1015. 
THE Tf U JK -A. L, NEW-YOKKEK 
449 
Who Gets the Pie: Who the Crust ? 
F OR years The R. N.-Y. has kept up the fight for 
the producers, evidently hoping to help them to a 
larger share in the consumer’s dollar. That suc¬ 
cess has not been more marked is readily appreciated 
when one realizes the influence of corporate against in¬ 
dividual interests. In spite of the glaring facts pub¬ 
lished, the wholesale robbery of producers, the certainty 
that present conditions tend directly not to socialism 
but to something worse, the evidence is overwhelming 
that the “gentlemanly agreement” is a more and more 
potent factor in filling the wallets of one class and mak¬ 
ing empty the pockets of another. Here is a startling 
case which has just come to my attention, not by 
hearsay but inspection of the returns made the buyer. 
How does it strike you brother farmers, in Maine or 
elsewhere? 
New York, Feb. 27th, 1015. 
MAINE. OR. 
By 517 bush, potatoes, 50 .$258.50 
DR. 
To freight paid ......$142.80 
To commission . 25.85 168.65 
Check to balance.. $89.85 
This gives the producer 17 1-3 cents per bushel for 
his potatoes which according to The R. N.-Y. of Feb¬ 
ruary were selling at retail in New York City for $1.40 
per bushel. Who gets the cake and who the crust? 
The freight charge is simply outrageous and the 
commission, 33 per cent, of the amount realized by the 
grower, a fair illustration of the evident purpose to 
grab all that one dares to. Compare this freight charge 
with that paid for freight from the West. Here is 
something for the multiplied organizations, so anxious 
(?) to help the farmer, to take up and help correct. 
For years, from the President of the United States 
down, officials, self-constituted helpers, and those whose 
aim it is to farm the farmers, have been preaching big¬ 
ger crops, and hardly one can be found not interested in 
transportation or disposal of farm products. Bigger 
crops mean lower prices for the producers and the 
pressure has already become so strong, from these self- 
styled friends, that there is evidence of an undertow of 
opposition bad for the industry. At the same time 
there is no evidence that this class is accomplishing 
anything in the way of better shipping or marketing 
facilities. The great danger is not that the farmer is 
to realize so little while the consumer pays so much, 
but that our agriculture will wane under all these de¬ 
pressing conditions. Worse still, this evident com¬ 
munity of interests operating against the farm is forc¬ 
ing a spirit seriously antagonistic to rural life, and 
unless checked may become a menace to our civiliza¬ 
tion. There is a limit beyond which burdens cannot be 
piled without danger to the structure, and in the com¬ 
bined purpose to grab the last farthing possible, seen 
in increasing rates, charges, classifications, and com¬ 
missions we are rapidly approaching the limit. They 
that sow to the wind must not complain if they reap 
to the whirlwind. dr. g. m. twitciiell. 
Maine. 
The Cost of Growing Apples. 
T HE remarks of S. II. Burton on the cost and price 
of apples, on page 289 are worthy of especial no¬ 
tice. His estimate of cost seems low, but it is a 
fact that a first-class pack cannot be grown and 
sold from cold storage for $2.50 a barrel. I have kept 
accurate figures of the cost of spraying, packing and 
selling for some years and find that it is increasing. 
We pay packers $2, men to gather, sort, etc., $1.50 per 
day. The work is done carefully, no rough handling 
being permitted on apples or trees, the latter about 18 
feet high. The cost of packing, freight, storage, etc., 
increased from 81.44 to $1.66 in five years; spraying, 
pruning, cultivating, or mowing, etc., runs about 44 
cents, making the total cost per barrel last year $2.10. 
Thus when sold for $2.50 we had 40 cents profit to 
cover interest, taxes, the owner’s service, etc., and if 
there be an off-year this is wiped out by the expenses 
of that year. As a general conclusion it may be said 
that the average grower cannot produce a barrel of No. 
1 apples and put it in the depot here for less than $1.25, 
and freight, cold storage charges, etc., will make the 
cost $2. 
As to the cause of low prices, last Fall the regular 
buyers were absent, not being able to get capital as 
usual, and the market has since suffered from the lack 
of their distributive effort. Besides this special cause 
we have to contend with this condition; the bulk of 
apples in the East is still produced by farmers as a 
side line and the product is marked by the same sloven¬ 
ly' method as their other crops. For instance a farmer 
will often gather only 30 bushels of corn from an acre 
that should bring 40, and of that perhaps 20 bushels 
are real corn, fit for feed. So with apples, using cheap 
labor with rough and careless methods from tree to 
depot, or delivering from home storage, they can afford 
to sell for less than the careful professional grower. 
