1908. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
©19 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK. 
THE FARMER’S SHARE. 
DOMESTIC.—A collision between two trains on the 
New Orleans and Northeastern Railway at Littlewoods, a 
New Orleans suburb, Nov. 11 killed 11 persons and in¬ 
jured 23 others, some fatally. The wreck was due to delay 
by fog and the neglect of flagging precautions. . . 
Nine men lost their lives in the collision of two Union 
Pacific freight trains Nov. 10 at Borie, Wyoming, and in 
the fire which broke out in the wreckage. The wreck was 
caused by one of the trains getting beyond control while 
running down a grade. . . . Three smugglers and ten 
Chinamen trying to land at Buffalo, N. Y., in a motor 
boat before daylight Nov. 12, were wrecked on the break¬ 
water wall. Six of the Chinamen were drowned or killed 
by being dashed against the rocks. The four others clam¬ 
bered to the top and were rescued at daylight by the police 
tug. The Chinamen were being smuggled into the coun¬ 
try. coming from Canada. They are said to pay the 
smugglers $500 each for being brought into the United 
States. . . . Walter E. Ammon, a well-known butter 
and egg dealer of Jersey City, N. J., was shot and killed 
Nov. 14 in the Pennsylvania Railroad station at Jersey 
City by Andrew McGrath, a former employee, who had 
some fancied grievance against him. . . . Francis J. 
Heney, chief prosecutor in the graft cases and Assistant 
District Attorney of San Francisco, was shot in the head 
by _ \Porris Haas, a saloon keeper, during a five minute 
adjournment of court Nov. 13 in the Ruef case. The 
bullet hit no vital organ and he will recover. The shoot¬ 
ing was the result of an exposure of Haas’s criminal rec¬ 
ord made by Heney in the previous trial of Abe Ruef 
for bribery. Haas has since committed suicide. 
Assistant Chief of Police Henry Klaber, of Okmulgee, 
Okla., was killed in cold blood Nov. 15 by a negro named 
Deckard. whom Klaber attempted to place under arrest. 
Seven other men were killed in a pitched battle between 
Deckard, who had barricaded himself in his shanty, and a 
posse of citizens. Ten more were wounded. . . . It is 
alleged that hundreds and probably thousands of barrels 
of crude oil have been stolen from the tanks of the Indiana 
Pipe Line Company, a branch of the Standard Oil, and the 
(Manhattan Oil Company, the two concerns which buy all 
the crude oil produced in the Indiana and Ohio fields. ‘ The 
stealing has been going on for at least a year. Sufficient 
evidence has been obtained by the companies to warrant 
the disconnection of a number of oil properties in that 
district and swearing out of warrants for the arrest of 
four men. In most cases the stealing is alleged to have 
been done by pumpers. After the gauger measures the 
production in the tank on the lease he locks the connect¬ 
ing line from the well to the tank. In most instances 
the pumper has taken a duplicate key and run the oil into 
an ungauged tank or used a siphon to run the oil back 
into the well. . . . Peter Van Vlissingen. a real estate 
dealer for years, classed among the first of Chicago’s pros¬ 
perous and reputable business men. Nov. l(i confessed to 
having obtained through forged deeds and notes more 
than $700,000, and a few hours after his arrest, on his 
own urgent appeal to be punished, was sentenced to the 
penitentiary on an indeterminate sentence of from one to 14 
years. The arrest, the indictment, the confession, and 
the sentence were the work of less than four hours. 
Taken in the midst of business from his office desk, at 
172 Washington street, shortly after the noon hour. Van 
Vlissingen, a venerable looking man, appeared before the 
court, and in tears confessed that for from 18 to 20 years 
he had been obtaining money through the sale of forged 
documents, and that, though he had bought back many 
of these spurious instruments without detection, at least 
25 people would lose an aggregate of more than $700,000 
through the paper which he has not. yet redeemed. In 
forging the notes, he declared he had perfected a unique 
device. This consisted of a plate glass desk top so ar¬ 
ranged that by an electric light thrown from beneath he 
could readily trace from originals forged signatures on to 
worthless paper. . . . Six men were instantly killed 
and another was dangerously injured in a mine cage acci¬ 
dent at Ellsworth Mine No. 1, in Washington County, 
Pa.. Nov. 16. Because of a break in the machinery, the 
occupied by ten men, several of whom were mine 
officials, plunged from near the outlet to the bottom of 
the shaft, a distance of 285 feet. . . . The temper¬ 
ance forces in Ohio Nov. 16 knocked out 208 saloons bv 
carrying Muskingum, Tuscarawas and Hancock Counties 
m elections held under the new local option law 
On information supplied by the customs officers, United 
States District Attorney Stimson has brought seven suits 
against the American Sugar Refining Company to recover 
$3,624,121 for forfeitures and back duties on imports of 
sugar since 1901 weighed at the docks of Ilavemevers & 
Elder, in Brooklyn, N. Y., on scales which, it is alleged 
by the Government, had been adjusted so as to give false 
weight. In one of the seven suits filed the Government 
seeks to recover $1,500,000 as the amount of the duties 
which the Government failed to collect on certain irnpor- 
tations from Cuba and Java between December 1, 1901 
and November 21, 1907, because of the false weight scales’, 
in the six other suits the Government under section 9 
of the act of 1890 asks for the forfeiture value of the 
goods on which duties have been fraudulentlv underpaid, - 
two importations involving more than $500,000 and the 
other amounts ranging from $200,000 to $300,000, the total 
amount of the forfeiture values being $2,124,121.15. 
