1913. 
1SC5 
Butter from Siberia and Australia has reached 
New York in commercial quantities recently, about 
300 tons during the first half of November. The 
Siberian butter was made last Summer, and had 
been stored in English and Danish warehouses. The 
packages were tubs holding 125 pounds. The Aus¬ 
tralian butter was in 56-pound boxes. The quality 
of all receipts was mainly below medium, costing 
from 22 to 25 cents delivered, and going to bakery 
trade. Prices of these goods on the other side range 
from 19 to 21 cents. The new tariff law admits but¬ 
ter under a duty of 2 y 2 cents per pound. The former 
tariff was six cents. It seems to be true that in Den¬ 
mark and other European dairy countries many 
dairymen use “oleo” and sell their butter. It is not 
likely yet that very much high-class butter will be 
imported. The lower grades will come for the pres¬ 
ent, but will not greatly change the price of good 
table butter- 
* 
We print the article on page 1295 for a double 
purpose. It is as clear a statement of the financial 
needs of a young farmer on a mortgaged farm as 
we have read. There is no bitterness here, but a 
fair and calm story which carried conviction from 
its very simplicity. This man needs capital. We 
assume that he knows how to do farm work prop¬ 
erly. If not he is intelligent enough to learn what 
college, station and institute can tell him. "What 
good will this do him? The more he studies the 
more he feels the need of money to carry on what 
he is told is improved farming. We do not under¬ 
stand that the other farmers in his neighborhood 
would unite to form a cooperative society. Where 
can he obtain capital? 
* 
About 36,000 dozen eggs from Europe have arrived 
in this country recently. Part of them were storage 
stock, which turned out poor. The best of the im¬ 
ports consisted of 20,000 dozen fresh-gathered from 
Austria and Russia. These were packed in cases of 
120 dozen each in layers of shavings. They came in 
good condition so far as breakage was concerned, 
but there was a considerable proportion of shrunken 
and musty eggs. The best of the imports have sold 
as high as 35 cents, and the lower grades down to 
26. The initial cost runs from 20 to 27 cents, and 
ocean freights from 30 to 45 cents per 100 pounds, 
depending on location and demand for shipboard 
space. Other shipments are expected in the next 
few weeks, part fresh stock and part limed or stor¬ 
age. It is scarcely possible to judge at present as to 
how extensive this European egg trade may become, 
but the quality of the eggs must average better than 
those received thus far in order to influence the 
market on grades above medium. 
* 
I understand that the Irish Secretary of Agricul¬ 
ture has been sent to this country to try to get our 
government to lift the embargo on Irish potatoes. I 
do not think that our government ought to lift this em¬ 
bargo, and hope they won’t It seems to me we have 
enough plant diseases now without taking further 
chances. L. 
This statement should make many of our read¬ 
ers thoughtful. Some of them can easily remem¬ 
ber the days of famine in Ireland caused by a 
failure of the potato crop. The world gladly re¬ 
sponded, and America sent bread and potatoes and 
meat back to feed the hungry. Now' events have 
w'hirled about so rapidly that Ireland is seeking 
a market for potatoes in this country in order to 
dispose of her surplus! In “The Life of Charlotte 
Bronte” one may read what happened to the Irish 
potato crop when the blight came. There wms noth¬ 
ing to do but let it go. Now the spray pump drives 
it out of the field, and Ireland may help feed Amer¬ 
ica ! Bear in mind that these great changes in 
Irish farming came with rural credit As for lifting 
the embargo on potatoes where the new disease is 
found—never. It would be a most foolish thing to 
do. We favor extending it to Belgium, w'here dis¬ 
eased potatoes are likely to be imported and then 
sent here. 
* 
We do not see large hope for the great middle 
class of people in much of the education at the great 
endowed colleges. Many of them are maintained 
and kept growing by gifts from very wealthy men— 
most of whom gained their money through some 
special privilege or public gift. Colleges thus main¬ 
tained may think they are free and that the source 
of the money which supports them is never con¬ 
sidered. Look them over, however; attend their 
lectures and get the true point of view of their 
graduates, and you will find that these institutions 
are chained in thought to their endowments. The 
chain may be a long one, and rarely if ever tight¬ 
ened, yet it is there, and the faculty and the stu¬ 
dents know it. Could any of these colleges accept 
money made by some great and grinding monopoly, 
and then consistently teach its students that the 
THE R.U RAL NEW-YORKER 
monopoly itself was unjust and should be destroyed? 
