Oic RURAL NEW-YORKER 
R 
F.D. 
A Terminal Market in New York 
Cutting Out the Profitless Parasites 
FARMERS’ DISTRIBUTING POINT.—The first 
of the accompanying illnstrations is intended to 
.show the proposed new system for the distribution 
of farm food products. The producers are organ¬ 
ized in a cooperative association, and own or rent 
the assembling house at “A” on the railroad. Each 
farmer brings his produce to this place, gets a re¬ 
ceipt for the total weight and goes home. The as¬ 
sociation manager grades and weighs it and credits 
the farmer with the weight of the different grades. 
He then packs it and sells to the local retailers in 
the town enough of this fresh food for their daily 
needs. If the housewife comes, he sells her too, 
but at a price above the dealer’s price to protect 
him in a reasonable profit. This privilege to the 
housewife will be a check to unreasonable prices 
to the local dealer. 
CITY TERMINAL MARKET.—The manager 
packs all the rest and ships it in carload lots in the 
city market. If to New York city it will go to the 
State Terminal Market. Carloads of produce will 
run into this market direct from all railroads en¬ 
tering the city, and automatic machinery will carry 
produce from ships direct into the market. Goods 
may be reshipped in the same way. The market 
will have cold storage and also common storage 
facilities, and a manufacturing plant to use up all 
tender stock, and prevent waste. It is simply the 
local country assembling room adjusted to the 
needs of a large city. In the terminal market will 
be weighed, in.spected and sold all farm produce. 
Direct sale to the retailer will be encouraged. The 
agent who sells it will have a State 
license by the Commissioner of Foods 
and Markets. He will also be under 
bond. He will not be permitted to sell 
to himself, and he must not have any 
interest in any other food concern. He 
will be under supervision of the Com¬ 
missioner and his license may he re¬ 
voked for cause. An official record 
of every transaction will be kept, in¬ 
cluding the "weight, grade, inspection, 
commission, name of .shipper, name of 
buyer and price at which it was sold. 
An official price record will be pub¬ 
lished. 
COMMISSIONS.—The Commissioner 
will fix the rate of the commission to 
be charged. This may vary from time 
to time and vary also for different 
kinds of goods. Goods assembled in 
this way are easily and cheaply in¬ 
spected. The grading wall facilitate 
sales direct to retailers and increase 
the demand. The cold stoi*age and 
canning facilities will prevent all 
waste; and the saving in waste and 
in handling and .speculation Avill increase the price 
to the producer and reduce cost to the consumer. 
REDUCING COSTS.—The State agent in this 
market and the retailer are the only mediums be¬ 
tween the farmer and consumer. The daily oflicial 
price list and the supervision of the State will keep 
retail prices at a fair level. The cost at the term¬ 
inal market will be trifling. It w’ill not exceed .5%, 
and on larger volumes ought not exceed 3%. The 
delivery from producer to consumer is straight, di¬ 
rect and inexpensh’e. No more direct, speedy and 
economic system can be devised. Prices wull be 
made on the basis of supply and demand. The 
sale will be public, and by auction or private sale, 
as the case warrants. The farmer will be sure to 
get all the goods sell for and he will get it prompt¬ 
ly. Milk and other dairy products may be sold in 
this way at gi’eat saving to producer and consumer. 
At least two cents a quart can be saved on milk. 
EXPENSE OF THE OLD SYSTEM.-Under the 
old plan, the drummer for a commission dealer goes 
to the farmer and solicits shipments. It costs as 
much to keep him in the shipping centres as it does 
to sell the goods in a terminal market. In this 
old sj'stem there is no assembling room in the 
country. The goods are not graded, they are not 
properly packed, and they usually paj^ the high 
freight rates for small lot.s. There is no terminal 
market in the city. The goods go on a detour 
through a chain of dealers, wholesalers and jobbers. 
The first sale is often made by the commission deal¬ 
er to himself. Often they go through six or seven 
hands. Each one adds a burden of toll to the food 
and deteriorates its quality by time and handling. 
There is no check on the retailer and the consumer 
is obliged to pay the entire burden of all the profits 
and cartings. The present system could not be 
more expensive and wasteful. The useless expense 
of carting alone runs into millions annually. Bet¬ 
ter pi'ice to the farmer and cheaper food for the 
consumer can never come from this old system. 
So long as this chain of speculators are permitted 
to take toll from the goods, the consumer will pay 
the heavy burden. The man wdio proposes to main¬ 
tain the system and at the same time reduce the 
cost of living is either ignorant of the subject or 
is deliberately throwing dust in the eyes of the 
public. 
