.  Dillon  showed  that  with  proper  facilities  he 
could  deliver  milk  in  bottles  to  families  in  every 
nook  and  corner  of  New  York  City  at  the  homes  of 
consumers  at,  2c  a  quart  less  than  they  are  now 
paying,  and  pay  the  farmers  at  least  45c  a  hundred 
above  last  year’s  prices  for  the  entire  year.  This 
saving  alone,  he  testified,  would  amount  to  $18,- 
500,000  annually.  If  the  authorities  are  sincere  in 
their  purpose  to  reduce  the  cost  of  living  in  the 
city,  here  is  a  good  place  to  begin.  There  is  some 
intimation  that  the  policy  of  this  State  will  be  to 
avoid  interference  with  the  established  interests. 
If  this  should  prove  to  he  the  policy,  we  may  as 
well  give  up  the  hope  of  an  economic  distribution 
through  legislative  influences.  If  we  retain  the  ex¬ 
pensive  system  we  have  got  to  pay  for  it.  However, 
there  are  other  methods  of  relief.  The  milk  pro¬ 
ducers  can  market  at  least  enough  of  their  milk 
to  standardize  the  price  for  the  whole,  and  to  in¬ 
crease  the  consumption,  and  if  the  State  refuses  aid 
the  dairymen  will  take  the  matter  in  hand  for 
themselves. 
The  Storage  Egg  Swindle 
Every  year  since  cold  storage  warehouses  have 
been  in  use  for  the  reservation  of  food  products 
from  one  season  to  another,  dealers  have  gone 
through  the  Western  States,  .from  Indiana  to  Ok¬ 
lahoma,  and  gathered  up  eggs  in  the  Spring  season 
and  held  them  in  storage  until  the  supply  of  fresh 
laid  eggs  became  scarce  in  the  Fall.  The  prices 
paid  the  producer  in  Oklahoma  have  ranged  from  5e 
a  dozen  up  to  loc  and  ISc  at  different  times  and 
different  places.  The  cost  of  storage,  including  in¬ 
terest  and  insurance,  candling  and  loss,  amounts  to 
less  than  4c  a  dozen;  and  3c  to  4c  a  dozen  is  a 
good  wholesale  profit;  and  5e  a  dozen  is  a  liberal 
profit  for  the  retailer,  so  that  cold  storage  eggs  at 
retail  stores  would  give  everybody  a  good  profit  and 
.retail  at  8c  above  the  price  to  the  producer.  The 
custom  is,  however,  to  sell  these  eggs  as  fresh  eggs 
and  under  the  disguise  of  fresh  eggs.  Col  l  storage 
eggs  sell  at  four  to  five  times  the  price  paid  the 
producer  for  them. 
Fresh  eggs  at  this  time  of  the  year  are  produced 
largely  in  New  York  and  other  Eastern  States;  and 
in  the  market  the  cold  storage  eggs  are  sold  in 
competition  with  these  fresh  State  eggs  and  sold 
at  a  price  just  a  little  under  the  price  of  the  actual 
State  eggs,  with  the  result  that  the  fresh  eggs  are 
discriminated  against  in  the  market.  The  demand 
for  them  is  lessened  because  the  housewife  is  made 
to  believe  that  the  storage,  eggs  are  fresh  and.  of 
course,  this  trickery  reduces  the  demand  for  the 
fresh  eggs  and  ultimately  discourages  the  produc¬ 
tion  of  fresh  State  eggs,  so  that  this  swindle  of  the 
consumer  becomes  a  fraud  on  the  producer  as  well. 
Last  season  eggs  were  bought  from  producers  at 
15c  to  18c  a  dozen  and  put  in  cold  storage.  They 
could  he  wholesaled  at  27c  to  28c  a  dozen  and  re¬ 
tailed  at  32c  to  33c  a  dozen.  They  have  recently 
been  selling  at  3Sc  a  dozen  wholesale  and  from  50c 
to  00c  retail. 