Has anyone of late years found any of these great 
endowed colleges publicly denouncing any of the in¬ 
dustrial “holdups” by which they have indirectly 
profited? They may answer that it is not their 
business to do this, yet they are supposed to train 
the thought of the next generation, and a great share 
of that training comes from the “spirit” of the in¬ 
stitution. Looking at it fairly, we think these en¬ 
dowed colleges are most likely to turn out a class 
of thinkers best fitted to defend large property 
rights or privilege. The great mass of our conn 
mon people must look more and more to the State 
universities and agricultural colleges for their edu¬ 
cation, which will really serve them best. That is 
because they can, if they will, control these State 
institutions, while the endowed colleges are out of 
their reach. That is why we have for years in¬ 
sisted that our agricultural colleges should be dom¬ 
inated by farmers —a majority of them actually mak¬ 
ing a living on the farm! As it is now, such a 
farmer on a college board is a rare bird. To begin 
at the northeast corner of the country, take Maine. 
This is an agricultural State—as much so as Kan¬ 
sas. Yet we understand that among all the mem¬ 
bers of the Board of Control of both college and 
station there is only one man who actually makes 
his living on a farm. If this is wrong, correct us 
before we take up other States. If it be also wrong 
to say that these colleges should be controlled by 
working farmers—set us right. Here is the greatest 
educational problem in America, for these State in¬ 
stitutions are to be our last resort in higher edu¬ 
cation. 
* 
When the poets get after a thing we either feel 
sorry for it or know that it is sure to reach the 
height of all ambition. Most of us have failed to 
see much poetry in parcel post, but the New York 
Call prints the following: 
A turkey bird a farmer raised, 
’Twas tender, sweet and fat; 
A fowl collector came along, 
Said he: “I’ll purchase that.” 
He carted off the turkey bird 
And put it in a crate, 
And shipped it by express which charged 
A most excessive rate. 
Twas a commission mexehant who 
Received it at his store; 
The retail butcher got it next 
Along with many more. 
Then came the poor consumer man 
And took the fowl away, 
But he put up an awful kick 
At what he had to pay. 
For he was soaked the farmer’s price 
And the collector’s due. 
Express charge and commission fee 
And butcher’s profit, toe. 
He could have written to the farm: 
“Send me a bird to roast,” 
And saved three-quarters of the price 
By way of parcel post. 
It is too bad to turn poetry into sad prose, but this 
consumer has his head too high in the clouds. He 
expects to save three-quarters of the price. This 
means giving the farmer a 25-cent dollar and pay 
postage out of that This is worse than 35 cents. 
We find consumers who seem to think the farmer 
ought to cut the middleman’s price in two and then 
pay all charges. On the other hand, some farmers 
think they should have the highest retail price and 
then a little more. Both are wrong in this. They 
must learn to meet each other fairly, and both be 
ready to give something. If a farmer now receiving 
a 35-cent dollar can obtain 70 cents, or even 60, by 
direct trade he is doing a fine business. If the con¬ 
sumer can save 30 cents he ought to be too thankful 
to hang out for 50 cents. Cooperation and direct 
trade mean giving as well as taking. 
* 
A storekeeper at Pawling, N. Y., brought suit 
against a New York seed dealer to recover the value 
of a carload of seed oats. These oats were bought 
on the verbal guarantee of the agent that they were 
good seed. They were bought by farmers and failed 
to sprout. The storekeeper made good to the farm¬ 
ers and then sued the seed company for the price. 
It came out at the trial that these oats were “sul¬ 
phured,” or treated with sulphur fumes to bleach 
them. This destroyed their vitality. They were 
made unfit for seed. The jury gave damages for 
$1,S00, the price of the oats. On appeal the upper 
court threw out this verdict on the ground that the 
seedsman did not grow the oats. He bought and 
sold as a middleman, therefore he could crawl away 
from his “guarantee,” which he did. On a fresh suit 
brought on the plea that this middleman did give a 
verbal guarantee the court dismissed the case on the 
ground that a verbal promise by an agent is not an 
express guarantee. Thus the storekeeper was obliged 
to satisfy his customers, while the man higher up 
sells him dead oats and crawls out of responsibility 
on a technicality. And the “law” supports him! 
Probably most of our readers who ship goods to 
a New York commission merchant have received a 
notice, letter or bill with something like the following 
stamped upon it : 
“We reserve the right, unless directed otherwise, to 
sell goods on our own account or for direct sale at 
highest market price.” 
This is a trick to evade the commission law'. The 
merchant figures that he will not be held responsible 
under his bond unless he makes a commission sale. 
