1011 . 
THE! RURAL NEW-YORKER 
M I L KL 
The New York Exchange price is $1.41 
per 40-quart can, netting 2% cents per 
quart to shippers in 26-cent zone who have 
no additional station charges. 
THE STORY OF A MILK INSPECTOR. 
Inspection by the New York City 
Board of Health is probably in a some¬ 
what chaotic condition. So far as farm¬ 
ers are concerned there is no certainty 
of a more rational inspection. In for¬ 
mer years there has been a veterinary in¬ 
spection, carried out by the creamery 
people, the expense sometimes thrown 
upon the farmers and sometimes borne 
by the creamery. Now a veterinary is 
sent out from the city. He has been in 
this vicinity, and the report is that he has 
ruled out some cows. I have heard no 
complaint, and have seen no particular 
evidence either of competency or incom¬ 
petency. The value of the veterinary 
inspection is still partially unsettled, but 
with little reason at present to doubt its 
efficiency to a tolerable degree. Very 
likely the veterinary has had very little 
experience with cows, as he is supposed 
to be a city man, and dislikes cows. He 
appears to be a better man than was ex¬ 
pected, but not so good as is needed. 
This estimate is founded partially on a 
reasonably good guess. 
It has been understood that a bac¬ 
teriological test is to be made of milk as 
sold by the farmer, and some have sup¬ 
posed that no other inspections would be 
made than these two. This illusion has 
been dispelled within a day or two. Per¬ 
haps I may as well give somewhat in de¬ 
tail the mode of procedure in this case. 
Two men were seen approaching, driving 
quite rapidly, just as the farmer was 
about starting for the field in the after¬ 
noon. He halted a little for the men to 
drive up, and one of them, a very large 
man with a very red face and a rough 
bearing, remarked that he wanted to 
see the cow stable. He neither asked 
permission to do so, nor did he announce 
his identity or authority. Finally the 
farmer recovered himself enough to ask 
the purpose of the visit. 
“The Health Department,” responded 
the caller. 
“The New York City Department?” 
queried the farmer. A nod answered the 
question. 
“A veterinarian?” further asked the 
farmer. 
“Nop ; inspector.” The inspector then 
proceeded to the stable, asked several 
questions and wrote rapidly, taking in 
all he got from one spot near the cor¬ 
ner of the barn. “Sign there,” suggested 
the inspector. The farmer thought he 
ought to see what he was expected to 
sign. The inspector said he would sign 
for him. The farmer still insisted that 
he wanted to see what was on the paper. 
The inspector wrote something, tore out 
the carbon duplicate and handed it to 
the farmer. The score was 70. This 
was neither a liberal score nor an ex¬ 
tremely severe one. The farmer asked 
the inspector if he couldn’t allow some¬ 
thing for the concrete floor. Six points 
had been taken off for the floor. The 
inspector said he hadn’t seen that any 
part of the floor was concrete, but as 
over half the floor had been concreted he 
would allow one point. This he did not 
do, however. The farmer further asked 
if he might not have any credit for the 
small-topped milk pails he was using. 
“We’ll see ’em,” remarked the inspec¬ 
tor. 
“In what respect do you find the privy 
unsanitary?” 
“Has it wash-down bowls?” “No.” 
“Has it covers with spring hinges?” 
“No.” “Then it is unsanitary.” “It has 
covers, is taken care of and .is in good 
shape.” “Has it spring hinges on the 
covers?” “No.” “Then it is unsanitary,” 
again announced the inspector. 
“By the way, I gave you credit for 
tight ceiling. I see there is some dust 
coming down from the hay mow. I 
will take off something for that.” 
There was a short argument which 
ended by the inspector saying that he 
was satisfied with the score in the first 
place, but, he added: 
“I thought while you are caviling at 
my inspection, I would show you that I 
could rip this thing up, if I am amind 
to.” The remarks of the inspector were 
all in an angry tone, and he now 
slammed his book down to emphasize, 
apparently, his own importance and his 
disgust at the farmer’s questions, or im¬ 
pertinence, or as he seemed to think, 
caviling. Webster says “cavil” means to 
raise captious or frivolous objections; to 
find fault without good reason. The 
farmer had answered the inspector’s 
questions courteously. He had asked 
about four points, but not in an angry or 
captious mood. He scarcely received a 
637 
single courteous answer. He wasn’t 
bluffed into submission, however, and 
further asked: 
“What is it expected that a stable 
should score?” 
“Whatever it does score?” 
“But what should a stable score?” 
“One hundred is perfect, sir,” was the 
answer. 
“You do not mean me to understand 
that you expect a stable to score a hun- 
dren ?” 
“It is impossible, sir. The best we 
ever had was 92.” 
“Hasn’t the Board of Health some 
standard upon which they pass a stable?” 
“It makes no difference if the stable 
scores but 10, nothing will he done about 
it. All we want is to educate the farm¬ 
ers to do little better.” 
There were some further remarks by 
the farmer about the pleasant day, which 
were answered in a sarcastic manner. 
Possibly it was less the fault of the in¬ 
spector that he was thus uncivil than the 
bad beer he had recently “punished.” 
Nevertheless, he evidently went to the 
stable with a “chip on his shoulder,” not 
an especially good thing for an inspec¬ 
tor to have in his possession anyway. “I 
can rip this thing up,” and “we want to 
educate the farmers to do a little better.” 
