1901 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
655 
DAIRY AND FARM NOTES. 
The Price of MUk. 
Milk Prices. —Is It possible to con¬ 
trol the price-of milk and its products? 
There are numberless factors controlling 
current prices. The great law of supply 
and demand has always been the main 
influence in fixing values. It always will 
be. Whatever man may say or do, when 
markets are glutted prices will go down, 
and when a scarcity prevails a corre¬ 
sponding advance will take place. This 
is no new argument, but it is often for¬ 
gotten by over-zealous advocates of pure 
theory. In a limited way, demand can 
be created for special products. This is 
particularly true of many fancy soft 
cheeses, such as the Neufchatel, Cam- 
embert, DTsigny, etc., and prices in the 
past have been to some extent controlled 
by the manufacturers or dealers. Each 
year increases the output of this class 
of goods, until at present it nearly or 
quite supplies every demand, and they 
have become staple products. Any ef¬ 
fort made to control or fix the cost to 
the retailer or consumer is at once met 
by an increased output, and the price 
again seeks its level, a level fixed by the 
value of milk for butter, which is the 
great American milk product. Suppos¬ 
ing for a moment that the manufacturers 
of Neufchatel cheese should say to the 
farmer: “We will give 25 cents per 100 
pounds more for milk than it is worth 
for butter or cheese making.’’ vVould 
it be long before the markets would be 
deluged with these soft cheeses? Or, 
on the other hand, presuming that the 
farmers who are now producing milk for 
such manufacturers should say to their 
purchasers: “We demand 25 cents per 
100 pounds more for our milk, because 
it is manufactured into fancy cheese,’’ 
what result would follow? It takes only 
poor judgment to decide at once that the 
plant must be moved or operations sus¬ 
pended. Yes; but the farmers say: 
“The consumer pays for this product 
more than twice its net value to us in 
crude milk, and we don’t propose to 
stand it.’’ The candid observer would 
at once say that these farmers were un¬ 
businesslike, and interfering with an in¬ 
dustry that had benefited them and their 
locality. 
Cost and Selling Price. —‘Still an¬ 
other phase of the subject is presented. 
At this same time prices for milk at this 
establishment have been very near the 
cost of production, and the farmers say: 
“We cannot produce milk at these ruin¬ 
ous prices, and we shall demand an in¬ 
crease or place our product elsewhere, 
even though we get less for it.’’ Not 
a very wise conclusion, supposing the 
manufacturer has during this same per¬ 
iod made a good profit on our milk; 
does it add materially to our welfare to 
deprive him of his revenue under these 
conditions? Again, New York requires 
from 30,000 to 50,000 packages of butter 
weekly, which comes from practically 
the same shippers. These same ship¬ 
pers conclude that they must advance 
the price two cents a pound, and propose 
if the rise is not met to withdraw their 
supplies, and make the milk into cheese 
or cream, or ship it in crude milk. Is 
this plan consistent? It appears to me 
that much of the scheme to control New 
York milk prices has been on about the 
same general plan. Does denouncing a 
great corporation like the Borden Com¬ 
pany, which has done more for the New 
York State milk producers than any 
other single enterprise, by way of de¬ 
manding conditions which are in the 
very nature of the case essentials to a 
higher price, put shekels into our pock¬ 
ets? No, no; the premises are wrong. 
There is only one throttle by which the 
speed of the engine is controlled. Drill¬ 
ing a hole into the water tank will not 
check the speed. The industrial life of 
this country has not developed through 
a constant warfare to increase cost, al¬ 
though prices have at times fluctuated, 
and a small Increase produced great 
galas, yet every student of economies 
of whatever degree must admit that the 
development of every industry in the 
country, the dairy interest included, has 
been due primarily to cheapened cost of 
production, meaning a lower price to 
consumer. If every American farmer 
could have impressed upon his business 
oump this great principle of American 
economic law, that industry thrives only 
by an expanding market, made so 
through a better product at reduced 
cost, he would have laid the foundation 
for an acceptance, and finally as a part 
of a great whole, for future success and 
happiness. 
Unproductive Dairy Farms. —I can 
point to many men who have yearly 
added to their material interests, and 
produced milk at low prices. Others 
have failed, regardless of prices, more 
than to make a living. The fringe of 
weeds and bushes around the farm 
grows wider; the loss of manure con¬ 
tinues. The farm decreases in produc¬ 
ing power. The bulk of the food comes 
from a farm in Iowa. A can of milk is 
hauled one way and a sack of feed the 
other, and the feed merchant gets the 
profit if he secures full pay. These 
farms must needs buy their stock. They 
cannot afford to raise it, and again the 
cow merchant brings in the fresh stock 
and takes out the wornout milkers. It 
would be most interesting to know at 
just what price of milk these farms 
would clear up and return a profit. I 
am of the opinion that three cents a 
quart would not accomplish the result. 