Lookout Inn and four Summer residences and a store all 
0U J- Mountain, Tenn., were destroyed by fire Nov 
1 he flames spread in different directions on the east 
S1< 2 e of * he mountain and threatened a large loss of prop¬ 
erty - The entire loss on the mountain is said to be in 
the neighborhood of $350,000. The inn has cost $250,000 
the combined insurance will be about $75,000 
Twenty-two Cents for a Grape Grower. 
In reply to your request that we send you account of 
sales of produce, I take pleasure in sending same. I 
ship each year from 12,000 to 15,000 baskets of grapes, 
and the approximate expense of getting to market and 
selling is three cents per basket. It averages perhaps, one 
year with another, one-third or more of the selling price 
of crop. In regard to your inquiry, it is not entirely 
“what part of the dollar we get.” Producers want a 
part of more dollars. Money is too scarce and high as 
measured by production. We need a circulation of $60 
or more per capita, whereby the value of the dollar may 
be lessened and enable us to buy more dollars with a 
bushel of wheat. This would not help the improvident 
class, but it tcould help the man who is struggling to pjvy 
ofE the mortgage on his home, and is paying a little under 
present conditions. But the man with money does not 
want this, and we can hardly blame him. The purchas¬ 
ing power of his income would perhaps be cut in the 
middle. Some of us are selfish enough to think that the 
man with money can always take care of himself, and 
want a little chance ourselves. For 30 years government 
has been administered in the interests of capital. Give 
the farmer a chance. The account of sales follows : 
Sept. 12—Shipment to Boston, 300 baskets, sold (© 
7 cents. 
Freight .7..$4.80 
Cartage . 1.50 
Commission . j.gg 
$ 21.00 
■. 7.98 
Check net . 
Oct. 1—Shipment to Boston. 
13 cents . 
Freight . 
Cartage . 
Commission. 
.$13.02 
200 baskets, sold @ 
.$26.00 
.$3.20 
. 1.00 
. 2.08 
- 6.28 
Net .$19.72 
Oct, 12—Shipment to Washington, D. C., 220 
baskets Catawbas .$19.61 
Freight .$3.96 
Drayage .55 
Commission . 1.96 
- 6.47 
$13.14 
Sept. 22—Shipment to Washington, D. C., 200 
baskets, sold @ 10 cents.$20.00 
Freight .$3.60 
Cartage.50 
Commission.2.00 
- 6.10 
Net 
$13.90 
Sept. 23—Shipment to Boston, 200 baskets, sold @ 
8 cents. 
Freight .$3.20 
Cartage . 1.00 
Commission . 1.28 
$16.00 
5.48 
$10.52 
Canandaigua, N. Y. f. a. s. 
It N.-Y.—These grapes sold at retail at from 20 to 30 
cents a basket—an average of 25. Let us analyze these 
figures. There were 1,120 baskets of grapes which cost 
the consumer about $280. The commission men claim to 
have received $102.61. They deducted $9 for selling and 
claim to have paid out $32.31 for freight and cartage. In 
many cases, of course, the cartage item, $4.55, was paid to 
themselves. You may be very sure that the railroads made 
some of their $1.76 which the producer gained or lost 
on the deal. Thus the grape grower actually received 
$70.30 for his 1,120 baskets. We figure this at 6% cents 
a basket. To reduce it down to “The Farmer’s Share” 
this man received 22 cents out of the dollar which cus¬ 
tomers paid more or less willingly for his grapes. Out of 
that he had the 'pleasure of paying the cost of packages, 
of picking and all other expenses connected with growing 
the crop ! 
Where Parcels Post Would Help. 
