1914. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
r.on 
N. Y. STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
T HIS year the New York State Agricultural So¬ 
ciety promises to outstrip in attendance all pre¬ 
vious annual conventions. It will be the seventy- 
fifth annual meeting of the society. The program 
is varied and interesting. It contains names of speak¬ 
ers not before heard in the farm conventions of the 
State, and the subjects to be discussed are of timely 
interest and pressing importance. 
Two new features are introduced this year. One of 
them may be said to be actually introduced last year 
when Mrs. Julian lleath was elected First Vice-Presi¬ 
dent. Women’s attendance was then assured as a 
feature of the meeting for the future. The House¬ 
wives’ League members will be out in force. Mrs. 
Heath is President of the National League, and she is 
preparing for the entertainment of the members at 
Albany. 
The other feature is the banquet on Tuesday even¬ 
ing. This will be a popular dollar-a-plate feast. Fann¬ 
ers and their wives should make it a point to attend 
this convention. Accommodations may be secured 
through the committee at hotels or private houses. The 
Society is doing an aggressive work in the interest of 
the farm, and every producer in the State should be¬ 
come a member and help direct its influence and ener¬ 
gies to (he betterment of the agricultural needs of the 
State. 
LONG DISTANCE PANCAKES- 
E AKI.Y in October a friend in Columbus, Ga., 
asked for tlie address of a miller in New York 
State from whom be could purchase buckwheat 
flour, and the price of this flour. Buckwheat flour in 
his local market cost 6% cents per pound in small 
lots, and six cents by the hundredweight. The name 
of a miller in Tioga Co. was given him and he or¬ 
dered 200 pounds, paying $3 per hundred for it. Be¬ 
ing interested in the outcome of this long distance 
direct purchase, we asked this friend to tell us the 
details of the experience. The flour was shipped 
October 16, and reached him on the 27th. this being 
considered a short time in transit. Tlie flour was 
packed in paper hags euclosed in cotton grain sacks, 
and sent by water from New York City. It arrived 
in first-class condition, though the paper hags inside 
the cotton ones were torn. The freight was 61 cents 
per hundred. He says that they are eating buck¬ 
wheat cakes twice a day, and that the more they 
eat the more they want, so the quality was evidently 
satisfactory. To Northern farmers who are accus¬ 
tomed to thinking of buckwheat flour as strictly a 
cold weather diet it sounds somewhat strange to 
read of digging sweet potatoes iu Georgia with buck¬ 
wheat pancakes as the motive power, but the taste, 
once acquired, is probably never lost. This inci¬ 
dent shows what a vast distribution of local pro¬ 
ducts could be made throughout the country if coun¬ 
try people could only learn how to get together. We 
once bought maple syrup in Vermont and buckwheat 
in New York, and sent them to a reader on the island 
of Java. 
CONDITIONS IN THE COTTON STATES. 
T TIT-IRE can he no doubt that the Gulf or cotton- 
growing States, are having financial ^rouble. 
The great war has interfered with the cotton 
trade, and cotton is the foundation and the main¬ 
spring of Southern business. Money, business, so¬ 
ciety, all grow on the cotton plant. Yet the present 
trouble will eventually help the South. Take this 
note from Alabama : 
One good thing about our hard times, which will bo 
the making over of our farming, is that a farmer can 
now get money advanced to raise hogs or cattle, wheat, 
corn, or any crop, which is a new thing. I was talking 
to a cotton factor a day or so ago, asking if he would 
advance money on wheat, rice. etc., and he said be would 
be glad to. or on cattle, and would rather do so to any 
of bis reputable customers than to give them coin on 
cotton. M. a. p. 
For many years the statesmen and wise thinkers 
of the South have seen the evil results of the farm 
slavery to cotton, hut habit and old prejudice have 
been too much for them. Now if the money-lenders 
take a hand and will loan on corn, wheat, cattle or 
dairying, we shall soon witness changes which half 
a century of old custom con'd not change. The 
seed stores and implement dealers throughout the 
South report a great demand fur grain and grass 
seeds, and improved tillage tools. 
Boston Retail Farmers and Consumers Market. 
