The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
749 
Further Discussion of the Milk Problem 
[Our people knew our general policy of Riving a 
fair hearing to questions concerning the farm. As 
before explained, we have restricted this milk contro¬ 
versy more than usual because discussion <1 id not 
seem to promise benefits. In it wo are concerned onh 
with the best interests of the dairymen. To this end 
our policy is a thorough understanding of all problems 
to be adopted by the will of the majority in one organi¬ 
zation onlv, and then nil work together as one unit to 
give the p'lan adopted a fair chance to make good. For 
ourselves, we would make any reasonable sacrifice to 
see unity restored.] 
It is a singular fact that so far practically all 
information reaching the public on the milk situa¬ 
tion comes from the pooling association. Give us all 
a fair chance. 
Mr. Nelson gives us some good suggestions on 
page 070, but he is altogether mistaken in sonic of 
his remarks. While a pooler he is entirely in har¬ 
mony with non-poolers in trying to get all dairymen 
together. It was an attempt to do this that led to 
the Non-poolers' Association. Turn to the report of 
the first meeting of non-poolers, in The R. N.-Y. of 
September 3, 1021. page 103, and you will see that 
the resolution passed at that gathering was directed 
to the pooling association with the sole intent to get 
a non-poolers' hearing, with the hope of bringing 
about a modification of the pooling plan and ils con¬ 
tract, so that all dairymen could be united in it. 
For their attempt to get together, the non-poolers 
received volumes of the abuse and ridicule that Mr. 
Nelson wisely deplores. 
Again at the Jersey City meeting, November 13, 
the non-poolers offered a resolution to bring the 
League together in one body again. This resolution 
provided that five men he selected by the old League, 
five by the pool, five by the non-pool. Two other men 
of lifelong devotion to dairy interests were suggested. 
These 17 Should proceed to formulate a plan for the 
marketing of all milk produced in the League terri¬ 
tory. and if they could not agree, a majority and 
minority report should be submitted and voted on 
by all members of the Dairymen’s League by direct 
votes, and the plan so adopted should be accepted 
by all. I can supply a limited number of copies of 
the full text of this resolution to those who wish 
to read it- It was contemptuously rejected. 
Another suggestion is now made by “A Dairy¬ 
man.” on page 701, May 20, that the Commissioner 
of Agriculture call a get-together conference «>f the 
milk interests to adjust differences and make a plan 
on which all can agree. This is in harmony with 
Mr. Nelson’s letter. Non-poolers will indorse these 
suggestions, and are ready to do their part. 
In the light of tins record, who destroyed the unity 
in the organization? Who is creating the chaos? 
The only reason for the chaos that exists in the 
dairy industry at present is due to the fact that 
threats and force and coercion have been resorted 
to that the pooling contract might be forced down 
the throats of dairymen who did not like the taste 
of it; and all of their overtures have been rejected 
with abuse and sarcasm. If there are uo terms but 
the pooling contract, let us save our time; hut if 
there is a chance to get together on a workable plan 
after a full and open discussion, the non-poolers arc 
ready for a conference, and if unable to agree with 
conferees, they are yet willing to submit the dif¬ 
ferences to a referendum of dairymen and pledge 
themselves to abide by the decision. That is our 
conception of co-operation. joiin andekson. 
Shipping Milk to Buffalo 
The dealer I sell my milk to in Buffalo notified me 
that after May 1 I would have to pay the freight to 
Buffalo, lie claims this is the pool agreement, but no 
other dealer has said anything to the men sending 
milk to them from here. Will you let me know if that 
is the pool agreement? produces. 
New York. 
The division superintendent of the League Asso¬ 
ciation. Mr. .1. R. TenII, kindly sends us the follow¬ 
ing information in reference to the Buffalo situation; 
From April 1. 1922. the League contract with dealers 
for milk in the city of Buffalo covers delivery «•:’ milk 
to Buffalo; in other words, the price is f. o. b. Buffalo. 
