525 
Now for the Towner-Smith Milk Bill 
The most important measure before the New York 
Legislature at the present time is the Towner-Smith 
milk bill. This bill provides for a fund to enable 
the Department of Foods and Markets to establish 
a milk market and pasteurizing plant in the City 
of New York. The purpose is to develop a more 
attractive system of distribution of milk between 
producers and consumers and to establish the rea¬ 
sonable cost of such a service. 
It is estimated that by careful and economic 
management milk can be delivered for the next three 
months to local stores at eight cents per quart, pas¬ 
teurized and in bottles, paying the producers the 
Dairymen’s League prices. Many stores have applietl 
for milk on this basis and have expressed a will¬ 
ingness to deliver the milk to the families at a 
profit of one cent a quart This would mean eight 
cent milk of the same grade and quality that the 
consumer is now receiving, for at least three months 
if the plant were already in operation. The dealers 
are now charging 11c per quart for this milk. When 
the price materially advanced to the producer, the 
cost to the consumer would, of course, advance ac¬ 
cordingly, but according to the best e.stimate that 
can be made the price would not exceed an average 
of Oc a quart for the year around. This would be 
a saving of two cents per quart, and if the whole 
supply of milk of New York City were delivered on 
this basis, the saving to the people would be close to 
$50,000,000 a year. 
Under the plan proposed for this demonstration 
the State, while furnishing the money, would ul¬ 
timately lose nothing. The bill provides that the 
operation of the plant would pay all expenses and 
interest and amortize the appropriation so as to 
pay it all back with interest within a specified time. 
In any event the experience would be worth all it 
costs. If unsuccessful the expense would be trifling. 
It could only be the difference between the cost of 
the plant and what it would .sell for, and we would 
have then settled this vexed question. There would 
no longer be any ground for argument. We would 
have demonstrated that milk is being distributed as 
cheap as it can be done, and a controversy of years 
would oe quieted. 
On the other hand, if the demonstration were 
successful, the attempt would be justified, and there 
could be no excuse for continuing a system that is 
extravagant and wasteful. But producers and con- 
.sumers would be benefited by a reduction in the co.st 
of distribution and they would insist on the new 
•system being made general. If acting in good faith 
the distributors of milk should be the first to en¬ 
dorse a demonstration of this kind. If successful 
they could pattern after it and improve their .sys¬ 
tem of distribution. If un.successful it would re¬ 
move them from further criticism for years to come. 
-\t this writing the bill is yet in the Finance Com¬ 
mittee of the Senate, the chairman of which is Hon. 
Henry M. Sage. The committee cannot know that 
there is any demand for this bill until they are 
told. Every dairyman in the State should let Sep- 
ator Sage know promptly that he is interested in 
the bill and wants it reported out of the committee 
and passed. Your own Senator and Assemblyman 
should have the .same information. 
This plant would not only reduce the cost of dis¬ 
tribution. It would also make producer and con¬ 
sumer independent of the milk trust. It could take 
care of surplus milk in the city, and if the dealers 
refu.se to pay a reasonable price for milk the pro¬ 
ducer could distribute a large volume through this 
plant. It has been approved by producers and con¬ 
sumers generally, and the time is now right to make 
good u.se of three postage stamp.s—one each on Sen¬ 
ator Sage, your Senator and your Assemblyman. 
As to the Wicks Bill 
Senator Elon Brown’s Turkeys 
To all appearances at this writing the obsequies 
on the Wicks bill are over, but there is an under¬ 
current of feeling that an attempt will be made at 
tlie last moment to fix up something in its place in¬ 
volving some of its objectionable features and rush 
it through without an opportunity for the people to 
protest against it. It would hardly .seem possible that 
such a procedure would be even considered, and if 
the intimations are correct farmers particularly 
should be prepared to act promptly in protest against 
any measure that undertook to revive the iniquities 
of the Wicks bill in its new form. 
The .snibsidized champions of the milk trust are 
particularly active and in.sistent in proclaiming the 
great merits of the defunct measure, and this gives 
color to the intimation that its promoters have not 
yet lost hope of reviving some of its bad features in 
a new form. 
TShe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
I’ractioally the only legitimate arguments ad¬ 
vanced by these interests for the Wicks bill apply 
with double force to the Foods and Markets Depart¬ 
ment, which they are trying to destroy. The best 
argument yet made for the Department was a story 
told incidentally in Senator Brown’s speech at the 
hearing. He said one of his farm friends some time 
ago had 75 turkeys that he tried to sell in New York. 