F OR several years past an agitation has been going 
on, with much talk but little action, in regard to 
establishing branch markets or market stands in 
different sections of the city, so that tlie people 
could go to these places and buy green produce, and 
also milk, butter, dressed poultry and whatever the 
farmers might bring on. Former Mayor Fitzgerald 
tried to establish milk depots a few years ago but it 
was decided this was not practical after studying the 
subject in all its phases. It remained for the present 
city bead, Mayor James Curley, to push this market 
question to a head and establish a trial market late 
this season in the thickly settled south end district 
where it is handy to get to by thousands of the poorer 
classes to whom the chance to buy farm produce direct 
from the grower in retail quantities at wholesale prices 
is a great boon. It was decided to allow no middleman 
to get a bold here and control prices in any way. This 
is a market strictly for the people to buy direct from 
the farmer wagon in any quantity desired, but all sales 
must be by weight or numeral count. 
Great credit is given and no doubt deserved by the 
Mayor for the success of this project in the short time 
it has been running, from September to present time. 
No charge is made for stands or rather for space for 
farmer wagons to stand on. The present location will 
hold about 30 of these comfortably, but 47 wore crowd" 
ed in on the big day of the season one Saturday when 
many thousand people took advantage of the chance 
and improved it by buying heavily on this date and 
also at several others as well. A quantity eqnal to 
3,000 bushels has been disposed of in the best days 
this season. Saturdays are the best days, weather 
permitting, for both sellers and buyers. This market 
is not opened on stormy or bad days, as this market is 
conducted on vacant land leased to the city and no 
shelter is provided. This is one bad feature, as buyer 
and sellers may not always be sure whether there will 
be any market or not on the days they may plan to go 
there, and this will have to be worked out later by 
establishing signal stations in different sections of the 
city and near-by country, which could be reached by 
phone and word sent to each as to whether the market 
would be open this day or not. This plan or some¬ 
thing like it might solve to a large extent this trouble, 
and next year will no doubt bring some system with it 
which will improve or solve some of the present diffi¬ 
culties. The greatest difficulty at the start was to get 
the farmers to take heir goods to this market, as many 
people held the opinion that the consumers would not 
turn out in sufficient numbers to make it successful. 
The people came, however, on the first opening day, 
and as only one or two farmers had had the courage 
to appear with goods to sell, the enemies of this market 
project set up the cry “The new market is a failure.” 
but this class cried out too quickly. The farmers woke 
up and brought in sufficient stuff to supply the buyers, 
and the buyers kept coming and bought the stuff. Suc¬ 
cess was assured, and Supt. of Markets Graham and 
Doputy-Supt. Quinn, on whom the work of bringing 
about the result bad fallen, felt well pleased and repaid 
for their hard work in personally canvassing and in¬ 
ducing the farmers to go there and make the trial. 
In regard to prices received by the farmers, these 
have not been large perhaps, but neither has the pro¬ 
duce been as the rule of the fancy class, as the trade 
did not require this, and ns a rule could not afford 
to pay for this class of stuff, but they did buy and pay 
fair prices for quality of goods. Most of the sellers 
are satisfied they have done fairly well, and the buying 
public are sure they have, and this feeling of “I am sat¬ 
isfied’’ on both sides means a successful continuance of 
this market next season and probably in future sea¬ 
sons. The city officials are so pleased they intend to 
enlarge this project and establish in other sections 
where population requires or would support them other 
branch markets of a like nature. 
Some classes of people in Boston are not pleased 
at the success of this season’s trial, and have planned 
on several occasions to break up the market with 
hoodlum gangs, but warnings have been received in time 
to have police enough on hand to prevent this, and 
while it is thought this will not be tried again, yet 
watch will be kept, and any attempt will likely cause 
trouble for those who try it. 
All kinds of vegetables, cheap or common grades of 
apples, dressed poultry and eggs, have been disposed 
of there on most days to good advantage. Apples sold 
at 10 to 20 cents per peck, largely at 10 to 15; this 
seems perhaps, to many, a very small price, but these 
were windfall fruit of just fair quality and consider¬ 
ing that about 30 cents per bushel was all these would 
bring at the regular market when they could be sold at 
all and farmers bad to give away or carry home part of 
their load several times, this price is not so bad after 
all. We sold onions at the new market at $1-$1.25 per 
bushel by selling in small lots of a few pounds each; 
these would only bring 50 to 75 cents in regular mar¬ 
ket. We sold carrots on about the same proportion. 
We sold poultry, largely dressed chickens, at about the 
retail price of these in the different retail markets. 
