1899 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER! 
697 
Here attd Hear! 
Here is a chance for you. It is some 
time since we have offered monthly and 
daily cash prizes for subscriptions. Here 
is a statement of what we offer for Octo¬ 
ber : 
Largest Club 
Second Largest Club 
Third “ “ 
Fourth “ “ 
Fifth “ “ 
Sixth “ “ 
Seventh “ “ 
$50 
40 
:5o 
20 
15 
lO 
Hear what we have to say about it. 
Only a hint this week—more next week. 
These cash prizes will be given to the 
seven agents who send the seven largest 
clubs during October. 
Money talks! 
So do subscriptions ! 
We will also give a daily prize of $1 
for each working day to the agent who 
sends the largest club for the day. Sub¬ 
scriptions run from the day we receive 
them until January 1 , 1901. 
More next week. 
The usual discount added ! 
Among the Marketmen. 
WIIAT I SEE AND HEAR. 
BRITISH COLD STORAGE.—There is 
being built at Southampton, England,the 
seaport of the American Line steamers, 
the largest and most capacious cold 
storage and lairage buildings in the 
world. It will be of inestimable value 
and convenience to the stockmen, poul- 
trymen and fruit growers of this coun¬ 
try. It is a swiift and direct journey for 
perishable products to that port, and 
there they can be safely stored till op¬ 
portune times in the market. Of course, 
it is largely American enterprise that is 
doing this, and its success is more 
strongly assured in the selection of Mr. 
Arthur S. Baker, a New Yorker, and the 
most competent man that could be 
found, for managing director. The plant 
is destined to be a prominent factor in 
the development of American trade, and 
is designed chiefly for supplying the 
London market. 
HUCKSTERS IMPORTANT.—It is 
sometimes difficult to comprehend what 
an important part the hucksters, push¬ 
cart peddlers and wagon boys play in 
the markets of a great city like New 
York. They always buy the left-overs 
and the surplus, and a glut is their har¬ 
vest time. Of course, they pay low 
prices, but they often buy what would 
remain unsold of fruits and vegetables, 
and thus prevent a total loss. They sell 
at low prices, too, and thus benefit many 
of the poorer classes, whose selections 
for dinner must be guided by prices. A 
plentiful supply and consequent low 
price of one product often leads to a 
large use of that, to the neglect of other 
products higher in price. Often when 
fruits are plentiful and cheap, potatoes 
and other vegetables will be neglected, 
and the hucksters load up with fruits. 
This makes a big difference in the de¬ 
mand for and price of vegetables. 
CHECKS AWAITING OWNERS.—I 
saw one commission merchant looking 
over a lot of returned letters, all con¬ 
taining checks sent to shippers for pro¬ 
duce he had sold for them. They could 
not be found at tne post offices ad¬ 
dressed. This seems strange, but may, 
probably, be accounted for by the fact 
that they had shipped from railroad 
stations, which were not their post of¬ 
fices, and had sent no notification by 
mail. In such a case, the returns would 
be sent to the post office at the railroad 
station, and as the man addressed 
didn’t call there for his maxi, the letter 
was returned to the writer. I have 
known personally of just such cases. 
Often shipments are sent without any 
marks to show from whom or whence 
they came. Not long since, a commis¬ 
sion merchant showed me a bundle of 
letters which he said contained checks 
for $600, but which he could not send for 
lack of proper addresses. He was just 
as anxious to send them as the shippers 
were, probably, anxious to receive them, 
but he was helpless. He consoled him¬ 
self with the reflection that they were, 
probably, cursing him for a thief, re¬ 
fraining from making further ship¬ 
ments, and telling their friends to do 
likewise. Thus his business and reputa¬ 
tion suffer through no fault of his own. 
Why will people be so careless? 
- F. H. V. 
THE CONDENSED MILK WAR. 
The Farmers’ Side. 
Last week, we gave the manufacturers’ 
side of the milk war in eastern New York. 
The farmers who supply milk to the con¬ 
densed milk factories at Brewster, Miller- 
ton and Wassaic struck because the price 
was cut down. This week we givS" the 
farmers' side: 
A Discouraging Outlook.— At the meet 
ings of the milk producers of Brewster, 
Wassaic and Millerton, held at their re¬ 
spective places September 11, it was de¬ 
cided by the farmers to request of the 
Borden Condensed Milk Company, a rise 
of 10 cents per 100 pounds over last year's 
prices, being an average of three cents per 
quart for the next six months. On con¬ 
tract day, the next morning, all but a very 
small per cent of the farmers refused lo 
sign, as a rise of but four cents per 100 
pounds was offered. The following Thurs¬ 
day a committee composed of farmers 
from the above places met in New York 
City, and in a body, laid their requests be¬ 
fore the president of the Borden Con¬ 
densed Milk Company. The company 
stoutly refused to meet the terms request¬ 
ed, on the grounds that they had already 
made their contracts with the farmers of 
their factories, and that a change in price 
in one section would cause general dissat¬ 
isfaction in the others. The company 
stated that they would close their fac¬ 
tories along the Harlem Road before they 
met the farmers’ requests. I am son y to 
say that this last statement caused many 
farmers to weaken, and at a new contract 
day held September 16, all signed accepting 
the company’s prices. 