Virginia. ,r. l. wood. 
Co-operative Work in Nova Scotia. 
O UR central report of how early apples had been 
handled was interesting. Till the 10th of Feb¬ 
ruary the joint companies had shipped through 
central under one brand for the No. 1’s and No. 
2’s 302,855 barrels and estimate to have yet on hand 
150,000 barrels. Of potatoes they handled 02,763 bar¬ 
rels (Nova Scotian barrels hold about 150 pounds net 
<>f potatoes) and handed the growers $1.25 per barrel 
for them. Other parts of Nova Scotia, etc., report 
prices of only 70 to 80 cents a barrel. In apples the 
increase of freights was enormous, from two shillings 
and nine pence plus 5% it rose to 4 shillings plus 5%. 
t'entral in the meantime chartered four steamers and on 
hearing of this the regular line reduced the freight to 
three shillings and three pence plus 5%. A saving of 18 
cents per barrel. 
Our central also sent a man to South America to 
open up the markets for apples down there. He handled 
10,056 barrels and 8,683 boxes of apples at quite sat¬ 
isfactory net prices, and might have handled more but 
for the trouble over exchange when war broke out. Our 
agent in the Canadian West placed a total of 21.631 
barrels. Since war broke out central has handled 105 
cars of flour and feed at a cost of $94,500. Next year’s 
fertilizer was bought before war was declared, so it 
will not make much difference save that nitrate is now 
cheaper a little. So much for Nova Scotia during a 
rather tight time. joiin buciianan. 
Poultry Shipments and the Quarantine. 
S OME of our people are concerned about poultry 
shipments into various States. In some cases ex¬ 
press companies have refused to accept baby chicks 
or larger fowls for transportation on the plea that 
they are forbidden to carry them. The following let¬ 
ters show how the various State authorities stand on 
the matter: 
We have never placed any restrictions on chickens. 
Of course it is understood that they would not be per¬ 
mitted from infected premises. I dp not know of any 
shipments that originate from such premises, as the 
local authorities generally handle that part of the sit¬ 
uation. At no time have we had restrictions on chick¬ 
ens except to prohibit them from leaving infected prem¬ 
ises within this State. The express companies are 
probably at fault in this case as they are not certain 
at times as to just what the regulations are. 
A. F. NELSON, 
Indiana. State Veterinarian. 
Michigan has placed no restrictions on poultry ex¬ 
cept where they originate on farms affected with foot- 
and-mouth disease. Such shipments may come to Mich¬ 
igan without restrictions, except as above noted. 
H. IT. HALLADAY, 
Pres. State Live Stock Commission. 
I have notified all the express companies that they 
could accept shipments of poultry destined to points 
in Vermont without permit, provided that rules of 
disinfection are followed. In the case of shipments of 
day-old chicks, I have issued permits to those that have 
applied, authorizing them to make shipments of such 
chicks. F. L. DAVIS, 
Vermont Live Stock Commission. 
There are no Federal restrictions on the interstate 
shipment of poultry, excepting from premises infected 
with the foot-and-mouth disease. In the cases of most 
States, a certificate of some form is required to enter 
the poultry, and for shipment into Connecticut, we ad¬ 
vise the shipper to present the transportation company 
with a sworn affidavit, stating the birds have not come 
from nor have been on premises infected with the foot- 
and mouth disease. .teffery o. phelps, jr., 
Connecticut Commissioner. 
This Board has no restrictions against the importa¬ 
tion of poultry into this State for any purpose, unless 
of course the poultry originates on premises under quar¬ 
antine on account of foot-and-mouth disease. 
O. J. MARSHALL, 
Pennsylvania State Veterinarian. 
We have no restrictions prohibiting importation of 
live poultry. joiin j. dunn, 
Rhode Island. Secretary. 
Poultry will be allowed to enter New Hampshire 
from any State without a permit. It was never quar¬ 
antined against poultry, but through a misunderstand¬ 
ing in the quarantine order, express companies would 
not accept poultry for shipment and we have notified 
them to now accept all shipments coming into this 
State. ANDREW L. FEI.KER, 
New Hampshire. Commissioner. 
There is absolutely no restriction whatever upon 
the shipment into Delaware of live poultry of any 
kind (except from farms where the foot-and-mouth dis¬ 
ease actually exists) and of course these farms are 
quarantined by local or government authority. 