OUTLET FOR INCREASED PRODUCTION.— 
New Y^ork city is the greatest food market in the 
world; .$800,000,000 wmrth of food is consumed in 
it annually; and probably .$1,000,000,000 worth han¬ 
dled there for consumption and re.shipment. This 
market is the natural inheritance of New York 
State farms, yet less than five per cent, of the food 
products of New’ Y^ork city are produced on the 
farms of the State. The speculations, manipula¬ 
tions, transportation and price quotations are all 
worked as a means of discrimination against New^ 
Y"ork producers. As a result, w’e have twm million 
acres of idle land in the State. With a fair open 
market and a system of distribiition these waste 
lands W’ould he profitably cultivated, and the pro¬ 
duce of the now cultivated farms more than dou¬ 
bled wuth a total production of three to five times 
the present pi’oduction of our State farms. The 
new’ wealth in added chattels and farm equipment 
and in increa.sed value of farm lands would be an 
asset to the State, that in taxable assessments 
would repay the State many times over annually 
for any investment necessary now to develop its 
distributing system. 
OLD AND NEW SYSTEMS.—We have a choice 
F THE NEW WAY c 
15 
discouraging the raising of cows and the produc¬ 
tion of milk, has an effect that cannot be corrected 
in a few Avoeks or in a few months. When a ton 
of feed costs about as much ai? a ton of milk, even 
at present prices, there cannot be any A’ery encour¬ 
aging expectation of an increased supply. 
Milk producrs are now’ getting in position to per¬ 
fect their organization and to make their own mar¬ 
ket for milk. The producers of New England have 
already adopted the suggestion of the Department 
of Foods and IMarkets of New Y'ork to inaugurate 
a .system to .sell their own milk direct to consumers 
through the local city dealers, and take the han¬ 
dling of milk entirely out of the hands of all mid¬ 
dlemen. About 200,000 producers OAvning SOO.OOO 
cows haA’e taken up the problem of Avoi’king out 
this system. It is reported in Eastern papers as the 
biggest movement ever started by any agricultural 
association, but as a matter of fact it is a prac¬ 
tical application of the system already outlined for 
New York and partially under way. It is the sys¬ 
tem here that is inspiring the accumulation of 
boodle funds to legislate the Department of Foods 
and Markets out of existence. 
U F c 
F, farmer; A, assembling; I. M,, Terminal Market; R., retailer; C., consumer 
THE OLD WAY c ? 
FD. 
FD. 
r 
FD. 
FD. 
FD 
'■*c 
F, farmer; D., drummer; R. R. D., railroad station; T. M., terminal market; C., comnussion 
dealer; C. & C. Co., commission dealer & Co.; W., wholesaler; J., jobbers; R., retailer; C., 
consumer. 
between these tAvo systems of distribution. Men 
Avitli a reverence for vested interests Avill Avant to 
preserve the old system. Those avIio sincerely AV’ant 
to encourage the farmer to produce a full supply of 
food, and avIio Avish to reduce the cost of living in 
the city, Avill demand the neAV Avay. The fight is 
on, and the result Avill be continued special privil¬ 
ege's to a den of parasites, or commercial freedom 
betAveen producers at the farm and consumers in 
the city. The parasites are exerting their utmost 
influence on the Legislature and the Governor. 
What are you doing? 
An Advance in Milk Prices 
When the prices AA’ere made for the milk last Fall, 
the dealers maintained that if the advances Avere 
giA’en there AA’ould be such a surplus of milk that 
they Avo.uld not know Avhat to do Avith it, hut for 
the last six weeks they have found the supply 
.shorter and shorter, until noAV they are in desper¬ 
ate straits for a supply of milk. It Avas, therefore, 
arranged that the contract made for milk up to 
x\.pril 1st .should he subject to revieAV by a com¬ 
mittee later on, Avith a view of adjusting the price 
upAvard or downward as the circumstances Avar- 
ranted. The dealers have noAv recognized the short¬ 
age of milk, and have consented to a further ad¬ 
vance of 5c a hundred over the contract price for 
the months of .Tanuary', February and March, in a 
feeble attempt to stimulate further production. If 
there Avas a surplus of equal propoi-tions for the 
present shortage, they Avould not take less than 
15c or 20c of a i’eduction,_but 5c a hundred is the 
extent of their liberality in the stimulation of a 
lamentably short supply, but it is hoped that the sit¬ 
uation Avill bring home to them the fact that their 
system in the past of discouraging production and 
Notes from Department of Foods and 
Markets 
204 Franklin St., New York City 
EGGS.—The market advanced to fine per doz. on hen¬ 
nery whites ; average gathered whites .55c to 60c; hennery 
browns .5.3c to .56c; Western fresh gathered 46c to 47c; 
fancy 48c to 50c; April storage .33c to 35c; inferior 
loAver. 