Poor Hope Farm man! I feel sorry for you, and as 
“misery loves company,” I will balance you on your pep¬ 
per returns and go you one better. August 20 I shipped 
to five different firms one case each (24 quarts) of early 
crab apples. These five different firms are all straight 
and square, and personally known to me. Reason for ship¬ 
ping to five houses? “Just for fun.” 
Returns, 1 case.$1.12 
Returns, 1 case.25 
Returns, 1 case.40 
Returns, 1 case.Nix 
Returns, 1 case.75 
Costs, picking.$1.00 
Costs, 5 cases at 20c.. 1.00 
Costs, expressage, 5 cs. 
at 20 cents. 1.00 
Costs, commissions.15 
$2.52 $3.15 
How is that for fun? Very similar experience with 
some plums. Who got the odd 63 cents? 
Staten Island, N. Y. G. l. meinikheim. 
I 7^ ERIsATI0NArj INSTITUTE OF AGRICUL 
JURE, which was proposed by David Lubin, of San Fran 
cisco, to King Victor Emmanuel, who gave the idea hi‘ 
sanction and help, inaugurated its labors in Rome, Nov. 16 
by a meeting attended by delegates from 46 of the coun 
tries that have signified their participation. A plan oJ 
organization is to be prepared, and this, together with a 
budget, is to be submitted to a general meeting or 
November 26. The United States is represented bv Am 
bassador Griscom, David Lubin, Dr. C. C. Clark, W. F 
Hill, G. K. Holmes, and William Stuart. After the speed 
by the president, Senator Faina, Mr. Lubin delivered ac 
address in which he outlined the constitution of the insti¬ 
tution. 
POSTAL AFFAIRS.—Postmaster-General Meyer an¬ 
nounced Nov. 12 that the postal deficit for the fiscal year 
ended June 30, 1908, amounted to $16,910,279. The re¬ 
ceipts were $.191,478,033 (being $7,893,657 greater than 
the preceding year), and the expenditures $208,351,886. 
The deficit is the largest in the history of the Post Office 
Department. An analysis of the figures shows that $9,- 
891,321 represents the advance in the rate of compensation 
authorized by Congress for employees of the railway mail 
service, rural delivery service, city delivery service, and 
assistant postmasters and clerks in post offices. The nor¬ 
mal increase in the revenue for several years was about 
9 per cent., and in 1908 4.29 per cent., the falling off 
in the rate of growth being due to the financial depression. 
The deficit includes losses, such as burglaries at post 
offices, etc., not embraced in the expenditures account. The 
Postmaster-General said that in bis annual report he 
would call the attention of Congress to the fact that he 
is “firmly convinced that the establishment of a special 
local parcels post confined to rural routes would tend to 
wipe out the postal deficit, and would finally make the 
rural delivery self-sustaining, besides being of convenience 
to the farmer and a boon to the retail country merchant.” 
There are now in operation more than 39,000 rural routes, 
he said, serving a population of about eighteen million 
people, and should an average of fifty-five pounds of mer¬ 
chandise be carried by the rural carrier on each trip 
throughout the year, it is estimated that $15,000,000 would 
be realized. The rate would be five cents for the first 
pound and two cents for each additional pound up to 
eleven pounds, the maximum weight of a package. With 
the exception of a small percentage paid to a postmaster 
of the fourth class for increased cancellations, he said, 
all revenue from this parcel post would he clear gain, as 
there would be no railroad transportation whatever, the 
service being confined to packages mailed by bona-fide mer¬ 
chants and patrons of the rural routes. 
R. N.-Y.—That connundrum about the 63 cents will go 
into history alongside of “How Old Was Ann?” The point 
about Mr. Meinikheim’s trade is that if we had a fair 
parcels post in this country the crab apples could have 
been sent by mail direct to consumers at a fair margin 
of profit. There are many people in the city who would 
gladly buy a few quarts of such fruit at a time. 
A Good Showing for Chickens. 
I noticed your call in “Hope Farm Notes” for figures 
on commission sales of different kinds of produce, so I 
will send you my returns for the three last shipments of 
dressed poultry. They may not be just what you want, 
as I have only a small plant, and shipments are not large; 
still, it will show how a good commission house serves 
a small producer here near Boston : 
Oct. 22. 
1 
box dressed chix, 51 lbs... 
Commission, 51 cents. 
$10.20 
Nov. 5. 
1 
box dressed chix, 53 lbs... 
Commission, 48 cents. 
_18c. 
9.54 
Nov. JL3. 
1 
box dressed chix, 52 lbs... 
Commission, 52 cents. 
_20c. 
10.40 
I consider 
these excellent sales, and 
as I get 
my check 
in three days after shipment of goods, I am well satisfied. 
