426 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
June 16 
Li ve Stock and Dairy 
THE MILK SITUATION. 
A Revie* of the Field. 
In Chenango Co., N. Y. —For over a 
year and a half there has been here a 
local organization of the Five States 
Milk Producers’ Association. The mem¬ 
bership has not been very large when 
compared with the number of farmers 
engaged in the production of milk, 
though the membership has reached 77 
in this town. Those who do not belong 
stay out for a variety of reasons. Some 
do not believe it possible for the dairy¬ 
men to compel dealers to pay higher 
prices for milk, and stay out because 
they believe success impossible. Others 
say it is like a “strike,” and they do not 
believe in strikes. “Let every man sell 
Wis milk as he thinks best, and get as 
much for it as he can,” they say. Then 
there is another class, who nave doubts 
as to the reliability and pure motives of 
the chief organizers. One man showed 
me some figures he had made, taking 
the membership fee of $1 per year, and 
estimating the probable number of mem¬ 
bers in the 21 towns of the county, and 
multiplying by a fair proportion of the 
61 counties of the State; then the five 
States in the combine. He had a large 
sum of money which, after paying ex¬ 
penses, would leave a /air salary to as 
many as 50 men, or a larger sum to a 
less number. Those who are in the or¬ 
ganization, however, seem to feel con¬ 
fident of fairness so far as the leaders 
are concerned, or at least a fair propor¬ 
tion of them do. One gets the impres¬ 
sion, though, in talking with them, that 
they are groping somewhat in the dark, 
as those of us who remain outside are 
doing. 
Prices Too Low.—Milk producers are 
agreed regarding one thing, so far as l 
am aware: the prices received for m».K 
are too low for any profit to the pro¬ 
ducer. “Milk cannot be produced at 
these prices,” is the almost universal re¬ 
mark whenever the subject is up. The 
price paid for May, here, is 70 cents per 
can of 40 quarts, delivered to the dealer. 
The cost of delivering is from four 
cents to 10 cents, according to distance, 
when the hauling is hired. Usually the 
June price is less, sometimes it has been 
as low as 50 cents a can, and has con¬ 
tinued at that price for two months. 
The 70-cent rate was established May 1, 
and caused not a little comment, par¬ 
ticularly as butter advanced at almost 
the same time, and has held the advance 
ever since. This, so far as I am able to 
analyze the matter, seems to be the sit¬ 
uation with the dairymen of this vicin¬ 
ity, and it is not unlike the situation 
elsewhere, I think. Tne farmers are Ml 
the more disturbed by the reports that 
consumers are paying eight, 10 and even 
12 cents per quart for the same milk. It 
seems to them that there is too great a 
difference between the 114 cent, or even 
l-fa cent which they receive, and the re¬ 
tail price reported. They are not, and 
never have been, advocating an increase 
in the retail price, nor do they wish it 
or believe it necessary. They wish and 
often talk about lowering the price to 
consumers, not only because they wish 
the consumer favored, but because they 
wish to sell more milk; and lower price 
would mean larger consumption. In 
fact, one of the leading ideas of the F. 
S. M. P. A. is to lower the price to the 
consumer, but to lower it at the expense 
of the middlemen, of whom there are 
too many. 
Tiie Milk “War.”— I suppose that all 
are familiar with the proceedings of the 
last two or three weeks; how word was 
sent out to local managers, to be ready, 
and io call a meeting May 12. At that 
meeting the order to hold back the milk 
Was read, discussed, and acted upon. 
It was agreed to hold the milk, and so 
tar as I can learn, nearly all the mem¬ 
bers uid so. There was a decided fall¬ 
ing off in the receipts of milk at this 
place, and the same is reported from 
other places in this region. A com¬ 
mittee first went to the dealer and asked 
that he pay two cents per quart for the 
milk. This being refused, the “strike,” 
to use the words of a local paper, was 
ordered. At some of the stations we 
hear that the demand was met and the 
price paid. At others resistance was ef¬ 
fective. Dealers who had been com¬ 
peting for milk, now stepped up to¬ 
gether and assisted each other. At one 
place there was a falling off of half the 
receipts, while the neighboring dealer 
lost only 20 per cent of his, and he came 
forward and helped out the more unfor¬ 
tunate one. After a 10-days’ trial, it 
was decided to go back and offer the 
milk at the old price, and the offer was 
accepted. Many hesitated to hold the 
milk for fear the dealers would not take 
it again; but it seems that they were 
mighty glad to get it. 