I suppose it may be charged that this 
is dodging the issue, and joining hands 
with the so-called middleman. But for¬ 
tunately or otherwise, I have had some 
experienceas a middleman, standing be¬ 
tween the farmer and the consumer, and 
I know from experience that there are 
many rocks and shoals in handling pro¬ 
duce that the quiet farmer does not see, 
and consequently does not appreciate. 
The demand for cheaper milk and the 
sharp competition among dealers does 
not permit a profit beyond that secured 
in other business presenting an equal 
hazard. A comparison may be made in 
our locality. The small villages of Car¬ 
thage and Lowville, surrounded by farm¬ 
ers whose whole business is milk pro¬ 
duction, are supplied by a few men who 
get 2^ times for their milk what is 
realized by the milk seller or cheese fac¬ 
tory patron. Why not double the 
amount of milk and sell at haii the 
price? Prof. Voorhees tells us that the 
cost of retailing equals the cost of pro¬ 
duction. The distribution of any class 
of goods costs as much as the manufac¬ 
ture. Milk is perishable property, and 
hence particularly hazardous. The mar¬ 
gins must necessarily be greater than 
upon wheat, which can be stored and 
held without loss in intrinsic value. 
Cost of Distribution. —The weakest 
point in city distribution is the fact that 
each peddler must traverse a large terri¬ 
tory daily rather than confine his efforts 
to a contiguous locality. Such distribu¬ 
tion can only be possible under trust 
management. Competition, personal 
likes and dislikes, enter into the retail¬ 
ing of merchandise. No one butcher 
supplies a given locality. The success 
of many a man comes from catering to 
one’s idiosyncrasies, which carry no 
more nourishment to the physical body, 
but do affect our desires, our likes and 
dislikes, without which we should bo on 
a level with the lower animals. I am 
satisfied that the organization, be it the 
result of statutory enactment, the arbi¬ 
trary rules of corporate interests, or the 
direct result of personal and united ef¬ 
fort on the part of the farmers, will be 
the only one bringing any tangible bene¬ 
fits to the milk producer; which has for 
its watchword first the production of a 
healthful milk, not unnecessarily rich in 
fat and total solids, but containing not 
less than 3.5 per cent fat and 12% i>er 
cent of solids, in which germ life la not 
permltteu to develop. We should not 
study how far one may go in slilrlrls g 
duty in care and management, which I 
am sorry to say prevails to a degree in 
the producing sections. Nor are we to 
study continually how far one may go 
in giving the least return for the money, 
considering middlemen robbers and 
thieves, and I repeat it because I hear 
it and read it, not because I like to do 
so. In my judgment it is a most narrow 
and short-sighted conception of business 
and industrial development. On the 
other hand, we need a policy and spirit, 
and organized effort, which shall say to 
the middleman and consumer: 
“We have milk to sell. The cost of 
production is high. We are not in busi¬ 
ness strictly fOr fun, but for self-support 
and profit. Our time must necessarily 
be given over to economical production 
of our goods. We are unable to pro¬ 
duce, transport, sell and collect; we 
must needs have assistance. We know 
that machinery soon wears out, besides 
doing ineffective work if every part does 
not fit and work free from friction. We 
know also, that this great New York 
milk machine, handling one million 
quarts a day, must run without friction 
to bring best results. We are ready to 
cooperate with you in producing good 
milk, and in enforcing the law against 
adulteration after it leaves the farm. We 
believe that there is dishonesty among 
farmers and among dealers. We de¬ 
mand punishment whenever and wher¬ 
ever found. We believe that the milk 
business, like other industries, depends 
upon the volume of business done. We 
are therefore willing to produce at a 
narrow margin, knowing well that this 
principle means increased consumption.’’ 
Let us take the friction out of our 
machinery and oil the adjusted parts 
until milk consumption in the great 
metropolis shall double and treble, giv¬ 
ing the consumer a cheaper and more 
healthful food than meats, and at less 
cost. Establish a spirit of confidence in 
every branch of this enterprise. Invite 
our dealers and city consumers to see our 
barns and dairies. Discuss with them 
and show a knowledge and study of hy¬ 
giene and germ life. If anyone reads 
this article he may say sentiment, sen¬ 
timent; we must fight to get our rights. 
For all I believe in a “strenuous life,” 
I have found that merchants were hu¬ 
man, much like farmers, and were pos¬ 
sessed of as much moral fiber, and as 
ready to live up to their obligations. 