The little extra trouble we had in handling or selling 
in small lots instead of bushels was more than bal¬ 
anced by the extra receipts or prices we received, or 
about 100 cents on the dollar against the much-quoted 
35, which is all many producers receive. A. E. l\ 
New York State News. 
A UTO FINES BELONG TO STATE—The At¬ 
torney-General is investigating the practice com¬ 
mon with some justices of the peace, of turning 
over to the village, town or city treasury the 
moneys representing fines for speeding and other vio¬ 
lations of the highway law. The law is explicit on 
this point and there would seem to be no good reason 
for diverting the moneys received for fines from the 
State treasury. If it is found that violators of the 
law persist in continuance of the practice, proceedings 
will be instituted to compel compliance with the law. 
POMONA GRANGE MEETINGS.—The annual 
meetings of the county or Pomona Granges are being 
held tiiis month. The order seems to be in a most 
flourishing condition in all sections of the State ac¬ 
cording to reports from these Granges. The banner 
Grange county of the State is now Chautauqua with 
8030 members, closely followed by Jefferson wtih SOOT. 
Last year Jefferson was in the lead. It takes a half 
dozen Western States to equal in Grange membership 
either one of these counties. Fredonia Grange No. 1. 
alone, has 661 members. These county Granges are co¬ 
operating everywhere with the Farm Bureaus in more 
businesslike methods in farming and making the soil 
yield better returns. 
FORESTRY LECTURES.—The Granges and high 
schools in and near Ellicottville and also at Gowanda 
are cooperating in arranging for a series of lectures on 
forestry which are to be given by representatives of 
the college of foresrt.v at Syracuse. In addition to 
State work local questions, wood lot management, fire 
protection, etc., will be discussed by the speakers. 
Prof. W. A. McDonald will bp the speaker at most 
of the meetings. 
APPLE HOLDINGS HEAVY.—Large growers and 
small seem to have faith in future, as regards the ap¬ 
ple market. At any rate there is a big stock of apples 
in storage not only in this State but in all sections 
where apples are grown to any great extent. It is 
said that the holdings in this State are equivalent to 
over 2.500,000 barrels which is nearly 900,000 barrels 
more than last year at the same time. In New Eng¬ 
land the quantity does not vary much from last sea¬ 
son’s holdings. In a general way it may be said that 
there are 3,000,000 barrels more in storage all over 
the country now than a year ago. 
ONTARIO FRUIT GROWERS.—The ninth annual 
meeting of the Ontario County Fruit. Growers’ Associa¬ 
tion was held at Canandaigua on tlie ITrh inst. Pa¬ 
pers were read by Prof. P. J. Parrott of the Geneva 
Experiment Station, A. C. King of Trumansburg. Paul 
Work of the College of Agriculture and Samuel Fraser 
of Geni'seo. W. P. Buell of Holcomb was elected presi¬ 
dent, C. C. McKay of Geneva vice-president. Walter 
Robson of Hall secretary and W. C. Norton of Victor 
treasurer. 
FISH AND GAME OFFICIALS.—At the final ses¬ 
sion .of the State Fish, Game and Forest League c<- - 
vention at 1 T tica. Geo. A. Lawyer of Watertown was 
re-elected president. Louis C. Andrews of Elmira sec¬ 
retary and Emerson Stowell of Oswego treasurer. Au¬ 
burn gets the 1915 convention. 
ONONDAGA GRANGERS.—A feature of the recent 
annual meeting of the Onondaga County Grange were 
the reports from 84 crop observers iu the county. This 
county has a crop report system of its own which is 
very helpful to the farmers. A movement was insti¬ 
tuted at this meeting to bring both the State and the 
National Grange meetings to Syracuse in 1916. Tie* 
National Grange meeting for that year will be the oc¬ 
casioni of the observance of the semi-centennial of tie* 
organization of the order, and being centrally located 
as to the East a host of members of the order would 
attend the ceremonies. Another plan will be submitted 
to the next annual session of the National Grange for 
the semi-centennial celebration. 
. LARGE SHIPMENTS FROM SODUS.—When 
Sodus, Wayne County, growers shipped more than 300 
cars of fruit and other farm produce during November 
;t broke all records for a single month. There were 
182 carloads of apples; 56 cars evaporated: 12 cars 
lettuce; six cars grapes; 19 cars onions: 17 cars 
canned fruits; 12 ears celery and so on. There were 
still 500 ears in storage on Dee. 1 divided as follows:. 