Included in the price of Glass 1 milk to dialers is a 
city differential of 44c per cwt., made up as follows: 
16c per cwt. can differential, which has always been 
charged ; 28c per cwt- average transportation charge to 
Buffalo. This 44c city differential applies against 
Class 1 milk ntd.v The association is pooling the 44c 
differential with all Buffalo shippers, so that onh pro¬ 
ducer will get returned to him through his pooled prii e 
the same per cent of the 44c differential as Glass 1 milk 
sold to dealers hears to the total amount of milk sold 
in the Buffalo district. 
This method was adopted primarily to enable the 
association to compete with cream coming from outside 
territories, such as Canada and Ohio. 
The Buffalo Milk Supply 
Buffalo is using about 168,000 qts. of liquid niilk 
daily. As near as can he estimated, about 23.000 
to 25,000 qts. of this is pooled, and the remainder, 
say 143,000 to 145,000 qts. comes from other syunes. 
This is, of course, all non-pooled milk, but all of 
it does not come through the Non-poolers’ Associa¬ 
tion. However, our association is negotiating with 
the Buffalo dealers, and helping regulate the price of 
milk in the Buffalo market. 
Our prices here are based on the- 200-mile freight 
rone price for 3 per cent milk. The dealer pays this 
price, plus a seven-point test. In other words, for 
the month of April the price of milk for bottling 
was $2.30, plus 2.8o r , making $2.58 per cwt, net to the 
farmer. There was very litt.e advantage taken of 
the $1.75 price, and from the data now at hand I 
should say the average price paid by dealers for 
non-pooled milk was $2.40 per c-wt, net to the farmer. 
All milk is paid for by the 15th of the month for the 
milk shipped during the preceding month. 
CHARLES W. NEWTON. 
League Prices for April 
A bulletin of the Dairymen’s League Co-operative 
Association says that checks fov April milk were 
mailed on May 25. The price, after deductions were 
made for expenses, advertising, depreciation, etc., 
was $1,335 per 100 lbs. for three per cent milk. On 
account of tlie low price the deductions for capital 
fund were reduced to 10c per 100 lbs., making the 
net to dairymen $1,235, or 16.5c below the March 
price. 
In number, 51,823 checks were sent members, but 
some had not yet reported, and the actual number 
participating in the pool was estimated to be 54,000. 
< tf these, 15.016 delivered to 127 plants owned by 
the association. The association handled 42,000.000 
lbs. of milk in March. In April it increased to 
75,000,000 lbs. In the pool as a whole there were 
290,000,000 lbs. 
The fiscal year of the association closed March 31, 
and detailed report is promised for the annual meet¬ 
ing June 15. 
June prices are on the May basis. 
Cars That Kill Poultry 
Today an automobile ran over and killed one of my 
turkeys. This turkey had a nest of 17 eggs and would 
be ready to sit iu a few days. Last year she raised two 
litters of turkeys, which I sold for $54, Would I be 
justified in charging this man $10 for damage? He did 
not stop or tell rue he ran over the turkey. It was 
Sunday afternoon, and 1 was sitting on the porch ami 
spoke to my wife about his driving so fast, and when 
he got past the house he hit the turkey. I called him 
on the phone, and he admitted it. and says he will 
settle. Oil Saturday a car ran down and killed a big 
hen. The driver came to the house like a man and was 
ready to settle. Can a person who owns land adjoining 
my pasture be compelled to build a line fence? If bo. 
what steps can I take to make him do so? h.b. 
New York. 
We thiuk $10 would be a low price for the tur¬ 
key, but under the circumstances we would accept 
it. Some of the car drivers are very good about 
such thiugs. and will stop and settle for any damage 
they may be responsible for. If they would all act 
in that way there would be no outcry against '"auto 
hogs." Under the common law each owner of ad¬ 
joining property is expected to maintain half of the 
legal fence. If there is any dispute about it, call in 
tbe fence viewers of the town and let them decide 
about the fence and who shall build It. 
New York State Notes 
Report comes from Vermont that the Vermont Maple 
Producers' Co-operative Exchange is doing business. 
The prospects for the season are looking good. The as¬ 
sociation has seven Io<aIs. In the communities where 
the associations are located the old line dealers are pay¬ 
ing 25c more than they are paying in ether commu¬ 
nities where there js uo association. It is also gener¬ 
ally admitted that lie dealers’ price Throughout the 
State is considerably higher than it would have been 
had there been no organization. The association is de¬ 
veloping u good private market. 