One  dealer  in  Chicago,  by  the  name  of  Wetz, 
bragged  that  he  had  72,000,000  eggs  in  storage  and 
that  he  was  going  to  hold  them  for  50e  a  dozen 
wholesale.  When  the  people  complained  he  asked 
what  they  were  going  to  do  about  it.  In  response 
to  this  defiance  and  monopoly  the  mayors  of  V  e 
different,  cities  of  this  State  and  other  State-  •• 
ganized  a  boycott  on  the  storage  eggs,  until  .  ? 
price  was  reduced  to  a  reasonable  level;  and  1 1 . : 
Department  of  Foods  and  Markets  issued  an  order 
compelling  the  dealers  to  mark  the  cold  storage 
product  with  the  words  “cold  storage.”  This  will 
stop  the  fraud  and  discrimination  against  fresh 
eggs.  The  housewife  that  wants  storage  egg<  will 
get  them  at  a  reasonable  profit  and  will  use  r.  re 
of  them,  and  by  increasing  the  demand  increase  the 
price  at  the  storage  season  in  the  Spring  \  the 
same  time,  the  housewife  who  wants  fresh  eggs  will 
be  able  to  get  them.  The  supply  will  he  small  and 
the  increased  demand  will  increase  the  price  of 
fresh  eggs  to  a  reasonable  profit  for  the  producer 
and  it  will  stimulate  and  increase  production. 
The  speculators  in  cold  storage  eggs  have  raised 
a  howl  about  this  order,  claiming  that  it  would 
increase  the  cost  of  handling.  On  actual  test,  how¬ 
ever.  one-tenth  of  a  cent  is  the  cost  of  marking. 
Ten  dozens  can  he  marked  for  a  cent.  The  only 
cause  for  the  complaint  is  that  it  will  stop  the 
fraud  of  selling  cold  storage  eggs,  which  cost  the 
dealer  15c  a  dozen,  in  competition  with  fresh  eggs, 
which  may  cost  the  producer  from  60c  to  75c  a 
dozen. 
Any  boycott  is  uneconomic  and  dangerous.  Its 
ultimate  effect  is  an  injury  to  everyone  concerned. 
Any  war  is  destructive  and  a  boycott  is  war.  It 
discourages  production  and  makes  eggs  subsequent¬ 
ly  dear  to  the  consumer.  If  effective,  it  reduces 
the  profit  of  the  dealer.  If  its  effect,  however,  is  to 
stop  a  fraudulent  custom,  it  may  he  worth  all  that 
it  cost. 
Angered  by  the  prospect,  of  losing  their  monopoly, 
the  dealers  are  trying  to  convince  the  public  that 
the  Department  of  Foods  and  Markets  organized 
the  boycott  on  eggs,  and  caused  a  reduction  in  the 
price  of  fresh  eggs.  The  truth  is  the  Department 
had  no  part  in  organizing  or  promoting  the  boycott 
and  does  not  believe  in  the  boycott,  as  a  principle. 
Its  order  to  mark  cohl  storage  eggs  will  have  the 
effect,  if  maintained,  of  increasing  the  price  and 
consumption  of  fresh  eggs.  One  of  the  complaints 
first  issued  by  the  dealers  was  that  such  an  order, 
if  enforced,  would  drive  the  price  of  fresh  eggs  to 
$1.50  a  dozen. 
Notes  from  Department  of  Foods  and 
Markets 
204  Franklin  St.,  New  York  City 
EGGS. — Rest  white  nearby  hennery  declined  late  in 
the  week  to  5Se.  Nearby  white  hennery  46c  to  5Se. 
Rest  nearby  hennery  brown  43c  to  45c;  gathered  white 
and  browns  35c  to  45c, 
RUTTER. — Fancy  Western  creamery  butter  de¬ 
clined  to  40c;  fancy  Eastern  dairy  in  tubs  37c  to  38c; 
lower  grades  in  mixed  packages  30e  to  35c. 
CHEESE. — M  e  received  one  lot  of  State  part  skims 
winch  sold  19c  and  20c  per  pound.  Best  State,  large, 
-nc;  good  to  fine  24 to  24% c ;  common  to  fair  21c 
to  23c;  State  part  skims  18  to  22c;  low  grade  skims 
12e  to  18c, 
DRESSED  POULTRY.— Market  declined.  Fancy 
full  breasted  turkeys  26c  to  28c;  roasting  chickens  18c 
to  21c;  fowls  16c  to  20c;  ducks  and  geese  ISc. 