The reasons why the farmers asked for 
better prices are many. Fall pastures are 
almost nothing, and unless rains arrive 
in a few days, almost every farmer will 
have to commence feeding hay and grain. 
This is an absolute fact. The hay crop 
was but little over half. Corn has not 
filled out nearly as well as it did last year, 
and cows and feed still remain high. Cows 
are bringing from $15 to $65. One farmer 
stated that he put in his feed last Fall for 
$13.50 per ton, and this year for $17.50. 
The farmers, as a general thing, are very 
much discouraged, and cannot see how they 
can possibly make both ends meet, under 
such conditions. r. p. c. 
Millerton, N. Y. 
The True Situation. 
Mr. Geo. W. Horton, secretary of tho 
Milk Producers’ Association of Brewster, 
N. Y., sends us a long and interesting his¬ 
tory of the case. We cannot print it in 
full, but give the following synopsis: 
History.— Gail Borden started the busi¬ 
ness with small financial backing. The 
farmers cheerfully helped with money and 
milk. When the business started, the 
farmers were well-to-do. In those days, 
the Bordens pleaded for help from the 
farmers. Finally they were squeezed out 
of control, and the company began to put 
on the screws. The company makes its 
contracts twice each year. The contract 
for six months of Summer is usually made 
about March 12 to begin April 1. That for 
six months of Winter is made about Sep¬ 
tember 12 to begin October 1. It was the 
custom to decrease the price every six 
months—a quarter of a cent on this month, 
or a half cent on that. The wiser pro¬ 
ducers saw the tendency of things and pro¬ 
tested. Their protests were not heeded. 
Year by year prices decreased, and, in 
equal proportion, bank accounts, and im¬ 
provements. and farm values. 
Arbitrary Exactions.— The company 
also began an arbitrary exercise of privi¬ 
leges—of dictating the entire management 
of the dairies. Only certain mill feeds 
could be fed r and this, without proof that 
the excluded ones were detrimental. No 
ensilage was permitted, or malt grains, or 
linseed meal. No milk was received from 
cows that had not calved ten days prior 
to first delivery of milk. Herds were sub¬ 
ject to inspection by the company’s veter¬ 
inary, and his decree was final. Milk must 
be not above 60 degrees in temperature 
when emptied into the company’s vats, 
without regard to the fact that it stood 
much lower when reaching the factory; 
and that, because of the company’s failure 
to provide sufficient place for dumping, it 
grew warm in the producer’s wagon. Cans 
must be covered, while in transit, with a 
costly canvas supplied by the company at 
a profit. No milk received from cows due 
to calve in 60 days or less. Any or all milk 
to be rejected at any time without stating 
reason. Holstein cows regarded as ob¬ 
jectionable, and Holstein dairies not want¬ 
ed. Any interruption in trade or manu¬ 
facture, or accident to company's works, 
or even should the stream which flows by 
the factory get too low for use, the com¬ 
pany may refuse to receive milk or to be 
legally held for payment. 
All this and much more in a contract of 
more than 1,SOO words, drawn by the com¬ 
pany’s attorneys, wherein the company 
promises to do nothing on its part but pay 
for the milk it chooses to receive. Not a 
single protest would be raised against the 
contract, or any of its demands or restric¬ 
tions provided the prices paid were com¬ 
mensurate with obligations, and tasks, and 
expense imposed. But year by year the 
demands have grown greater and more 
arbitrary while the prices have grown less 
and less. 
Organization Formed.— Early in August, 
1898, the aggregate of all these things, to¬ 
gether with the prospect of a further re¬ 
duction in price, led to an organization of 
milk producers at Brewster, N. Y. Its first 
act was to petition for an advance over 
previous prices. Its petition was rejected 
by the company, but a voluntary (?) ad¬ 
vance of five cents per 100 pounds, was 
made on two months. This made the 
averaged price for the six months, $1.30 a 
100 pounds, or two cents, seven and a half 
mills per quart. 
During the Winter, delegates from the 
Five States' Association came to the Milk 
Producers’ Asoeiation of Brewster with 
overtures from a milk syndicate. Their 
pretenses and promises and dreams of 
wealth ended in nothing. None knows it 
better than the Brewster Association. It 
prevented any action being taken last 
March, for why should men consider fac¬ 
tory prices, when, up to the very hour of 
signing at the factory it was expected 
that the syndicate would take the entire 
product of the association? 
The Present Trouble.—O n September 
2, the Brewster Association held a meet¬ 
ing and decided to set a price under which 
it would not sell. It was found that ideas 
of prices ranged from 10 cents to 30 cents 
advance per 100 pounds over last Win¬ 
ter’s prices. Conservative men of the 
Brewster Association advocated an ad¬ 
vance of 10 cents per 100 pounds, and 
this was finally agreed upon. As a matter 
of fact the producers would not be so well 
off with an advance of 10 cents as they 
were a year ago. Mill feeds had advanced 
from 25 to 30 per cent. Hay in barns would 
not equal two-thirds of that of last year. 