The American raspberry beetle has been a bad pest 
in the Hudson River Valley for a number of years. So 
far no successful method if combating the pest has 
been known. This year Prof. Parrott of the Geneva 
Experiment Station, in co-operation with the Ulster 
County Farm Bureau, is attempting to find some weak 
point iu its life history so that its ravages may be re¬ 
duced. 
Despite the heavy frost in the Hudson Valley there 
is apparently not enough injury, especially in Dutchess 
County, to cause a.arm as to the fiuir crop. McIntosh 
apples show as high as 59 per rent loss of buds in 
many cases, but there are enough remaining buds to in¬ 
dicate a good crop. Pears are blooming excessively 
heavy in many parts of the Hudson River section. 
Fair associations in Central New York are already 
making detailed plans for their Fall fairs. At a recent 
meeting in the court house at Cortland, representatives 
from Cortland, DeKoyter, Elmira. Ithaca. Watkins and 
Trnmanshurg took up matters of programs, dates, and 
other details. 
Schuyler County sheep men broke away from the 
State pool this year They sold their wool graded 
to a buyer. This will not seriously affect the State 
pool, however, as Schuyler is one of the small produc¬ 
ing counties of the Stale. 
There seems to be a feeling around the State that 
there is an unusually large acreage of cabbage and po¬ 
tatoes. Then- is a possibility that those who feel that 
acreage alternates with the years may have their theory 
justified this year. 
If the combined efforts of the State Fair Commission, 
the Syracuse Chamber Commerce and other organi¬ 
zations are successful, the world’s dairy congress will 
he hehl in Syracuse some time in October. Prepara¬ 
tions for the dairy congress have been under way for 
more than a year. For the first time in the 'history of 
the congress a farmers’ co-operative association will 
sell farm products at the fair. The Dairymen's League 
secured the concession for the sale of ice cream. 
F. A. Blower of WeltonviUe reports something worth 
listening to. He has bred purebred Percheron horses 
for the past 10 years, and has 10 head on his farm at 
the present time, four of which are colts. The other six 
are divided into four brood mares from which colts are 
raised for sale and to take the place of those that are 
worn out. Only one gelding is kept on the farm, the 
sixth being a stallion, which does his share of farm 
work. Mr. Blower states that he believes by this sys¬ 
tem he can secure cheaper farm power than by any 
other method. The mares when freshening are kept out 
of the harness for only a week or two at the most. 
They are doing the work on the farm and at the same 
time they are furnishing a cash crop. The stallion is 
also contributing cash in addition to the work which 
he gives, -Mr. Blewer uses a four-horse team and plows 
from three to five acres a day. He says that he likes 
to think of his team as a four-cylinder tractor. If one 
cylinder goes bad, however, he can replace it, and does 
not have to throw away the whole machine and get a 
new one. 
That some men have a belief in the dairy business 
in tbe country is no more vividly shown than iu Tioga 
County. A. W. Mason of Gaskill has recently sold his 
farm, and S. B. Clark of Spencer is attempting to do 
the same thing. Their method is to sell their farms for 
so many quarts of milk a day for eight years. Mr. 
Mason's advertisement reads as follows: ‘‘180-acre 
farm for^ one 40-quart can of milk per day for eight 
years. Now get busy with your pencil and imagination 
and see what the sale price will be.” 
The old russet apple still lingers with us. At the 
Syracuse public market, 50 bushels of these were sold 
for $1.10, retail. To appreciate the Tusset apple, one 
must plant corn all day in a dusty field and then at the 
noon hour stick a few of these apples iu his pocket t » 
nibble on along about 3 :30 in the afternoon. Words do 
not grow to express the satisfaction. 