That first quotation is a very good com¬ 
ment on the arguments of those who 
claim that scores made by different in¬ 
spectors are practically uniform. Re¬ 
garding the second it seems as though 
this particular inspector must be a great 
“educator.” Former inspectors have been 
bad enough, as the Board of Health has 
publicly admitted, although there seems 
to have been some fairly good ones 
among them. This last specimen has lit¬ 
tle to his credit I am sure, judging from 
good evidence that is submitted. We 
now wait for the third “installment,” 
which is supposed to be the “bug” man 
with plates and things to catcli the bac¬ 
teria that may or may not be in the milk 
the farmer sells. When and where shall 
we look for common sense regarding 
this business? H. H. L. 
A MILK CONTRACT. 
Our milk as well as a large portion pro¬ 
duced in this town (Meredith), is sold to 
Ayer & McKinney, who make it into butter 
and sell it in the Philadelphia market, so 
we are not bothered with inspectors from 
New York. I enclose copy of contract in 
which the prices are the same as this 
year; in fact their contract has been the 
same for several years and I think the 
price paid has compared well with Borden 
prices without their restrictions. Last year 
our butter averaged nearly 34 cents per 
pound, which paid quite well even at the 
price of feed, but this year feed is about 
the same price and butter is much lower. 
In January, 1910, we received 39% cents 
for butter, this year 3314 cents; February, 
1910, 32%, this year 30% cents; March, 
1910, 33% cents, this year 25% cents; 
April, 1910, 32% cents, this year, 22% 
cents. Some kinds of feed are cheaper this 
year but there is not as much difference 
as there is in the price of butter. It is 
my opinion that the price of butter will be 
still lower if Canadian reciprocity and a 
stringent cold storage law are passed. I 
do not believe the time for keeping butter 
in storage should be limited. Before cold 
storage was invented the farmers used to 
keep all their Rummer butter until the next 
Winter and then sell it usually at a much 
higher price than they could get by selling 
it as it was made, and such butter was 
considered much better than fresh made 
Winter butter. After cold storage came it 
created a speculative demand for Summer 
butter ns it was made, giving us who sell 
on a contract like this much better prices 
during the Summer months when the make 
is heaviest. 1 do not know of any farmers 
going out of the milk business, and the way 
they bought cows at auctions this Spring 
you would think they didn’t intend to quit. 
Almost any old cow, if fresh or nearly so, 
would bring $50, and from that up to $70 
or more. The business of Ayer & McKinney 
has developed. In 1910, in Delaware, they 
received 20.476,209 pounds of milk, produc¬ 
ing 1.425.7S3 pounds of butter. This rep¬ 
resents the year’s work of 0,250 cows, and 
is an average of 4,236 pounds of milk and 
228 pounds of butter per cow. 
New York. geo. middlemiss. 
It. N.-Y.—The contract mentioned states 
that prices will be figured on highest 
printed quotations of “creamery butter” in 
New Y’ork. For January the price is three 
cents above quotation, February one cent, 
June one cent, October two cents, Novem¬ 
ber two cents, December three cents and 
other months at such quotations. The basis 
of calculation is to add 15 per cent to the 
Babcock test of fat. This represents the 
amount of butter in 100 pounds of milk. 
Ayer & McKinney agree to return half or 
all the skim-milk is desired. When half is 
returned one cent a pound is deducted from 
price of butter; when all is returned two 
cents are deducted. 
The dairying business is very discourag¬ 
ing in this section at present, but most of 
the dairymen are sticking to it yet. Fresh 
(grade) cows are worth from $50 to $75, 
which seems like a good price considering 
the price of milk, but with our rough and 
hilly pasture land in this section and help 
scarce and high, what better can we do 
than milk the cows and get what we can 
for it. Conditions must change after a 
little; what we have to sell must bring 
more or what we have to buy must cost 
less, or there will be more abandoned farms 
in this section, I think. Our milk around 
here was taken in at Otselic Center factory 
and drawn to Georgetown Station (about 
nine miles) and shipped to New York 
throulig the Winter until the latter part of 
January; then our factory began making 
butter and selling the skim-milk back to 
the patrons at 12 cents per 40 quart can 
and _ making what could not be sold into 
casein. The cheese market was so dull our 
factory was run like this until the first of 
May, when we began making butter and 
cheese. During this time if we bought 
any cheese at the stores it cost 18 cents 
per pound. I will give you the prices of 
milk and feed now and a year ago in this 
section : 
1910 
per 100 lbs. 
Jan. $1.68 
Feb. 1.03 
March 1.503 
April 1.223 
Bran . 
Corn meal . . . 
Gluten . 
April I 
Price of feed 
Now 
.$1.35 
. 1.25 
. 1.30 
1911 
per 100 lbs. 
Jan. $1.39 
Feb. .98 
March .83 
expect from 
70 to 80 cts. 
a year ago 
$1.35 
1.50 
1.55 
We thank you for what you are doing 
for the farmers. 
Otselic, N. Y. w. c. D. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
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LOW BUTTER PRICES 
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There could be no greater mistake on 
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year because cream and butter prices are un- 
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166-167 Broadway 
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SEPARATOR 
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CHICAGO 
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173-177 William Streot 
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14 & 16 Princoas Streot 
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1016 Western Avenue 
SEATTLE 