the buyers claim that they are paying 
ail they can afford to. Some say that 
they could not afford to pay the present 
prices except that they have a special 
outlet for it at something better than 
the general market. They say that the 
high prices of eight to 12 cents retail 
for milk are realized by only a very few, 
that the bulk of it is sold at about four 
cents a quart, frequently for less. Of 
course, if that be true, it puts a different 
look upon che situation. Four cents ~e- 
tai'l would be no more than ought to be 
received for milk costing 1% cent here. 
The freight is % cent, though in many 
places it is less. Farmers do not 
usually believe but that milk sells at a 
higher price than four cents per quart. 
I cannot learn that dairymen are dis¬ 
couraged by this attempt and seeming 
failure. It has aroused interest, and 
probably a disposition to succeed. 
Whatever may be said of the Milk 
Union, the cause of organization among 
eastern farmers is apparently stronger 
than at any previous time. Farmers do 
not usually look with favor upon 
itrikes.” They do not object to work¬ 
ingmen in factories, etc., receiving bet¬ 
ter wages, and never complain of prices 
when they think honest labor is being 
properly rewarded. But when some 
grasping monopoly like the steel trust 
(spell i as you like) or the Milk Ex¬ 
change, gets its heel on labor, and then 
raises prices to the consumer, the far¬ 
mer raises an objection. To what will 
this grow? Will the Union finally get 
so well organized that they can bring 
dealers somewhat to terms, when fair, 
something as the labor unions have 
done, and then will they compel other 
dairymen to join their order or not sell ? 
It hardly looks like it though there are 
more who feel that something of the 
sort is possible than ever before. 
Bainbridge, N. Y. a. a. l. 
KILLING FLIES ON STOCK. 
We have a little sprayer that we put 
kerosene in, and spray it on the cattle 
as they come into the barn. This will 
keep the flies off the cows from one to 
three days at a time. We use kero¬ 
sene simply because we have that on 
hand, and the quantity required is very 
small. We hau some kind of a liquid 
for this purpose, but found it to be 
no better than kerosene at 10 cents 
a gallon. The time required for spray¬ 
ing a cow is not over 10 or 15 seconds. 
F. II. GATES & SONS. 
We have yet to find a thoroughly prac¬ 
tical and desirable method of keeping 
flies away from live stock during the 
Summer. We have been able to give 
the dairy cattle temporary relief during 
milking time by spraying over them 
a homemade mixture of one pint of 
kerosene oil to a half-teaspoonful of 
pure carbolic acid. This will kill every 
fly that it touches, and is not objection¬ 
able in odor, but the relief is only tem¬ 
porary. Our herdsman passes along 
'back of the cattle and blows the spray 
over them as he passes down the aisle. 
II. B. VAN CLEVE. 
I must say that I have found no prac¬ 
tical way Of keeping flies away from 
stock. Kerosene oil used as a spray 
will kill the flies; but the cows are soon 
covered again. The horn-fly, like tne 
Potato beetle, seems to have establish¬ 
ed himself as a permanent fixture with 
farmers. J. grant morse. 
THE OLEO CAT OUT OF THE BAG. 
The New York Commercial is excited 
over the action of the House Agricul¬ 
tural Committee in favorably reporting 
the Grout mil. Hear it: 
Seriously, the gentlemen of the Agricul¬ 
tural Committee can hardly expect their 
bill carrying a 10-cent tax to become a 
law. Years ago, we think somewhere in 
the eighties, a bill imposing a most fero¬ 
cious tax upon oleomargarine was brought 
forward in the Senate, and, if we remem¬ 
ber aright, it also provided that the thing 
should be colored pink or otherwise radi¬ 
cally decorated; but by the time it got 
through the Senate the tax was brought 
down to two cents a pound, the coloring 
feature was stricken out, and the whole 
measure rendered pretty nearly innocuous. 
That will probably be the fate of this pres¬ 
ent bill. 