While the point has not yet been settled, the com¬ 
mission merchants apparently think they could not 
be held for a direct sale. They also figure that if 
they print this notice the courts may hold that the 
shipper must mark each consignment “for commis¬ 
sion sale”; or, if he does not do so, the commission 
merchant may be free to sell as he pleases. As all 
of us know, prices are manipulated here—the print¬ 
ed price, being considerably below actual sales. Some 
commission men pay the low “market price,” and 
hold the goods until they can make more out of it. 
They could not do this under the law' if they were 
caught at it, and thus they want to evade all re¬ 
sponsibility under their bond. The only way for a 
shipper to make sure is to mark each and every ship¬ 
ment “/or commission sale” If you do that you can 
hold the merchant under his bond if he tries to 
cheat you. If you do not use this mark it is a ques¬ 
tion yet whether you can hold him. 
• 
Through its “Subscribers’ Exchange” The R. N.-Y. 
makes its bow as a “middleman.” For some years 
now' our mails have been well filled with letters 
w’hich could not be satisfactorily answered. Half a 
dozen city families W'ant to buy butternuts or hick¬ 
ories, or country sausages or potatoes. Sometimes 
we happen to know of people w'ho have these things, 
but as a rule we cannot locate them without a long 
search. Then there are country people w'ho want to 
buy things for which others have no use, or who 
have things which they wish to sell. For years these 
requests for trade opportunity have increased, and 
we have been unable to help as w'e desired. Yet, 
among the quarter million readers of The R. N.-Y. 
there has always been some one who is vitally in¬ 
terested in any trade which another reader may wish 
to make. With a few trifling exceptions we have 
never failed to find some reader who can offer gen¬ 
uine experience in response to any sensible question. 
If we can successfully act as middlemen for the 
transfer of intelligence, why not the same for trade? 
We believe The R. N.-Y. can furnish a buj'er for any 
salable article offered as an honest bargain. Natu¬ 
rally there must be fair publicity in order to bring 
buyer and seller together, and this is provided in the 
“Subscribers’ Exchange.” Just watch this depart¬ 
ment grow as our readers realize its possibilities. 
But let our people remember that in these smaller 
offers no less than in the large ones there must be 
honest statement and fair dealing. 
World’s Crops. 
The International Institute of Agriculture reports an 
increase of 9.2 per cent of wheat. 8 per cent of oats and 
7.5 per cent of barley. The producing countries are 
Prussia. Belgium, Denmark, Spain, France, Great Bri¬ 
tain and Ireland, Hungary, Italy. Luxemburg. Nether¬ 
lands, Roumania, European Russia, Switzerland, Cana¬ 
da, I nited States, India, Japan, Asiatic Russia, Algeria 
and Tunis. The preliminary figures for European Russia 
are: Wheat S38,000.000 bushels; barley, 550,000,000 
bushels, and oats, 1,101.000.000 bushels. 
Brown’s Cotton Estimate. 
W. P. Brown, the cotton operator, gives the follow¬ 
ing crop estimate: 
States. 
Alabama .. 
No. bales. 
Arkansas .. 
Florida .. non 
Georgia . 
Louisiana . 
Oklahoma . S50.000 
Mississippi . 1.175.000 
So. Carolina . 
Tennessee, etc. 
Texas .. 3 ooh non 
Total . 
The potato figures for the principal States are given 
here: 
Yield 
Price in Cts. 
States 
per Acre. 
November 1. 
1913 
1912 
10-yr. 
1913 
1913 
1912 
New York. 
.. 74 
100 
91 
27,454.000 
77 
47 
Michigan ...., 
105 
93 
33.600.000 
55 
35 
Wisconsin ..., 
120 
95 
32,046,000 
56 
31 
Pennsylvania 
. SS 
109 
87 
23.320.000 
SO 
51 
Minnesota ..., 
135 
94 
26,730.000 
49 
26 
Nebraska .... 
so 
73 
5.664.000 
74 
49 
Illinois .. 
101 
S3 
6.256,000 
S4 
57 
Ohio . 
112 
S7 
12,462,000 
88 
53 
Iowa . 
109 
SS 
S.256,000 
82 
39 
Maine .. 
. 220 
198 
199 
26.840,000 
50 
41 
Colorado . 
95 
125 
9,315,000 
61 
50 
According to Government statisticians, food prices 
have increased 66 per cent in the past 14 years. Dur¬ 
ing the past year bacon has increased in price 18..N 
per cent. Sugar, cornmeal and wheat flour declined 
a little during the past year, but 12 other foodstuffs 
studied all show an increase. 