LI1  E  POT  LTRY. — Turkeys  1 4c  to  17c;  chickens 
and  fowls  15c  to  1 7  *4  c  ;  roosters  14c;  ducks  and  geese 
loc  to  16c. 
LI\L  (  AL\  ES. — Fancy  13c  to  14c;  fair  to  prime 
1214c  to  12%e;  common  1014c  to  11c;  culls  8c  to  9c; 
buttermilks  6c  to  7e;  yearlings  6c  to  6%e. 
DRESSED  HALVES. — Slow  demand,  Fancy,  1814c 
to  20c;  fair  to  prime  17c  to  18%c;  common  to  me¬ 
dium  15c  to  17c;  buttermilks  12c  to  14c. 
ED  E  SHEEP,  LAMBS  AND  PIGS. — Spring  Iambs 
12c  to  I4e;  old  ewes  5c  to  634c ;  roasting  pigs,  10  to 
lo  pounds  each.  17c  to  18c  per  pound;  15  to  20  pounds 
each;  loc  to  16c;  25  to  30  pounds  each,  15c  to  1514c ; 
40  to  60  pounds  each,  13c  to  14e;  hogs  per  100  pounds 
$10  to  $10.10. 
_  _  .  -no-.s  umj  ro  pounds  l lie  to 
1214c  ;  l2n  to  150  11  Re  to  12c;  150  tn  200  pounds  11c 
to  1134c ;  over  200  pounds  I0%e  to  11c. 
APPLES. —  Market  firm  on  fancy  fruit.  McIntosh 
$4  to  $6.50;  Northern  Spy  $2  to  $6;  Jonathan  $3  to 
$6;  Wo  It  River  $3.50  to  $5;  Alexander  $3  to  $4.75; 
King  $2  tn  $4;  Baldwin  fancy  $3.25  to  $4.50;  lower 
grades  Baldwin  $1.5(1  to  $3;  Greening  fancy  $4  to 
$5.50 ;  lower  grades  $2  to  $3;  Ben  Davis  $1.75  to  $3.25. 
NT  TS. — ■Chestnuts,  per  60  pounds.  $10  to  $14;  hick- 
or.vuuts,  per  00  pounds.  $3.50  to  $1.50;  bull  nuts,  per 
60  pounds,  $1  to  $2:  black  walnuts,  per  60  pounds.  $1 
to  $  1 .2*1. 
POT  A  1’OES. — Southern  potatoes  in  good  supply. 
L°ng  Island  $5-50  to  $6;  Maine  Cobbler.  165  pound 
bag,  $4.8; >  to  $5;  Maine  Green  Mountain,  165  pound 
bag,  $4.80  to  $5;  Jersey,  165  pound  bag,  $4  to  $4.75; 
Virginia  second  crop,  per  barrel.  $4.25  to  $4.50;  Ber¬ 
muda  second  crop,  per  barrel,  $5  to  $8.  Sweet  pota¬ 
toes.  fancy  Virginia,  per  barrel,  $3  to  $4;  Jersev,  per 
basket,  $1.25  to  $175. 
Summary  of  sales  of  miscellaneous  farm  products 
during  tbe  week  ending  December  Gth.  1916: 
1 
iy> 
y2 
¥2 
3  y> 
1  " 
o 
3 
1 
1 
o 
8 
15 
9 
1 
7  Vo 
13 
1 
30 
1 
1 
5 
92 
75 
129 
150 
478 
90 
case 
case 
case 
case 
cases 
ease 
cases 
cas-s 
Case 
case 
cases 
cases 
cases 
cases 
case 
cases 
cases 
case 
cases 
case 
case 
cap' s 
cases 
POULTRY. 
lbs.  chickens  . 
lbs.  chickens  . 
lbs.  chickens  . 
lbs.  chickens  . 
lbs.  chickens  . 
(Continued  on  page  1555.) 
$0.61 
.65 
.64 
.63 
.60 
.59 
.56 
.55 
.54 
.51 
.52 
.50 
.48 
.45 
.41 
.40 
.39 
.37 
.3d 
.33 
.32 
.31 
.30 
$0.23 
.21 
.20 
•19% 