William 6. Markham, 8(> years old. famous as a 
sheep breeder and dairyman, died at his home in Avon 
on May 16. Two years ago I had a very pleasant ex¬ 
perience talking with Mr. Markham about his early ex¬ 
periences in the sheep business. lie was one of the 
first men in America to import the von llomeyer strain 
of Rambouillet sheep. He was also one of the first 
breeders to ship wrinkled sheep into Australia. Back 
in 1872, when Mr. Markham was 36 years old, be had 
assembled what was at that time ope of the finest 
flocks of Merino sheep in America. In 1876 Mr. Mark¬ 
ham published the American Merino Register, -the first 
record of pedigrees ever published. For 20 years he 
held the position of president of the New York State 
Sheep Breeders’ and Wool Growers’ Association. For 
23 years he was secretary of the National Wool Grow¬ 
ers’ Association. While Mr. Markham was secretary 
of the national association his counsel was solicited by 
the Japanese government, and he selected 200 purebred 
sheep and delivered them iu person to the Japanese 
government at Tokyo. This formed the nucleus for 
the government experimental flock. The Japanese gov¬ 
ernment bred the Merinos on Chinese sheep and pro¬ 
duced individuals that produced 300 per cent fleece in¬ 
crease. During recent years he has developed a fine 
purebred herd of*Holstein-Friesian cattle that are the 
pride of the upper Genesee Valley. E. A. F. * 
Farm Conditions in Central New York 
We are‘located in the great fluid milk producing sec¬ 
tion of Chenango County, and this industry is crowded 
to-the limit. Quite a lot of calves are shipped to the 
city, some live veals bringing only from 5 to 7c per lb. 
here on the cars. Eggs sell to local dealers for 25c per 
dozen. Milk, calves and eggs are about the only prod¬ 
ucts shipped to the city at the present time, but the 
dairy cow reigns supreme. Silos have sprung up like 
mushrooms, and rhe principal crops are corn for silage, 
hay and oats. These are grown to feed more cows, to 
make more fertilizer, to grow more crops, to feed more 
and more cows, thus increasing the endless toil anil the 
surplus milk. In my humble opinion this has much to 
do with the low price the farmer receives for his prod¬ 
uce Large quantities of Western grain are fed during 
at least half of the year, and these feed bills are the 
bane of the dairyman’s existence. As far as my ac¬ 
quaintance extends the farmers are badly discouraged 
and dissatisfied with the outlook. Future prospects cer¬ 
tainly do not look encouraging. Those with whom I 
have talked say times are much harder than last year, 
aud I agree with them. The milk war goes merrily on 
and is a never-ending source of trouble and discourage¬ 
ment. Between the dealers and the various associa¬ 
tions, the majority of fanners are disciplined and fright¬ 
ened until they readily place their names on the clotted 
line and are simply "the man with the hoe,” of course 
renters and those having purchased farms and stock at 
war prices are hardest hit, and for them it surely is a 
struggle for existence. 
I believe the majority of farmers of Chenango County 
signed the pooling contract, although a considerable 
number have not. I will not express my own opinion, 
for it would amount to little, but most poolers with 
whom I have talked do not seem greatly encouraged. 
They, however, assert that if all dairymen would joiu 
the pool they could control the situation, and prices to 
producers would advance. But the question arises, how 
ean the price of any product be greatly advanced when 
there is a surplus? I have just heard this morning that 
the Board of Health of New York City has ordered milk 
cooled to 50 degrees. Formerly it was 60 degrees. Mow 
does this look to farmers, especially those without ice? 
If this is true, it means ruin to many. F. D. a. w. 
Chenango Co.. N. Y. 
Milk is bringing 6 v ie per qt. for milk testing 3 8 
butterfat, f. o. b. Philadelphia, with a reduction of 4c 
for one-tenth under or premium of 4e for one-tenth 
over; that is for basic amount. We are allowed for 
October, November aud December these prices for the 
full amount shipped. If we exceed our average fo • 
these three months they call it surplus, and we are pa d 
according to butter prices, except for June and July 
were allowed to exceed our basic amount 10 per eent. 
The hay crop promises very short: it has been very dry 
for some time. Oats are looking fair: wheat has good 
color and looks healthy, but rather short at this time. 
Very good prospect for apples and fruit generally ; feed 
prices continue high, according to farm produce; dairy 
feeds, such as dried grains and corn bran, about $40 
per ton; better feeds, $55 to $60 per ton. u. u. c. 
Delaware Co., Pa, 