Fall feed was scarce with many producers 
feeding fodder corn. Cows were still ’way 
up in price, and almost everything neces¬ 
sary about a dairy had advanced. It was 
only after a serious opposition by the more 
radical element that an advance of 10 cents 
was regarded as enough to ask. On the 
morning of September 12, a committee, ap¬ 
pointed for that purpose, inspected the 
schedule of prices proposed by the com¬ 
pany and decided to reject it. This was 
a signal for 200 producers to withhold their 
names and gather in convention. It was 
then and there decided to stand by the 
committee and refuse to sign unless the 
advance was granted. 
An inspection of the prices showed the 
proposed prices to be an average of $1.33 2-3 
per 100 pounds for the next six months— 
equal to two cents, eight and six-tenths 
mills per quart. This was an advance of 
three and two-third cents per 100 over last 
Winter, and equal to an advance of seven- 
tenths of a mill per quart. 
Kicking Back.— The company knows that 
the milk producers have been placed in its 
power through a long course of subtle and 
gradual decline. They have become too 
poor to resist; too weak to strike back; 
too discouraged to do other than live from 
contract day to contract day, hoping that 
perhaps the time would come when better 
prices would be granted them. The com¬ 
pany knows that one man is carrying a 
load of notes upon which something must 
be paid each month; that another man is 
up to his ears in interest money unpaid; 
that still another divides his monthly pit¬ 
tance with a host of creditors. The com¬ 
pany knows all this, and that these men 
must sell their milk somewhere and soon. 
Knowing this they are not afraid of or¬ 
ganization as it is generally carried for 
ward. But the time has come when self- 
preservation is the law; when honest men 
will steal the bread they must have; when 
the cornered coward will fight to the death; 
when injustice, rankling in the souls of 
men, demands relief from the dumb agony 
of pain. 
Never before has organization presented 
so bold a front as now. At the present 
moment it rests with those who can afford 
to fight. If they will continue to resist 
the victory is won. If they yield the poor 
men must yield with them, and the effort 
of September 12, 1899, will be over. 
The creamery sharks are spreading in 
several sections of New York and adjacent 
States. Never sign a contract with cream¬ 
ery promoters until you have first found 
out just what they are to give you, and just 
what responsible creamery houses would 
charge for the same work—then give the 
contract to the responsible house, not to 
the sharks. 
IT NEEDS STEAD. 
If there’s no steam in a 
fire-engine 
it won’t do 
its work. 
Heavier 
metal or 
larger 
wheels 
won’t help it. It 
needs steam. It’s 
the same when a man’s 
strength is gone, he 
wants new life — fresh 
vitality. It makes no 
difference how large his 
frame may be or how 
big the muscles on his 
arms and legs; if the inner power and 
force of life is lacking he can’t do his 
work; he is practically a sick man. You 
can’t make him well by feeding him 
with oily emulsions. There’s no use in 
flabby fat. His proper weight will come 
after he gets well. The first thing he 
needs is strength, force, steam. 
‘•About a year ago,” says Mr. John Brooks, 
of Boylston, Mass.. “ I was taken with a baa 
cold which settled on my lungs. The doctors 
said I was in consumption and could not get 
well. I took emulsion of cod liver oil and it 
did me no good. After taking it four months I 
heard of Dr. Pierce’s Golden Medical Discovery, 
and wrote to him for advice. X have taken this 
medicine and it saved my life. I felt so sick 
when I wrote to him I thought I would not live 
the winter through. 
“ In the morning X would raise an awful lot 
and spit all the time, with pains in my chest 
all the time. My bowels would not move 
more than once or twice a week ; my strength 
was nearly all gone; I could not do a whole 
day’s work. Now my bowels are regular every 
day, and I feel no more pains in my chest. I 
feel a great deal stronger. I am working hard 
every day, driving a team in the woods, and 
I owe my thanks to Dr. Pierce’s Golden Med¬ 
ical Discovery. I know it saved my life. X 
cannot praise it enough. I am proud to tell my 
friends what cured me.” 
The way this great remedy acts in 
bronchial and lung diseases is more fully 
described in Dr. Pierce’s great iooo-page 
Common Sense Medical Adviser, sent 
FREE for 21 one-cent stamps to pay the 
cost of mailing only. Address Dr. R. V. 
Pierce, 663 Main Street, Buffalo, N. Y. 
He is always ready to give free advice 
by mail. 
A GREAT WATCH 
Now, boys, here is your oppor¬ 
tunity—men, too, for that matter. 
Here is a watch made by one of 
the largest watchmakers in the 
country, It is full size, stem wind 
and set, nickel finish, and war¬ 
ranted to keep accurate time. It 
is just the kind of watch to carry 
at any kind of work. We will 
send it postpaid and one new 
yearly subscription for $1.90; or 
we will send it free for a club of 
four yearly subscriptions at $1 
each. Any boy can get up a club 
of four yearly subscriptions 
among his friends in a short time 
and get the watch absolutely free. 
The Rural New-Yorker, New York. 