BUTTER.—Fancy Western creamery firm at 42c to 
431/^c; State dairy 38c to .3nc; mixed packages ,3.3c to 35c. 
CHEESE.—Export buying has depleted holdings and 
market firm at 24%c on both large and 
small sizes of white and colored. Part 
C skims ISc to 19c; low grades 1.5c to 16c. 
LIVE POULTRY.—Market firm at 
20c to 21c on fowls; chickens 10c to 
20c; turkeys 2Sc to 30c; ducks 20c to 
22c; fat geese 18c to 20c; ordinary and 
light ducks and gee.se 2e per pound lower. 
DRESSED POULTRY.—Demand for 
Christmas and New Years was excep¬ 
tionally heavy. Turkeys, fancy, .34c to 
35c on Western; Southern .31e to 3.3c; 
fancy Maryland .3.5c to .36e; roasting 
chickens, large, 26c to 2Sc; small 23c to 
25c; ducks 24c to 2.5c: geese 22c to 23c; 
squabs, per dozen, .$3 to .$6; guinea 
fowls, young, ,$1.40 to .$1..50 a pair; old 
$1 to .$1.12 a pair. 
LIVE CALVES.—Prime veal 1.5c; 
medium to fair 1.3c to 14c; common 10c 
to 11c; buttermilks 6c to 7c. 
DRESSED CALVES.—State meat 
inspectors are enforcing the four weeks’ 
old law regardless of quality. Calves 
under that age are liable to be seized. 
Choice white meated veals 2()i/2C to 21c; 
prime lO^/oC to 20c; fair to medium 17c 
to 18c. 
DRESSED HOGS AND ROASTING 
PIGS.—Roasting pigs, 10 to 15 pounds 
each. 20c to 21c; 20 to .30 pounds each 
16c to 18c; light pigs 14^c to 15c; me¬ 
dium hogs 13i^c to 14c; heavy hogs, 
prime, 12^0 to 13c. 
DRESSED IIOTIIOT^SE LAMBS.— 
Fancy lambs weighing ,30 to 33 pounds ,$11.50 to .$12; 
fair grades, 27 to 30 pounds, $9 to $11 per carcass. 
APPLES.—I’ermont and other Ea.stern fruit about 
cleaned up and with very little coming from Virginia, 
the market is now getting its supplies from State sec¬ 
tions. Fancy Grade A Baldwins $.5.25 to .$.5..50. with 
best commercial grades $4.75 to $5; ungraded $3 to .$4; 
fancy three inch Greenings $6; smaller sizes ,$4 to 
$.5..50; Virginia York Imperials .$4..50 to .$4.75 on fancy; 
ungraded .$3 to .$4; McIntosh $6.25 to .$6.50; Spitzen- 
burg $5.50 to .$6.25; Northern Spy $5 to -$6; Kings 
.$4 to $5. 
ONIONS.—Advance in mai’ket on red and yellow 
to $4.25 per hundred pound bag; white $2 to ,$2.25 per 
bushel crate, as to quality. 
POTATOES.—Market advanced to .$4.90 to $5.15 
per 165-pound bag on Maine Cobblers; Maine Green 
Moimtains .$4.90 to $5 ; bulk stock working out at from 
$1.75 to $1.80 per bushel. Southern second crop. No. 
1, .$4.50 to $4.75 per barrel; ungraded $4 to .$4.25. 
State and Western about 5c per bushel below Maine 
stock, although clos^' 
bag and $5.40 per 
HONEY.—Fancy No. 1 comb 14c to 15c; loAver 
grades 10c to 1.3c; extracted clover 6c to ,Sc; buckwheat 
(>^c to 7e, with a little comb buckwheat reaching 11c 
to 12c per pound. 
NTTTS.—Fancy .shellbarks $.3.25 to $3.50 per bushel 
of 60 pounds; hickory nuts .$.3 to .$,3.50; bull nuts $1.50 
to $1.75; black Avalnuts $1. 
GINSENG.—Arrivals confined mostly to small lots 
which are selling slowly at $8 to $10 on wild and 
$3 to $4 on cultivated ; small lots comrnjuid slow sale. 
DRIED BEANS.— MarroAv choice 11c to 12e per lb.; 
pea lOVtC to 11c; red kidney 12c to 12%c; white kid-' 
ney 12i/4c to 12^c. 
Summary of sales of miscellaneous farm products 
during the week ending December 27th, 1916: 
EGGS. 
2 cases .$0.68 
15A^ cases .65 
9 cases .64 
414 cases ..60 
4 cases .63 
cases .62 
cases .61 
cases .5.8 
cases .57 
cases .54 
(Continued on page ''27.) 
.s^y graded reach $5 per 165-pound 
180-pounds in bulk. 
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4 
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