They have their losses and troubles, as 
we do. Success is due to overcoming 
these difficulties, and if the middleman 
has greater power than we, he will suc¬ 
ceed just in that proportion. The pres¬ 
ent plan of building cooperative plants 
has mucn to commend it, and is the only 
outcome as yet having any possible 
value, but I am not sure in me long run 
how successful they will be. Twenty- 
five years’ experience in factory man¬ 
agement teaches me that in the first 
place margins are small, and in the sec¬ 
ond place what profit arises will go to 
the man who has business tact and sa¬ 
gacity to make things pay, whether he 
is the owner or under pay from a board 
of directors. Build creameries; it will 
not be a loss if wisely administered, but 
remember so long as milk trains run in¬ 
to New York City the price will be fixed 
by milk values for butter and cheese, 
with an addition equivalent to the extra 
expense of hauling and loss of by-pro- 
<iuctS. H. E. COOK. 
The distress, apprehension, inconvenience, and 
danger of Asthma, can ali be overcome by Dr. D. 
Jayne’s Expectorant if administered according to 
directions.—Ad-B. 
Leg and Body Wash. 
Race horses often become sore 
and stiff from continued strain 
on the hard tracks. Nothing takes 
out tliis stitfnese and soreness 
like a wash compounded of di luted 
Tuttie’s Elixir 
apply to tlie legs and put on light 
bandages.Sponge the body and put 
on light blanket. Guaranteed to 
|pro<Iuce desired results or money 
'back. ■’ 
Ke.idvllle Trotting Park, Mass,, March 23,1900. 
Dr. S. A. Tuttle, V. S. 
Dear Sir:—I have used your Elixir tor the past ten years. In the 
dtluU'd form for a leg and body wash. I consider it the best wash 
for keeping horses from soilugun. Horses done up with this wash 
are much less liable to take cold than when done up with witch hazel 
or any other wash 1 ever used. J. H. NAY. 
Our 100-page book, “Veterinary Experience,” I'liEE. 
Dr. S. A. TUTTLE, 30 Beverly Sf., Boston, Mass. 
Bowaeo of soHUtiled Elixirs— none genuine but Tuttle’s. 
Jwntd all bUaters; they o£Cer only temporary reUef U any. 
The BEST Cattle 
Fastening 
SMITH'S Self- 
Adjustlni; Swiofv 
Stanchion The only 
Practical swing stan¬ 
chion invontcd. Thou¬ 
sands in use. Illust’d 
Circular free. 
GLENOUA MFG. GO., 
Glenora, Yates County, 
NY. Infrlngemouts 
win be proeecuted. 
DE LAVAL 
Cream Separators 
which possess the patent 
protected “Alpha” disc and 
“ split-wing” improvements 
Are as Much Superior 
to other Cream Separators 
as such other Separators are 
to Gravity Setting Methods. 
Sent/ for new “20th Century” Catalogue. 
THE DE LAVAL SEPARATOR CO., 
74 Cortlandt St., New York. 
NATIONAL 
HAND SEPARATOR 
Runs lighter, skims closer, cleans 
easier, and gives lielter satisfac¬ 
tion in every way than any other 
macliine. Increase in cream yield 
eqtial.s product of an extra cow. 
You can jirove it in your 
own dairy by 
10 DAYS’ 
Use Without Cost 
Place it in competition with any other machine 
—and if not ns claimed relurn at our e.xpense, 
No obligation to buy. Write for [larticulars 
NATIONAL DAIRY MACHINE CO 
NEWARK, N. J. 
Sharples“Tubular 
Dairy Separafoj;s 
the latest product of the 
world’s leading Cream 
Separator manufactory. 
HIGHEST PRIZE (KNIGHT’S 
DECORATION) AWARDED 
AT PARIS. 
No disks to bother with 
and wash. Are very easy 
turners. 
Guaranteed to produce enough 
more butter than the best compet¬ 
ing separator to pay 6% on whole 
first cost of machine each year. 
Five sizes—$50 to $200 each. 
Valuable book on “Bnslnesa Oalrylng" 
and Catalogue No. liS free. 
Sharpies Co., P. M. Sharpies, 
Chicago, III. West Chester, Pa. 
» 
DO YOU WANT 
Then Buy an 
lm|)roved 
^ L. S. 
Scjiarator 
That is the kind that 
GETS ALL 
iP iriE CREAM! 
It also saves much time an<i 
labor and makes dairying more 
plea.sant and profitable. 
Illustrated catalogues are to be 
had for the asking. 
