1913. 
The State Standing Committee on Cooperation of 
the New York State Agricultural Society wishes to 
make a roster of all the farm cooperative clubs or 
other organizations in the State, with a view to de¬ 
velop plans to coordinate their work in the production, 
grading and marketing of farm products and in the 
purchase of supplies. Will the officers of such or¬ 
ganizations please send the name and place of meet¬ 
ing of the organizations, and the name and address 
of the secretary? Also state whether or not it is 
incorporated, and amount of capital if any. 
john j. dillon, Chairman. 
* 
This is the latest use for smudge pots that we 
have heard of: 
Auburn, Nebr., Oct. 29.—A few smudge pots were set 
out last night to protect the few apples still hanging to 
the trees. Most of the apple growers took warning at 
the first cold wave and hurried through their fruit 
harvest. 
Those “smudge pots” are metal pots or jars in 
which thick oil is burned. This gives off consider¬ 
able heat and a thick smudge or smoke. The heat 
is enough to raise the temperature by several de¬ 
grees. We often hear of their use in Spring to pro¬ 
tect the buds but this is the first report of their use 
in Fall to protect the fruit. When the air is still 
they give good results, but in a high wind the heat 
is driven from the trees. In some parts of the coun¬ 
try the system has been so perfected that when the 
mercury in the thermometer falls to a certain point 
an electric device rings a warning and actually starts 
fire in the pots. 
* 
One of our readers received a circular which 
states that a German ship was nearing this coun¬ 
try carrying a large cargo of potatoes. There is 
supposed to. be a quarantine against German pota¬ 
toes and our friend rightly asks—What about it? 
C. L. Marlatt, chairman of the Federal Horticul¬ 
tural Board, sends us this statement of the case: 
Under our Quarantine No. 3, dealing with the potato 
wart, the entry of potatoes from Germany is prohibited, 
and the supposition, therefore, is that the potatoes re¬ 
ferred to as coming on German ships are of Holland 
origin. We are closely watching potato importations 
from Europe, and this particular lot of potatoes will he 
inspected on arrival, both to determine condition and 
to confirm country of origin. All products imported 
into the United States must be accompanied by a con¬ 
sular declaration showing the country of origin, and 
the State Department, at the request of the Department 
of Agriculture, has recently warned consular officers 
to be particularly observant, to prevent any fraudulent 
certification as to origin in the case of potatoes. 
Some one will need to be “particularly observant,” 
or many of these potatoes will be rushed into this 
country. It is a great temptation just now’ to take 
German potatoes away from starch or alcohol mak¬ 
ing and send them here to be used as food. Thus 
far there have not been imports which could affect 
prices, but the buyers would like to make it appear 
that the entire European crop is coming over so as 
to beat down the price paid to our own farmers. 
* 
Our agricultural colleges, particularly those in the 
Eastern States, are likely to have a hard problem 
in the city boy. These city-trained youths are en¬ 
tering the agricultural colleges in great numbers ex¬ 
pecting to be farmers. Ask them why and you gen¬ 
erally find that the extravagant stories of farm 
success printed in papers or magazines have fired 
their imagination. In one extreme case which w r e 
know of a liigh-school graduate decided to study 
agriculture. The family took a place in the coun¬ 
try for the Summer. There was a garden, and 
father told the boy to take a hoe and clean out 
the weeds, as this was a part of the “agriculture” 
which he w'as to study. The boy worked half a 
day in the sun and then came in to his mother. “No 
agriculture for me if this is it I think I’ll try civil 
engineering!” This boy had been led to suppose that 
“agriculture” was some sort of easy-chair job. A 
good many city boys know better. This is an ex¬ 
treme case, yet, without question, the boy or man 
raised in the city cannot really understand what 
farming means. They can take their college course 
and graduate with honors, but they have still to 
learn the foundation of farming —practical labor 
and instinct and sympathy which nothing except 
country living can give them. Or suppose they do 
not try practical farming, but become teachers or 
“workers” in some of the extension service! How 
can they ever really speak that universal language 
which the farm-bred man or woman employs? From 
either point of view the city boy presents a new and 
hard problem in agricultural education. He must 
have a chance in some way to acquire the training 
which the boy on the farm takes as a regular part 
of life. The city boy has just as much right to the 
agricultural education as anyone else. He ought to 
have a chance to get both sides. 
THIS RURAL NEW-YORKER 
THE PRINCIPLE OF CREDIT UNIONS. 
Co-operation in Farm Capital. 
The letter below’ was recently received from a 
wealthy and philanthropic business man in Maine. 