He wrote to 12 commission dealers, and no one of 
them would handle the turkeys. He discovered the 
reason to be that these dealers all had turkeys from 
other States in cold storage, and did not want to 
handle fresh tiirkeys to interfere with the storage 
sales. Numeroits instances of a similar condition 
could be quoted on other kinds of produce. Two 
years ago the Department made a similar statement 
in reference to the protection of the Western apple 
trade in the City of New York. The whole produce 
trade and the pre.sident of the Merchants’ Associa¬ 
tion protested to the Governor on the ground that 
the statement was a libel by the State on a reputable 
class of bu.siness men. Senator Brown’s experience 
corroborated the Department, but the Senator’s story 
was an argument for the Department as it exists 
under the present law. If he sent his turkeys to the 
Department they would be sold by experienced sales¬ 
men at the highest whole.sale price that could be 
secured for them in the market, and the Senator’s 
friends would be sure of a return under the pro¬ 
vision of the State for every cent that the turkeys 
sold for, less the legitimate expenses. Senator 
Brown probably did not know at the time that this 
was being done. He probably did not know that the 
Wicks bill, if passed, would destroy this function of 
the Department. As a matter of fact two-thirds of 
the ai'gument that one reads and hears, if properly 
anal 3 ’zed, would be a demand for the Department as 
it exists, and a protest against the Wicks bill and 
other attempts to destroy the service that it is trying 
to develop for the interests of the producers of the 
State and con.sumers of the city It is, however, all 
educational, and sooner or later the people will not 
only successfully prote.st against the destruction of 
it, but will demand a better development of it. The 
important thing now is to avoid a step backward in 
this work of econora.v. 
The Waste of Health Inspectors 
I.ast week 800 boxes of hothouse grapes were re¬ 
ceived by a commission house in New York City. 
An official inspection showed about three per cent, 
decaj’, in the run of boxes, and a few boxes so badly 
affected that thej' should be, and would be, thrown 
out altogether. Seventy-five per cent, of the grapes 
were perfectly .sound. An inspector of the City 
Board of Health came along and condemned the 
whole lot. The receiver asked for two hours’ time 
.•<0 that he could appeal to the Commissioner of 
Health. This was denied, and acid was promptly 
poured over the fruit. The shipment was worth 
$1000. The shipper has no redress. 
Becently a New York State farmer sent a prime 
dressed hog to a commission house. The inspector 
found the secretion in one .submaxillary gland clear. 
In the other it was creamy and .slightly granulated. 
The hog was slashed into slivers and condemned. 
The farmer lost eight or nine months care and feed 
of the hog, and $40 to .$45 that it would have sold 
for. Instances of this kind may be cited almost 
dailJ^ 
This is too much and too arbitrary power to 
put into any one man’s hands. Many of these in¬ 
spectors are young men without experience, draw¬ 
ing $(5 to .$100 a month. They are judge, juiy and 
executioner of these shipments. Nobody disputes 
that decaj’ed food should not go into consumption 
in any di.sgui.se to deceive an unsuspecting con.sum- 
er; but no one can be deceived or hurt by a few 
decayed grapes in a bunch, or by a soft apple in a 
barrel. The consumer will simply eat the good ones, 
and discard the others. 
At the request of receivers and producers Sena¬ 
tor George F. Thomp.son of Niagara County has 
introduced a bill to correct this abuse. It provides 
that the inspector’s may embargo the food, but 
must not destroy it. It would, when held up by 
the inspectors, be sent to a sorting room where it 
would be resorted, under the management of the 
Department of Foods and Markets, The part de- 
caj'ed would be destroyed, and the good part would 
be sold and proper returns made to the shipper. 
This would protect the shipper and the consumers 
would be benefited in two ways. First they would 
get no bad food, and second no good food would be 
wasted. Production that is now discouraged would 
be stimulated. Farmers have had many calls to 
write letters this j’ear, but this is important. You 
•should see that your .Senator and As.semblyman un¬ 
derstand this bill and vote for it. 
“Get Your Graft 
The Produce News of March 24, 1917, says under 
above caption: 
Me have concluded that graft for buying eggs is s,. 
universal that it cannot be stopped. For years wo 
have offered to expose it Whenever we had the facts 
with which to defend a suit in court. It costs us about 
$1000 to name a grafter and prove our statement. No 
one receiver or a group of them came forward with 
commendations or business to make us whole for thi- 
expenditure. To us it was of no financial value. IV.. 
were not receivers nor could we be benefited by ex¬ 
posing the practice. Graft is wrong and expensive, hu, 
as a rule the receivers .seem to like it and if it is the 
universal practice that graft must be paid, we how 
to the inevitable. 