130 cars celery; 300 cars apples; 40 cars onions an 1 
30 cars canned fruit. The price of onions is still 
creeping upward and one authority says the holders ar ■ 
expecting a dollar, net. Some of the local buyers took 
hold of the market early at 25 cents per bushel and are 
reaping a harvest. One firm is reported to have mad 
810,000 on their purchases from one grower. Growers 
of the better apples are holding for better prices and 
practically all the inferior fruit is off the growers’ 
hands. j. w. D. 
State Dairymen At Rochester. 
T HE elimination of exhibition features from New 
York State Dairymen’s Convention, and absence 
of live stock as result of foot-and-mouth disease 
situation limited the appeal of the meeting of 
New York dairymen and breeders held at Rochester, 
December 15 to 17th. The attendance was smaller 
than usual yet very select, and the program was com¬ 
mendable and interesting. A show of hands at one 
session evidenced, that about half present were actual 
milkers, and others were interested in activities of which 
the dairy cow is the center. The dairymen found the 
latch string at Rochester hanging out, and a royal wel¬ 
come was extended, and a sincere invitation for the 
dairymen and breeders to return was expressed by both 
Mayor Egerton and Secretary Woodward of the Cham¬ 
ber of Commerce. 
President II. C. Elwood of the State Dairymen’s As¬ 
sociation explained the absence of features from the 
meeting. He said in part: “We have been obliged to 
call off the cattle exhibit and cattle sale. What to do 
was the next question ; we had solicited far and wide, 
the different sunply houses to come here and take 
space and help fill up the large buildings, but we could 
not feel that it would he wise to continue to ask those 
men to make a dead exhibit.” 
Commissioner Calvin J. ITuson, President of the 
State Breeders’ Association, said concerning the meet¬ 
ing of the dairymen and live stock men of the State 
meeting together for first time in the history of the 
State, “There never was a t*ime when there were great¬ 
er questions to be considered, or greater issues to be 
determined. We have several important questions to 
come before the Legislature, and it is important that 
the producers of milk should have a voice in determin¬ 
ing policies.” A full report will follow. 
Government Crop Report. 
Tlie final estimates of the Department of Agriculture 
are: 
Acreage 
Farm Yal. 
Yield bn. bu. 
Corn . 
. m3.435.000 
2.762,804.000 
.63 
Wheat . 
. 53,541.000 
891.017.000 
.986 
< hits . 
. 38.447.000 
1.141.000.000 
.43S 
Barley . 
7.565.000 
194.953.000 
.543 
Rve . 
2.511.000 
42.779.000 
.SG5 
Buckwheat . . 
792.000 
10.881.000 
.764 
Flaxseed .... 
1.885.000 
15.559.000 
1.26 
Rice . 
693.000 
23,649.000 
.924 
Potatoes . 
3.708.000 
405.921.000 
.489 
Sweet Potatoes 
:. 603.000 
•56.574,000 
.73 
Cotton . 
. 36.722.000 
lbs. 
7,983.000.000 
lb. 
.068 
Tobacco ..... 
1.223.000 
1.034.679 
.09S 
Hay . 
. 49.145.000 
tons 
140,142.000 
ton 
11.12 
The yield of 
all crops except flaxseed and rice 
is in 
excess of last 
year. In farm 
value December 1, 
corn 
was 5.4 cents 
lower than last 
year; wheat, 18.7 
cents 
higher; oats 4.6 higher; barley. .6 cent higher; rye, 
23.1 higher; buckwheat, .9 cent higher: flaxseed 6 cents 
higher; rice, 6-6 higher: potatoes. 19.8 cents lower; 
sweet potatoes. .4 cent higher; hay. $1.31 per ton low¬ 
er; cotton, 5.4 cents per lb. lower; tobacco, 3 cents 
lower. 
The final estimate for wheat is about 900.000 bush¬ 
els under the earlier figures, and corn 30,000,000 bush¬ 
els under. The rye crop is only 1,398.000 busbies un¬ 
der last year, yet such a large part of the supply is at 
seaboard points awaiting export that the proportion 
available at interior points is unusually small, causing 
an abnormal rise iu price. 