WESLEY WEBB, 
Delaware. Secretary. 
New York State News. 
ORIvMEN’S COMPENSATION AWARDS.—It 
appears from a review of the report which the 
Compensation Commission will make to the Legis¬ 
lature soon, that during the first six months of 
the Commission’s work 130,000 workmen were injured, 
but that only 22,221 claims were made for compensa¬ 
tion. One reason for this is that the law allows com¬ 
pensation only for such injuries as result in disability 
for more than 14 days; also many injuries received were 
by persons who did not come under the terms of the 
law. There were 18,930 claims allowed, and the 
amounts paid were $1,576,801, making the average 
award about $83. It costs about one-fourth as much 
to meet the expenses of the Commission as the awards 
amount to. At present the Commission is without 
money and no salaries are being paid. Last year the 
sum of $500,000 was appropriated for the Commission 
and now $425,000 is needed to carry the work on to 
October 1. 
STILL FIGHTING THE EPIDEMIC.—,T. G. 
Wills, State Veterinarian, is quoted as saying that the 
outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease had reached such 
alarming proportions that the State will need every re¬ 
source to prevent its spread. It is stated that the re¬ 
cent outbreak near Syracuse was due to a shipment of 
horses from the West, and f his fact seems to be well 
substantiated. The stock associations are cooperating 
with the State in preventing the spread of the disease. 
On March 6 it was reported that 400 cattle would have 
to be killed. The losses will be unusually heavy as there 
are so many herds of purebred, high-priced cattle in the 
territory under the ban. It has been announced that 
full and equitable prices will be paid owners of grade 
cattle, but the owners of fancy stock must not expect 
auction prices. The latest order issued by the Commis¬ 
sioner of Agriculture was to the effect that dogs and 
cats, and all domestic animals, must be restricted to 
the premises of their owners. Animals may not be 
susceptible to the germ itself, say the authorities, but 
they are carriers of the disease. People have been given 
to understand that the most drastic measures to pre¬ 
vent the further spread of the disease will be taken. 
SOME MORE BILLS.—A bill recently introduced 
in the Assembly prohibits the artificial coloring of mac¬ 
aroni, spaghetti, vermicelli or other edible alimentary 
pastes. Another measure makes it a misdemeanor for 
any person to practice veterinary medicine without 
lawful registration or for the violation of any provision 
of the public health law relating to the practice of 
veterinary surgery and medicine. The penalty is $50 
for the first offense. A third bill would increase the 
salary of the Commissioner of Agriculture from $6,000 
to $10,000, and his term of office from three to six 
years. In addition to the $0,000 the Commissioner is 
entitled to necessary expenses not to exceed $1,200. 
TOWNSHIP SCHOOLS.—The Board of Regents of 
the State at a recent meeting instructed Commissioner 
of Education Finley to have a bill prepared for .the 
( mplete reorganization of the rural school system 
throughout the State, making the township system the 
basis. A town board of seven members would admin¬ 
ister school affairs for each town. Commissioner Fin¬ 
ley also recommends the creating of a position to be 
known as the Director of Industrial and Agricultural 
Education. 
USE OF PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDINGS.—The 
Flamman bill which provides for the use of public 
school building for election purposes (this in New York 
City) passed the Assembly, March 8. by a vote of 98 
to 22. A similar bill will soon appear in the Senate. 
Another bill will be introduced to make the use of 
school buildings for such purposes State-wide. This 
action calls attention to the law passed in 1913, which 
does not seem to have been very largely called into 
operation, during the year past. It is, in brief, to the 
effect that school buildings when not in use for school 
purposes may be used for the purposes of giving and 
receiving instruction in any branch of education; for 
public library purposes; for holding non-exclusive social, 
civic and recreational meetings and entertainments for 
the welfare of the community; for meetings and enter¬ 
tainments where an admission fee is charged if the pro¬ 
ceeds are to be expended for an educational or charitable 
purpose and, finally, for “polling places for holding 
primaries and elections, and for the registration of vo¬ 
ters, and for holding political meetings. All these uses 
must be approved by a vote of the district meeting and 
under the direction of the trustees or board of educa¬ 
tion. It would seem that the object sought to be at¬ 
tained in the Flamman bill was already provided for in 
the legislation of 1913, here referred to. In the rural 
districts, particularly, it would seem to be of great im¬ 
portance to the community that they may have the 
privileges accorded in the law and it would also seem 
that they should avail themselves of the opportunity 
thus offered more than they have thus far. J. w. n. 