It is not often that an oleo organ 
tells the truth about its pet. We are 
glad to see this frank admission, that 
the presen- law is innocuous. When it 
was offered as a substitute for the orig¬ 
inal effective bills these oleo organs 
claimed that it was all that was needed 
to prevent the fraud of making and sell¬ 
ing hog fat, suet and cotton-seed oil for 
honest butter. In fact they called it 
very “unjust.” Naturally they expect 
the old deceptions to work again. We 
beg to remind them that they failed in 
the committee. They will meet the 
same fate in the Senate. The same au¬ 
thority goes on: 
As a matter of fact, the taxing feature 
savors strongly of persecution. Oleomar¬ 
garine should always be marked “oleomar¬ 
garine,” as butter should always be 
marked ‘“butter,” and then the party who 
got these brandings mixed and cheated a 
customer by giving him what he did not 
ask for and would not have taken away 
with him had it been called by its real 
name, would be a rascal with whom some 
very simple statute could effectively deal. 
This is one of the strongest indict¬ 
ments of the oleo men t'hat we have 
ever read. The law now requires that 
this imitation compound be marked 
“oleomargarine,” yet customers are 
cheated into believing they are buying 
honest outter, and into paying butter 
prices for it. It could be sold in no 
other way and they know it. Other¬ 
wise why all this struggle to disguise it 
as butter? By this admission of their 
friends every man who makes or sells 
a pound of oleo is branded a rascal. 
But they doctored the statute so that it 
does not deal with them effectively. 
They are trying the same prescription 
on the Grout bill, but it won’t work. 
That bill will become a law. There are 
12,000,000 voting farmers behind it. 
A Lame Horse 
Is neither valuable for use 
or sale. It is better not 
to have a lame horse. 
Tuttle’s 
Elixir 
cure* perraenently all form* of lamene**, 
curb*, splint*, *pruln*, thrush, Ac. Equally 
good for Internal use for colic, founder, pneu¬ 
monia, distemper, Ac. Guaranteed to cure. 
Used and endorsed by Adams Express Company. 
Tuttle’s Family Elixir In the household cures 
rheumatism, sprains, bruises, Ac., and kills all pain instant¬ 
ly. Our 100-paKe book Veterinary Experlenee —FREE. 
DR. S. A. TUTTLE, 30 Beverly St., Boston, Mass- 
Beware of to-called Elixir,, none genuine but Tuttlei. 
Cows barren 3 years 
MADE TO BREED. 
Moore Brothers, Albany, n. y. 
Breeders’ Directory. 
B P n —Thompson A Bradley Eggs only. Clr- 
■ li Hi cular and 2c. stamp for your name. 
Prices right. Smith's Potato Farm. Manchester, N.Y 
UrrO THAT HATfH Br.and W. Rocks, 8. and Wh. 
LuvivJ iHnl tin 1 HI Wyandottes. $1.50per 15. Br. 
and Wh. leghorns, II per 13. Wh. Holland Turkey 
eggs, 12 per 9. VV.M. McCABK, Kelsey, Ohio. 
IJUUQ—White Leghorn and Barred Plymouth 
CUIIw Rock eggs, 14 per 100. Also a few Barred 
Plymouth Rock Cockerels at $1 to $1.50 each. Thomp¬ 
son strain. Cir free. CHAS. 11. RUE, Minerva. O. 
for hatching. Turkeys, Dncks, 
t Geese, Guineas, and all the leading 
varieties of Poultry. Fertility and safe delivery 
guaranteed. Send for catalogue. 
PINK THEE FARM. Box T, Jamesburg, N. J. 
Our Famous White Wyandottes 
are laying so well that we cut the price in one-half 
for eggs that hatch. II per 13:10 per 100. Satisfaction 
or money back. J. K. STEVENSON, Columbus, N. ,1. 
T otof Berkshire Pigs, sired by Imported British 
•*-' Model IV. and Le Roy King, at Ohio Farm, Le 
Roy. O. Get your choice quick. M. L. & H. H. Benham 
C hester White and Berkshire Pigs, the kind for 
Breeders; eligible to register. Also booking 
orders for Shropshire Lambs August 1. Corkers 
Prices will suit W. A. LOTHKRS, Lack, Pa 
Chester Whites, Holsteins and Choice Eggs. 
A fine lot of young sows bred for Fall litters. 
Hoi stein-Friesian Bull Calves of extra breeding 
Light Brahma and B. ltoek Kgi/s: 15 for 75 cents. 