Our reply to the inquiry may interest many farmers 
and others who are thinking of this subject of farm 
credits. We have had an approval of the plan from 
the correspondent with the encouraging assurance 
that it will be put into practice in several communi¬ 
ties in Maine. We hope that the discussion may 
inspire other men of affairs and experience to lend 
a helping hand to this much-needed movement in 
this country. 
I write to say that there is a small community here 
of perhaps a score of farmers, a part of whom would 
need to borrow a few hundred dollars for a few months 
in the Spring to buy fertilizer, grass seeds, etc. Would 
yon be kind enough to recommend a plan that would 
work more satisfactorily than any other? j. H. R. 
Maine. 
The little community of farmers to whom you 
refer could form a cooperative credit union among 
themselves, under the present corporate law’s of 
Maine. They could simply organize a little corpor¬ 
ate association, and the amount of cash capital put 
ir. by each one might be limited to the individual 
capacity of each. In some of the associations in 
Europe individual holdings are as small as $1.50, 
and never assume any large proportions. In Europe, 
and also in this country, men of greater means and 
greater business experience often combine with them 
from more or less philanthropic or patriotic mo¬ 
tives, and these members are able to render great 
service in the way of management and control, and 
often in the way of furnishing funds. 
In New r York State w’e succeeded last Winter in 
getting through a bill to facilitate the organization 
of these credit unions in the State of New York. 
They have had one in Massachusetts for some years, 
but even previous to last year some of the Jewish 
people organized credit unions in New York State 
for the benefit of Jewish farmers under the busi¬ 
ness corporation law, and they have been very suc¬ 
cessful. The success of these Jewish unions has 
probably come from the fact that some of the Jew¬ 
ish capitalists and philanthropists of the city have 
taken an interest in the matter, and not only helped 
the organization, but also furbished me money 
needed. 
The basis for these credit unions, however, is co¬ 
operation, and individual and united responsibility 
for the loans made; that is to say, the members of 
the association or union bind themselves, each and 
all, to the payment of the money borrowed from 
outside sources, and then loan the funds to the 
individual membership as needed. You will at once 
grasp the importance of this feature. It restricts 
membership in the union to honest and industrious 
members of a community. The only object of be¬ 
coming a member of the union is for the purpose of 
using credit and borrowing money, and the members 
of a union will not consent to the membership of a 
neighbor who is entitled to no credit, and who would 
not be a moral risk for a loan. Then again, it makes 
each member in turn a censor on the borrower of 
each in his turn. That is to say, in an association 
of 12 at the time one is borrowing there will be 
11 members anxious to see that the twelfth does 
not borrow more than his ability to use productively 
and pay back. 
Still further, these loans are made for specific pur¬ 
poses. They are made for productive purposes, such 
as for buying fertilizers, seeds or necessary supplies 
of some kind to be used productively for the sea¬ 
son’s profit. Every member of the union is inter¬ 
ested to see that the money borrowed for this pur¬ 
pose is employed for just the purpose for which it 
is loaned, and each member will be interested in the 
success of the borrower in using the capital to pro¬ 
duce a profit, and they will also be interested to 
see that the loan is paid at the time of maturity. 
At the same time the borrower has been under con¬ 
stant review of his associates during the time of 
the loan, and if a temporary misfortune has be¬ 
fallen him, such as the loss of a crop due to a 
drought or excessive rainfall, or for other reasons, 
and there is still a prospect of his making good later 
on, they are In a position to judge his ease fairly 
and to extend time where it is needed and merited. 
A credit union of this kind would be our suggestion 
for the situation in your community. From this 
outline many of the features of the credit union will 
appeal to the practical mind of farmers. The union 
would have the ability to borrow money on the com¬ 
bined credit of its members cheaper than any one 
or two of them would borrow on his individual 
credit. Another feature is that whatever funds the 
members may have from time to time may be used 
productively. They will be learning business and 
thrift, and the advantage of organized effort. 
1257 
SUBSCRIBERS’ EXCHANGE CO-OPERATION. 
The idea suggested in the Subscribers’ Exchange 
is more important than may at first seem possible. 
It is more important now than ever before, because 
the needs of the farm home are constantly increas¬ 
ing, because the cost of living is increasing, and be¬ 
cause the convenience of parcel post and other means 
of communication and delivery has made trade be¬ 
tween the producer and consumer easier to transact. 
In the ease of the readers of this paper alone, if the 
consuming class could buy their needs direct from 
the producing class the saving would be enormous, 
and the volume of the business would surprise us 
all. Where now 65 cents of the dollar is lost be¬ 
tween the two, there is an opportunity for a liberal 
saving to both in direct trade. The sale and ex¬ 
change will be greatly facilitated by the organization 
of clubs and cooperative associations, which will buy 
in bulk, and grade and ship in packages, the label 
of which will be a guarantee of quality and grade. 