The Gamble in Farming. 
I N giving this little experience under the above head¬ 
ing do not understand me as taking a pessimistic 
view of conditions and results, but rather that we 
do not let our expectations get too far in advance of 
actual results. I have been much interested in reading 
about that 6,000-bushel potato crop by a “back-to-the- 
lander” in last week’s R. N.-Y. The unusual season 
conditions with us in this part of Western New York 
resulted in our having the greatest general yield of 
potatoes ever known here. The soil on Orchard Ridge 
Farm is not especially adapted to potatoes, being on the 
heavy order, the yield being usually from 100 to 150 
bushels—sometimes less. This past year my tenant 
planted 4% acres. The local Grange offered three 
prizes for the three best acres of potatoes producing the 
most pounds. The committee staked off one acre of 
these potatoes and entered it in the contest. The prizes 
were $100, $50 and $25 respectively. This acre, to my 
surprise, drew second prize, the crop weighing up nearly 
290 bushels, but when the potatoes were drawn to the 
car at 32 cents a bushel nearly 100 bushels were dis¬ 
carded as being too large. The midsummer drought 
was so severe that the apple crop never recovered from 
the setbacks, consequently the crop was mostly under¬ 
sized and unfit for barreling. Such results from season 
conditions often cause discouragement to a beginner, 
and it is well for prospective “back-to-tlie-landers” to 
know what we farmers are up against in producing 
crops. The apples and potato crop mentioned would, 
under usual conditions, have brought $800. This year 
$250 was nearer the gross returns. Some of the po¬ 
tatoes are still on hand—price now 25 cents. 
ir. E. cox. 
Government Grain Report. 
T HE estimates March 1 on farm reserves of grain 
were: Wheat, 152,903,000 bushels, compared with 
151,809,000 a year ago; corn, 910,894,000, last 
year 866,392,000; oats, 379,369,000, last year, 
419,476,000; barley, 42,889,000, last year, 41,126,000. 
Kansas leads in farm reserves of wheat, with about 
30,000,000 bushels. North Dakota farmers have half 
this quantity, and Nebraska and Minnesota, each, one- 
third. The following States come between 5,000,006 
and 8,000,000 bushels in farm holdings: Pennsylvania. 
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, South Dakota, Wash¬ 
ington. 
In corn holdings, Illinois leads with 99,000,000 bush¬ 
els; Nebraska, 71,300,000; Indiana, 58,800,000. Ohio, 
Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee run between 33,- 
000,000 and 45.000,000. Kansas has 29,200,000, and 
Texas, 28,700,000. 
Iowa stands far in the lead in oat reserves, 61,000,- 
000 bushels. Illinois has 36.500,000; Minnesota, 31,- 
500,000; Nebraska, 29,200,000; North Dakota, 27,- 
900,000; Wisconsin, 22,400,000; Michigan, 20,300,000. 
New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, South Dakota and 
Kansas run between 12,000,000 and 20,000,000. 
Average farm prices for the whole country March 
1, were: 
1915. 1914. 
Wheat . 1.336 .831 
Corn .751 .691 
Oats .521 .389 
Grain Movements. 
Receipts and exports at Atlantic and Gulf ports for 
week ending March 6 were: 
New York. 
Boston ... 
Phila. 
Baltimore.. 
N’pt News. 
N. Orleans 
Receipts. 
2,234,000 
112,000 
383,000 
264,000 
Exports. 
2,566,000 
315,000 
92,000 
32,000 
Receipts. 
510,000 
6,000 
193,000 
601,000 
Exports. 
413,000 
167.000 
386,000 
362,000 
197,000 
21,000 
1,036.000 
1,222,000 
26,000 
Galveston.. 
920,000 
793,000 
St. John... 
859,000 
859,000 
Total.... 
5,808,000 
5,879,000 
bush. 
1,336,000 
1,546,000 
()a ts, 
Flour, barrels. 
New York. 
Receipts. 
Exports. 
Receipts. 
Exports. 
418,000 
192,000 
323,000 
245,000 
Boston .... 
44,000 
30.000 
15,000 
Phila. 
507,000 
317,000 
34,000 
Baltimore.. 
N’pt News. 
N. Orleans 
453,000 
278,000 
331,000 
513,000 
33,000 
2,(MM) 
30,000 
73,000 
71,000 
St. John... 
19,000 
19,000 
42.000 
42,000 
Total.... 
1,471,000 
1.650.000 
535,000 
375,000 