Having reached this conclu.sion we want to insist 
that every egg buyer gets his. Let us have a square 
deal on the graft; if one gets it, all should. Appar¬ 
ently miy buyer who does not demand and get his graft 
IS a chump. A few weeks ago we exposed a grafter, 
giving hi.s name and the firm employing him. > To oiir 
horror this grave transaction has been hocus-pocused 
so that the rascal has his old job. the employer is per¬ 
fectly satisfied, so what’s the use'? We could never scr 
how the receivers could absorh the graft paid and lx 
honest with their shippers. IVe know that the genera! 
practice of graft is for the graft taker to pass eggs 
at about one-half cent more than their real value and 
m this way the seller evens up. In the end, some one 
must suffer for this graft. It is, we presume, the 
poor consumer. He is like Jones, “he pays the freight." 
Ho, ye egg grafter! Rally around the flag! Th * 
graft IS ea.sy and plentiful and any buyer who does.not 
it has only liinisolf to blame. The receivers liave 
it always on tap and stand in their doorways with op^ii 
arms to greet you. Go to it and get all you can, .j, 
AVheii we mention graft or other impolite trade 
practices the News and other trade papers say un¬ 
kind things about us. MTien the Department of 
Foods and Markets mentions trade irregularities 
they sometimes prote.st to the Governor against a 
libel, as they call it, against a high and honorable 
class of business men. Yet neither The R. N.-Y. 
nor the Department ever made so sweeping an accu¬ 
sation as this from the editorial page of the New,s. 
Why complain that the grafting employe is still on 
the job? It would hardly be prudent for an em- 
ploj’er in a glass hou.se to throw stones at hi.s em¬ 
ployes. 
Notes from Department of Foods and 
Markets 
204 Franklin St., New York City 
M.\i!cn 29, 1917. 
EGGS.—Supply moderate. Market highei-, quality 
generally good. Only the very fancy eggs <if 
large size sell at top prices. Don’t ship the incubatoi- 
Fancy State and nearby hennery whites 37c t<i 
38c. State and nearby gathered whites 35c to 37c; 
fancy State and nearby hennery browns 34c to .3.5c: 
State and nearby hennery brown and mixed gathered 
33c to 34c. 
X f JL. .X. LV,” 
aim iiij 4 ner. r ancy west- 
m-n creamery 43^c; prime to fancy .38c to 42iAc; best 
^stern dairy, in tubs, .37c to 38i/^e; in prints 38c to 
4Jc; in mixed packages 32c to 36%c. 
CHHESE.—Market uirsettled and lower. New York 
State large white and colored 25i/^c; State part .skims 
-'Oc to 22c; low grade skims 15c to 19e. 
LIVE POUI/TRY.—Expre.ss receipts light, moderate 
demand. Fowls 24i^c to 2.5c; roosters IGc; ducks 2.3c: 
Keese 16c to 18e; live pigeons .30o per pair; turkey.s 
DRESSED POULTRY.—Fowls 24c to 2.5e; roast¬ 
ing chickens 25c to 28c; broilers 25c to 30c; Long 
Island ducklings 27c to 2.Sc; geese 18c to 20c; turkevs 
30c to 33c. 
LIVE CALVES.—Market firm. Fancy li)l4 to lo%c 
good to prime 14c to 1.5c; common 12i/>c to 14140; but¬ 
termilks 7c to 8c; yearlings 7e to 7y/a. 
DRESISED CALVES AND LAMBS.—Veal lowe 
but firm. Lambs weak. Fancy white meated calves 21 
to 22c; good to prime 19c to 2014c; common 16c t. 
to 1-0; hothouse lambs .$9.5(! 
to $10.50 each. 
Couii 
.$15.50 to $15.75 per cwt.; old ewes 714c to 9c. 
try-dressed pork in good demand—1.8c*” to 2ic, 
APPLES.—Receipts increasing. Prices a little low¬ 
er, Fancy Baldwins .$5 to .$5.50 per barrel; fanev 
Greenings ,$6.50; Baldwins “.4” grade, $4 to ,$5; “B ‘ 
and ungraded .$3.50 to .$4; fancy New York Stai 
Greenings $5 to .$6.50; “A” grade .$4 to .$6; “B’’ an’ 
ungraded $3 to $4; Northern Spy .$4 to $7; McIntosh 
$o to .$6; Ben Davis .$.3.75 to $4.50; King .$3.50 to .$6: 
Newtown Pippin .$5 to $6. 
.«P9T'^T0ES AND VEGETABLES.—State potatoes 
165-lb bag. Bermuda potatoes .$7.50 x > 
.$11 per barrel. Maine $6.75 to $7 per 165-lb. bag, 
barrel, $7 to $8. Onions—Red and 
yellow $6 to $8 per 100-lb. bag. Cabbag^New York 
State, ton, $125 to $150.. Ivong Island, per barrel, .$*; 
to .$<. Florida, per basket, $2.75 to ,$3.25. Carrot.?— 
State, per 100 lbs., $2 to .$2.75. 
NOTICE TO SHIPPERS 
The U, S. