Vie RURAL NEW-YORKER 
943 
A Dairy Company and its Checks 
The liieck-MeJunken Dairy Company of Pitts¬ 
burgh, Pa., is a big, rich corporation. It does a large 
•.hhI profitable business in supplying liquid milk to 
the city of Pittsburgh and in the manufacture and 
sale of by-products of milk. It accordingly has a 
high financial rating as a successful money-making 
business. 
This company is under contract to pay for its 
supply of milk up in Crawford County on the 20th 
of the month for the previous month’s deliveries. 
Past January it made out its checks against, a pri¬ 
vate hank in Conneantvilie, Crawford County. The 
checks were delivered to the patrons on Sunday, the 
23d, by the truckman who received them at the 
creamery from the local manager. As is the custom, 
some of the checks were mailed to local hunks at 
Pinesville, Pa., and at Andover and Jefferson, Ohio. 
(Mhers were cashed at the feed store and grocery 
store and lumber yard. The checks went to a Cleve¬ 
land hank, then hack to Pittsburgh, and from there 
to the Conneantvilie bank, on which they were 
drawn. Just when they reached this hank is not 
definitely known, hut the bank held the checks, 
closed ou the 28th. and formally failed on Monday, 
the MU til. 
Forty to 50 of the Rieek-McJunken dairy checks 
drawn to the dairymen, and aggregating about 
8-',500, were hot paid, and the company now, with 
all its boasted wealth and prosperity, refuses to re¬ 
deem them on the ground that the farmers were 
negligent in not demanding the money on them be¬ 
fore the hank closed. The company is unmoved by 
any consideration for the men who produced this 
milk and depend on the little returns they get for it 
to pay feed hills and keep going. 
In a case between a city business man and a hank 
of the same city il was held by the Pennsylvania 
Supreme Court that holding a check beyond the 
second day put the loss, if any. on the holder, but 
in other cases it has been held that even 10 days 
was not unreasonable time to present a check for 
payment. The reasonable time must he established 
in each case, and for each check. This may require 
40 or 50 lawsuits in this one case. On this technical 
legal quibble the rich and prosperous Ricck-MeJmi- 
ken Dairy Company refuses to pay their patrons for 
milk delivered to them last December. 
What is reasonable time for a business man in a 
city to demand pay on a check against a hank across 
the street cannot he applied to farmers distributed 
over a territory covering a radius of IT miles. In 
January the weather is had, the roads are almost 
impassable, and dairymen are busy with their cows 
ai.d other work. They seldom go to the hank, and 
it is quite the custom to mail the checks to local 
banks or cash them through the local tradesmen. 
Notwithstanding the decision in the city case 
which has been dug up, we believe the Rieck- 
McJunken Dairy Company is still responsible to 
these dairymen for the milk delivered to it last 
December with interest since January 20. We have 
been requested by the dairymen to collect it. and if 
there is any way to make tlie Rieck-McJunken Dairy 
Company pay up we are going to try to find it. 
What About a Worthless Check? 
During the year we have a good many cases like 
the one given in the following letter. There seems 
to be quite a little misunderstanding about the 
penalty for writing a worthless check: 
What is the law in regard to a man giving a check 
for property, disposing of the property, and the check 
being returned no good? I sold 100 bushels of potatoes 
for .85 cents per bushel. The uiau gave me a cheek for 
$85, and the check was not any good. L left the account 
with a lawyer, and the debtor paid $20 last January, 
and since then pays no attention to it. I saw a State 
policeman, and he told me it wouM be just a civil 
action. Do our laws protect a crook to that extent? 
New York. F. to*. 
lu New York State Section 1292-a of the penal 
law provides: 
• Any person who, with intent to defraud, shall make 
or draw or utter or deliver any check, draft or order 
for the payment of money upon any hank or other de¬ 
pository, knowing at the time of such making, drawing, 
uttering or delivering that the maker or drawer has not 
sufficient funds in or credit with such hank or other 
depository for the payment of such cheek, although Jio 
express representation is made in reference thereto, 
shall be guilty of attempted larceny, and if money or 
property is obtained from another thereby is guilty of 
larceny and punishable accordingly. 1 
The mail making the chock may avoid prosecution 
if ho pays the amount due with interest and protest 
fees within 10 days after receiving notice that the 
bank has not paid the check. The facts of making 
and presenting the check and refusing payment on 
the part of the hank ‘‘shall he prima facie evidence 
of intent to defraud and of a knowledge of insuffi¬ 
cient funds or of credit,’’ etc. 
Usually in such cases the man who makes the 
check when prosecuted will try to show that he did 
not know his account was short. In such a case as 
is here presented he would have a hard job to prove 
it It is also possible that when a remittance of $20 
was accepted the court might hold that the crime 
was condoned. Every check should he presented to 
the hank as quickly as possible. If it is refused, 
* 
start after the man who gave it at once. 
Youthful Visions of the Dairy Business 
The twentieth century cow has pushed herself, to use 
a phrase of the recent war, “over the top to victory,” 
with the llolsteins in the lead. To show our appre¬ 
ciation of the cow’s advance, we mortals have done our 
best to aid her. We milk her, not at a time convenient 
for us, but drag ourselves to the barn in the wee sraa’ 
hours of the dark to milk her the fourth time for that 
day. We spend days studying her every need and care 
for her almost by the minute, carefully measuring the 
amounts of various feeds she requires, guarding against 
dirt and drafts, adjusting everything for her comfort, 
even to putting shades on the windows to keep the flies 
out of the stables in the daytime. We spend our eve¬ 
nings wondering what mechanical device we could use 
further to facilitate our labors. It is a good thing our 
barn is high enough to keep the network of tracks above 
our heads, or ve should be quite bent by how. Our 
cow, the twentieth century cow, has paid heed to our 
care, and has responded fully to that care. She is the 
reason for our certainty of great development in our 
future. Much has been accomplished: still greater 
things wait for us. 
Some are pessimistic and say that the future of cows 
—Of our cow—is not as bright as their development 
promises. Everywhere you find men who insist that 
the Holstein gives not as much cream as their breed of 
cows. Near us is another dairy of registered Jerseys. 
Their owner insists that they give more cream. \Ve 
notice he says nothing about tin- amount of milk they 
produce. We have the same sized herd and pearly 
twice the amount of milk, with an average of cream 
4,0 per cent. His average is a little over 6 per cent. 
There is one proof of the future of llolsteins. In just 
such a way have they reached for all the records, and 
are breaking them. Men sm-h as these belong to the 
preceding generation—the age of wonders—they arc 
the charter members; we of the corning generation have 
these wonders of theirs as the basis for wonders of our 
own accomplishment. We will aid the cow in carrying 
out her promise made to the future generation. 
< >ne of the wonders accomplished by the preceding 
generation is the Dairymen’s League, which has been 
changed to the C'o-operative Association. They have 
been building that not so much for themselves as for 
us. It means the organization of the country—no 
longer the individual against the unified forces of the 
dealers. 
The League must have a strong, absolute farmer con¬ 
trol, with farmer officers and directors, which requires 
education. We younger ones are able to profit by the 
mistakes of the others, and advance in the responsibility 
when our time comes. <We shall know the technical side 
of our business. We are being trained to it. Now 
there are few men who are ready to answer to the need 
in the manufacture and sale of the products. Soon 
there will be a hundred trained men for every man 
trained in the final steps of this great organization of 
the farmer at the present time. We are learning not 
only the. practical but also the theoretical side ' our 
youth. 
'l'he farmers have been looked down on by the dealers 
and ordered about by them. Rut no longer is that pos¬ 
sible. We are developing a great industry of our own. 
with our own leaders and workers, well trained, and 
interested in the progress that can be made. The be¬ 
ginning is startling to the former leaders. The fulfill¬ 
ment of our plans will be more than startling. There 
will be no strikes to further our plans, as in the case 
of rite other organized groups. 
I repeat, we are of the age of hope and energy. Our 
abilities and accomplishments are unlimited with our 
llolsteins. With decades before us we can be certain 
of a glorious success as the result of our training and 
ceaseless efforts to apply it successfully. 
Ontario Co., N. Y. k. F. White. 
June Milk Pool Price 
The Dairymen’s League Co-operative Association, 
Inc., pooled price for the month of June is $1,345 per 
100 lbs. after expenses are deducted. This is the base 
price for milk testing 3 per cent butterfar at the 201- 
210-mile freight zone. Each farmer’s individual price 
will vary with the distance from the market and with 
the amount of butterfat which his milk contains over 
3 per cent. Checks covering milk delivered during 
June are being mailed by the League to reach farmers 
not later than July 25. 
The gross pool price was $1.40. with $0,055 per 100 
lbs. deducted for expenses, of which $0.02 per 100 lbs. 
was for the total administrative expenses, $0,002 for 
forwarding to local associations for local expenses, 
$0,011 for advertising, $0,002 for an insurance fund to 
cover losses which might he created by uncollectible 
accounts, and $0.02 t<> rover depreciuiion in value fixed 
assets: S0.10 per 100 lbs. is borrowed on the certificate 
of indebtedness plan, to be invested in property owned 
by tht; association. Considerable thought was given to 
find some way of turning the full June price over to 
the fanners without making the $0.10 per 100 lbs. loan 
for investment. But it was found impossible to do 
ihis without causing losses to the farmer in the long 
run. 
As is customary during the surplus period, the asso¬ 
ciation produced a large amount of evaporated milk 
ami other manufactured products to be put in storage 
and sold later when prices are higher and when these 
products can be used to supply the League's regular 
trade without taking milk for manufacturing purposes 
from the fluid market during the scarce period. Over 
140.000 cases of evaporated milk alone were stored 
during June by the association and about the same 
amount will be put in storage from July production. 
The capital investment on the evaporated product alone 
amounts to over 81.000.000 which, according to the 
principle upon which the League is operating. Is 
financed by the dairy farmers themselves through their 
loans on the certificate of indebtedness plan. 
During June the association sold to dealers nr han¬ 
dled in its own plants a total of 303.371.520 lbs. of 
milk, of which 28 per cent was sold in fluid form in 
(’lass 1. 27 per cent chiefly in the form of cream and 
ice cream in Class 2, a nd Hie remainder in fancy cheeses, 
evaporated and condensed milk, butter and American 
cheese and other manufactured products. The associa¬ 
tion handled in its own plants during the same month 
nearly 100,000.000 lbs. of milk. 
Tlic pool price to farmers of $1,345 is a little higher 
than the price for the preceding months, the price for 
April being $1,335 and for May $1.30. In ordinary 
years the low water mark is usually reached in June. 
The slightly higher price indicates some improvement 
in market conditions. July milk has been sold to dealers 
at a considerable advance. 
New York State Notes 
In traveling from the central part of the State to the 
western border one is struck with the difference in the 
ripening stage of the wheat crop, .Some fields are 
almost ready for cutting, while others are still green. 
The fly has bothered in many sections and has caused 
premature Tipcniug. The joint worm has also been bad 
in many sections. 
The State College will distribute a new rye this year. 
D is a rye of Siberian origin, and has been tried out in 
comparison with many other ryes, and gives promise 
of being a winner. It was introduced at the college in 
1914, and since that time has given an average yield of 
50.2 bushels to the acre. Last year it even outvielded 
the Rosen variety, while it may not do this on aU occa¬ 
sions. There will be 500-1,000 bushels distributed this 
year to the farmers of the Statp. 
In going around the State I often see individuals who 
would reduce the labor on a disagreeable job of washing 
milk cans by using devices to aid them. These devices 
in most cases help with the work tremendously, but one 
thing that is often overlooked is the fact that mechanical 
cleaning cannot substitute for sterilization either with 
boiling water or by using some disinfectant. While 
any mechanical device that helps with the labor prob¬ 
lem is desirable, it simply removes dirt, hut cannot 
entirely take the place of good old hot water. Some of 
the old so-called simple methods are still worth prac¬ 
ticing. 
The advance prize fist of the farm products depart¬ 
ment of the State Fair is out. This list eonr.-iius -ome 
new Classes over last year. One new Hass, consists of 
the best collection of vegetables grown on muck soil, 
fur which $50 is offered. Other new classes are col¬ 
lections. displays of Lima beans, table beets, carrots 
and holho use -grown cucumbers. Instead of one collec¬ 
tion class of celery, two are offered, this year—one for 
celery grown on muck and one for celery grown on 
upland Soil. Sixteen distinct varieties of string and 
Lima beans are listed instead of oniv six tvpes. as was 
the case in previous years. Separate prizes are offered 
tor Holden Selt-blum-hing celery and for Big Boston 
1* ituce grown on muck and on upland soil. This gives 
the grower on the_upland soil the chance to compete 
on an equal and fair basis. Manv Unimportant and 
treak classes are cut off the fist this year. This last 
item is one that should have more than passing men¬ 
tion in view of the fact that many people in visiting a 
fair take away impressions from freak exhibits that 
have no value to the grower or to the person who might 
purchase such a vegetable. The largest pumpkin may 
be nice to look at. but why encourage interest in such 
a thing? Would it uot be better to show pumpkins 
that are characteristic of the variety? This type of 
exhibit may not interest all the people visiting tlic fair 
but it is sure to bring the right results if followed 
Consistently. 
rWarren County farmers will hold their field day 
August 5. ^ ibis is a big day in the north country, 
flits held day not only Consists of sports for everybody 
but also a sale of . irebr'd bull- I* will bt held at 
Lake George. 
The directors of the Sullivan Countv Agricultural 
Society have set the day for their fair at Montieello 
1 hey have some revisions in the premium list. One of 
the things which Is unusual this year w ill be prizes i>f 
82o. 81.) and $10 for the largest families in the county. 
Ibis is now the open season for woodchuck ti'.inters. 
They ate divided into two classes—one kind which hunt 
with a gun and the others* who hunt with a can of car¬ 
bon bisulphide. In either case the woodchuck has an 
even chance. The gunner for some reason does not 
always hit the mark, and if the carbon bisulphide sports¬ 
man does not find all the openings to the woodchuck’s 
house his time and material is wasted. 
Livingston County farmers shipped a total of 28.831 
lbs. ot wool to the State wool pool. This is l»,4xu lbs. 
more than they shipped in 1921. This association has 
been one of the strong associations of the State since 
the establishing of the pooling idea. Much credit is 
tlue to the personal work of the officers. 
When the storm of June 17 hit the central part of 
the State one of the sufferers from loss of property was 
S. D. House of f amillus. His loss hits been estimated 
as nearly $20,000. Mr. House is one of the largest 
beekeepers of the State, and before the rain had 700 
colonies of bees, and after the flood had but 500 in good 
condition, tie is busy now with his increase, so that 
the loss may be restored. Mr. House produces from 
♦>0,000 to 70.000 lbs. of houey a year. The storm came 
at the height of the honey season, which makes repair 
work an added burdeu of a large dimension. 
If one likes the great outdoors he could not help but 
enjoy the scene at South Lima muck area in Livingston 
County. This area has not been hurt by the rains, be¬ 
cause uf the ditch which was deepened last year. Hue 
of the most interesting tbiugs on this area is the Chi¬ 
nese cabbage. One grower has six acres planted. He 
planted a test from a number of sources early this 
Spring, so that he might choose which was the best. 
The test shows variation enough so that it eloarlv indi¬ 
cates which kind is the best. The vegetable cannot help 
hut grow in popularity, because it is such an excellent 
salad plant, combining, it would seem, it number of 
vegetables in one. 
It looks as though the north couutry folks would he 
well supplied with farmers’ doings during August and 
September. During ihe first week in August they will 
have a potato disease trip in Jefferson County, in the 
same county they will have dynamite demonstrations 
on August 8 and 9. On August 5. 7 and 9 the home 
convenience truck from the State College will visit the 
county. Uu August 21-20 the poultrymetl of the county 
will have a elm are to attend poultry culling demonstra¬ 
tions. By that time the north country affairs will be 
on, The date selected for the Cape Vincent Fair is 
August 29-September 1. The Watertown Fair follows 
soon after, lasting from September 4 to S. t:. a. f. 