Of course, when once rightly developed, this trade 
will not confine itself to the readers of any particu¬ 
lar publication. It will be developed through local 
papers, city papers, and through circulars and let¬ 
ters from one section to another. We hope to see 
the time when cooperative clubs will have ... central 
selling agency to develop trade in the goods pro¬ 
duced, and to direct trade between the clubs them¬ 
selves. 
* 
Here is a startling heading in one of the New 
York daily papers: 
SEVEN CENTS APIECE TO BE PRICE 
OF EGGS. 
High Cost and Shortage Send Dealers to 
Europe in Search of Supply. 
The article states that fancy eggs retailed at 75 
cents a dozen, that the supply is unusually short and 
that Europe is being ransacked for eggs. It is said 
that 15,000 cases of eggs in Berlin may be bought 
and sent here for the retail trade. The facts are 
that strictly fresh eggs could be bought at 44 cents 
at the time these statements were made. A few 
fancy white eggs were undoubtedly sold at 60 cents 
but this trade does not at all represent the true egg 
business. These grossly exaggerated statements are 
usually put out by the packing interests just before 
they get ready to squeeze a little more out of the 
consumer. Just now they are trying to work both 
ends of the string. They will make the consumer 
think he must pay more. Then they bring out the 
scarecrow of free trade in eggs to frighten the 
farmers. If they can make our hen men believe 
that Siberian or Egyptian hens are to supply New 
York or Philadelphia they think they can get the 
American product at a lower price. The plan evi¬ 
dently is to try to buy eggs now for “future” de¬ 
livery as grain is handled and by scaring the farm¬ 
ers by this talk of “big world crop” make these fu¬ 
ture prices low. The same scheme is being attempted 
by dealers in potatoes and cabbage. By talking 
“free trade” they hope to frighten the producers 
and thus beat down the prices. There are no im¬ 
ports in sight to justify these lower prices, and the 
consumers will pay as much as, or more, than ever 
before. 
Government Crop Report. 
The total corn yield is plaeed at 2.463,017,000 bushels, 
a gain of S9,000,000 bushels over expectations at be¬ 
ginning of harvest. The farm reserve of corn is 137, 
972,000, or 64,764,000 bushels more than last year. The 
estimated harvests of other crops with comparison fol¬ 
lows : 
WINTER WHEAT— 
Bushels . 
Fstimated 
Nov.. 1313. 
.. 510,519,000 
Harvest 
1912. 
399,919.000 
Acreage . 
.. 30.939.000 
20.571.000 
SPRING WHEAT— 
Bushels . 
. . 
.. 242,714,000 
330.34S.000 
Acreage . 
, , 
. . IS. 033.000 
19.243.000 
TOTAL WHEAT— 
Bushels . 
. , 
■ • • 
.. 753.233.000 
730.267,000 
Acreage . 
, , 
• • • 
.. 49,601,000 
45.S14.000 
CORN— 
Bushels . 
, , 
..2,403.017.000 
3,124.746,000 
Acreage . 
.. 100.SS4.000 
107.083.000 
OATS— 
Bushels . 
. . 
..1.122,139.000 
1,418.337.000 
Acreage . 
, , 
• . . 
. . 38.341.000 
37.917.000 
BARLEY— 
Bushels . 
. , 
• • • 
.. 173.301.000 
223.S24.W0 
Acreage . 
. . 
.. 7,255,000 
7.530.000 
RYE— 
Bushels . 
.. 34.7S9.000 
35,004.000 
Acreage . 
2.443.000 
2.117.000 
BUCKWHEAT— 
Bushels . 
. . 
.. 14,455.000 
19,249.000 
Acreage . 
. , 
• • . 
S41.000 
841.000 
POTATOES— 
Bushels . 
• . . 
.. 328,550.000 
420.047,000 
Acreage . 
• • • 
3,085.000 
3.711.000 
TOBACCO— 
Pounds . 
• . 
• • • 
.. 903.S75.000 
002.S55.000 
Acrenge . 
, . 
1.144.500 
1.225.S00 
FLAXSEED— 
Bushels . 
. . 
.. 19.234,000 
28.073.000 
Acreage . 
. , 
• • • 
2,425,000 
2.S51.000 
RICE— 
Bushels . 
, , 
.. 25.000,000 
25.054.000 
Acreage . 
• . 
824,000 
722.800 
HAY— 
Tons . 
. . 
• . ■ 
.. 63.400,000 
72.691.000 
Acreage . 
•• 
... 
.. 48.293,000 
49,530,000 
\ 