They are four and five-pound roasting chickens. 
Massachusetts. Alfred f. hall. 
R. N.-Y.—These chickens cost the consumer 25 cents, 
or a little more per pound. Assuming a retail price of 25 
cents, we find that the consumers paid $39 while the 
grower received $28.63, or 75 cents on the dollar—an ex¬ 
cellent showing. The chickens were in small lots—prob¬ 
ably 10 or 12 at a time, and were, no doubt, extra in 
quality, as they brought top prices. There being no charges 
for freight or cartage, we assume that the farmer drove 
in his own wagon and delivered the goods. Thus he 
paid himself the items which would otherwise have been 
charged against the shipper. With us these items would 
have been about $2.00, which would bring the cost of 
selling to $3.51, and the farmer’s share of the dollar 68 
cents. But look at it another way: In England or 
France, where there is a fair parcels post, these chickens 
could have been sent direct by mail to the consumer. 
That is done on the other side in thousands of cases— 
for town people are very glad to trade direct with far¬ 
mers. In such cases a four-pound roaster could be mailed 
for about 16 cents, and the farmer would obtain 84 cents 
of the dollar. 
A Consumer’s Side of It. 
Regarding varying prices of farm products. I am not 
a farmer, but very much interested in agriculture, and 
in your market reports of prices current in New York 
week ending November 6, I read sweet potatoes, $1.50 to 
$2.25 per barrel. On November 11 I bought a basket 
of sweets on Washington street from one of the whole¬ 
salers. basket holding just about a bushel, for which I 
paid $1.60. We raise most of our own vegetables, but my 
wife thought she would like some sweet potatoes. I have 
found this same difference in other products'. I would like 
to know through your paper how you base your report, 
and if there is such a vast difference, who gets it? Where 
does it go? That is over 75 per cent. The same wit© 
Kieffer pears. You have 75 cents to $2.50. I have seen 
as high as $4 paid for Kieffer pears, but never saw any 
sold at 75 cents. That wouldn’t pay for picking them. 
Kieffer pears are retailing at our fruit stands now for 
three for 10 cents. A . n. 
R. N.-Y.—Consumers can do no greater public service 
than to report just such cases. They pay the dollars and 
their reports enable us to trace the goods back to tin' 
grower and thus see what he gets. The prices reported 
in The It. N. : Y. are fair averages of what produce brings 
at wholesale in this city. Commission men get what they 
can, and do not go entirely by these prices, but they give 
as fair an indication as we can get of what a shipper 
might expect for his goods. Before these figures can reach 
our readers the market may have changed either through 
shortage or over supply, so that the prices will vary 59 
per cent either way. The chances are that those sweet 
potatoes sold originally for about $2. By the time the 
consumer got them they cost at least $4. The commission 
on the barrel would be 20 cents, the cartage and freig it 
about 40 at least, while the barrel cost about 30 cents. 
Thus the grower may have received $1.10 out of the $4 
paid by the consumer. If the potatoes were sold in 
small “measures,” as they often are, they would haye 
brought nearer $5. In some classes of goods there will 
be loss through shrinkage or decay, but this would not 
be large with sweet potatoes. 
FARM CONDITIONS IN CONNECTICUT. 
Here on the edges of Hartford and Litchfield counties 
the main business is manufacturing, yet there is a consid¬ 
erable agricultural element, and while the problems that 
face farmers as a class are somewhat different in detail 
they are substantially the same as elsewhere. With first- 
class markets right at the doors and high retail prices for 
everything, it looks, on the surface, like a good thing for 
the farmer. But it is not. Analysis brings the same 
answer that it does in other parts of the country—too 
small a share of the proceeds. Yet the purchaser is pay¬ 
ing prices often beyond his means. Eggs are now 50 cents 
per dozen; milk eight cents per quart at retail. The 
farmer gets 4% cents at the farm wholesale. Fruit and 
vegetables always bring good prices, and hay retails for 
around $20 per ton. 
What is the trouble? Duck of sufficient capital; ex¬ 
cessive cost of fertilizer; outrageous prices for grain - in¬ 
efficient and high priced labor and poor business methods. 
In every case, so far as my observation goes, the farmers 
who really succeed are those who have a reasonable work¬ 
ing capital. They can buy right and do the right thing at 
the right time. But under most circumstances the cost of 
production is all out of proportion to even the high sell¬ 
ing prices. The cases hereabouts are rare where even 
unusually competent farmers have successfully worked 
out the problem through intensive culture, general use of 
machinery, raising their own grain and adopting methods 
that reduce fertilizer bills. The situation is puzzling. In 
the words of the opera, “I don’t care what teacher says, 
I can t do that sum,” I have not worked out the answer 
in my own case. It is the more puzzling because there are 
so many apparently favorable conditions. Unlimited mar¬ 
kets, practically, with short hauls over good roads, and 
high retail prices that the farmer himself can get by 
peddling or working up direct custom should be in the 
farmer's favor, but somehow there is mighty little if any 
profit left him when the returns are all in. 