CHAS. K. RECORD, Peterboro, N. Y. 
ninr DADI1AIII -A ver y llne Guernsey Bull 
nAflE DMllUHIIl three voars old; registered 
Price, 175. E. M. CARPENTER. Goshen, N. ¥. 
POR SALE—Fine - Bred IIOLSTEIN- 
FR1KSIAN Cattle, all ages and both sexes, at 
reasonable prices. Address WM. ROOD, 
Maple Stock Farm, Binghamton, N. Y. 
Some GOOD young 
JERSEY BULL CALVES 
FOR SALK at fair prices. No PLUGS nor un 
registered for sale at any price. 
U. F. SHANNON, 907 Liberty 8t., Pittsburg, Pa. 
DELLHURST FARM, 
MENTOR, OHIO, 
has nearly 30 Holstein Hull Calves to select 
from, and otters sons of DeKol's Butter Boy No 
19210, Koval Paul 22979 and others, having the much 
(alked-of Pauline Paul and DeKol cross. Our Herd 
now numbers 150 head. Stock of all ages and both 
sexes for sale from Advanced Registry cows. 
—Married man to take charge 
of dairy. 
F. H. GATES & SONS, 
Chittenango, N. V. 
WOVEN WIRE FENCING FOR SHEEP 
Best quality of galv. Wire, in rolls, 160 feet long, 24 
inches wide, $1.25; 30 inches, $1.43; 3(5 inches, $1.78. 
Our circulars give net prices of fencing for Cattle, 
Hogs, Sheep and Poultry. We ship from factory to 
farmer. JAMES S. CASE (Box N), Colchester, Conn. 
nr ITU Tfl I IPC on UBN8 and CHICKBNB 
UtAin IU LluL (54-page book pm*. 
D. J. LAMBERT, Box 307, Apponang, R. I. 
Biddy’s Friend Poultry Powder. 
Same as we use ourselves. J^-oound package, this 
month, 25c. STATE HOAD POULTRY YARDS, 
West (’olesvi)le. N. Y. 
SHOO-FLY 
The only positive protection for Horses and Cows 
NO FLIES, TICKS, VERMIN OR SORES 
Prevent* Charlton anil Texa* Cattle Fever, because 
t hese diseases are spread by flies and ticks. Thou¬ 
sands duplicate 10 gallons. Hetrare of imitations. One 
cent’s worth saves 3 quarts of milk and much flesh. 
Don’t wait till cow* are dry and horses are poor. If 
your dealer does not keep it. Bend us 25 cents for sam 
pie. Money refunded if cows are not protected. 
SHOO-FLY MFG. CO.,1005 Falrmount Ave., Phila. Pa. 
LUMP JAW 
Easily and thoroughly cured- < 
New, common-sense method, I 
not expensive. Ne e«r«s ( 
pay. FREE. A practical. Ill-, 
ustrated treatise on the abeo- 
lute cure of Lamp Jaw, free to 
readers of thispaper. ’ 
Fleming Bro*., chemists, ( 
Ualon Block i mrds, Ckle*ge, UL. . 
THE CHAIN HANGING 
CATTLE STAHCHI0N. 
The most practical and humane Fastener ever in¬ 
vented. Gives perfect freedom of the head. Illus¬ 
trated Circular and Prloe free on application. 
Manufactured by O. H. ROBERTSON, 
Forectvllle. Conn. 
^ COW TIE 
Ids them firmly, draws 
in forward when lying 
ivn, pushes back when 
tiding, giv 68 freedom 
head, keeps them clean 
E. C. NEWTON CO. 
Swiss Cow Belis. 
patented DESIGN. 
Hade from Finest Quality 
Swiss Bell Metal. 
We sell exclusively to the 
jobbing trade, but to intro¬ 
duce these delightfully 
musical toned Swiss Cow 
Bells more generally, ofler 
them in sets of three, tuned 
to accord, with extra fine 
and substantial straps at 
$4, or singly with straps, 
4-in., $1.00; 5-ln., $1 60; 0-in., 
$2. If wanted without straps deduct 25. each. 
We ure the oldest makers of bells in America. Our 
reputation is of great value to us. You may return 
goods at your expense if not satisfactory and we 
will refund your money. 
BKVIN BROS. MFG. CO., East Hampton, Conn 