Despite the unsatisfactory conditions that now prevail 
there is undoubtedly a steady improvement in the farmer’s 
condition in this section. The Grange, the trolley, the 
telephone and good roads along with the automobile, have 
banished isolation. He and his family may enjoy as much 
social pleasure, amusement and diversion as the mass of 
people in other occupations. The tendency seems to be for 
more boys and girls to stay on the farm than in years 
past. Farming is recognized as a dignified business and is 
accorded as much respect as any other business. The Con¬ 
necticut Agricultural College is having a marked influence 
in bettering farm conditions in this State. A few farmers 
are successful, as much so as men engaged in other busi¬ 
ness lines. They say they are satisfied that farming is a 
good business. They attribute their success to having 
sufficient working capital and the use of intelligent methods. 
They are all keen observers. They take the time to find 
out what others are doing and how they do it. They are 
also good business men and keep accurate and detailed 
accounts of cost of production. The small farmers who 
have little or no capital and work under adverse con¬ 
ditions. have the same problems to meet that factory work¬ 
ers with ambitions and insufficient incomes have None 
of them suggests legislative remedies. Alt seem to re*gard 
the problems as economic and individual. 
WALLACE H. MILLER. 
NEW YORK FARMERS’ INSTITUTES. 
Farmers’ institutes to be held in New York State in 
December, 1908. Counties : Albany, Rensselaer, Delaware. 
Sullivan, Greene, Ulster, Schoharie, Otsego, Saratoga, 
Schenectady, Washington, Essex, Clinton, Franklin. 
Date. Place. 
Dec. 7—Sidney . 
“ 7—Clifton Park Centre 
“ 7—Hoosick Falls 
“ 7-8—Liberty . 
“ 7-8—Oak Hill . 
“ 8—Franklin . 
“ 8—Charlton . 
“ 8—North Easton . 
“ 9—Hensonville . 
9—Greenfield Centre . 
“ 9—Bacon Hill . 
“ 9-10—Davenport . 
9-10—Monticello . 
“ 10—Gurnspring . 
“ 10—Greenwich . 
“ 10-11—Prattsville . 
“ 11—Ellenville . 
“ 11—Kingsbury . 
“ 11—Salem . 
“ 11-12—Delhi . 
“ 12—Stone Ridge . 
“ 12— Gilboa . 
“ 12—Hartford . 
“ 12—West Hebron . 
“ 14—Andes . 
“ 14—Jefferson . 
“ 14—Kingston . 
“ 14—Crown Point . 
“ 14—Argyle .. 
“ 15—Westport . 
“ 15—Putnam . 
“ 15-16—Halcottsville . 
15-16—New Paltz . 
“ 15-16—Schenevus . 
“ 16—Lewis . 
“ 16-17—.Tav . 
“ 17—Milton . 
“ 17—Argusville .*... 
“ 17—Keeseville . 
“ 17—Duanesburg . 
“ 18-19— Selkirk . 
“ 18-19—Oobleskill . 
“ 18-19—Peru . 
“ 18-19—Malone . 
" 19—West Sand Lake... 
“ 21—Stephentown . 
“ 21—Westerlo .. 
“ 21—Middleburg . 
“ 21—Chazv . 
“ 21-22—Brushton . 
“ 22—Nassau . 
County. 
.. . Delaware 
. . .Saratoga 
.. Rensellaer 
... . Sullivan 
.Greene 
... Delaware 
. ..Saratoga 
, Washington 
.Greene 
...Saratoga 
. ..Saratoga 
. . .Delaware 
. . .. Sullivan 
.. .Saratoga 
. Washington 
.Greene 
. Ulster 
Washington 
Washington 
... Delaware 
.Ulster 
.. Schoharie 
Washington 
Washington 
.. .Delaware 
..Schoharie 
.Ulster 
.Essex 
Washington 
.Essex 
Washington 
... Delaware 
.Ulster 
.Otsego 
.Essex 
.Essex 
.Ulster 
..Schoharie 
.Essex 
Schenectady 
.Albany 
. . Schoharie 
.... Clinton 
. . . Franklin 
.. Rensselaer 
. . Rensselaer 
.Albany 
.. Schoharie 
.Clinton 
. . - Franklin 
.. Rensselaer 
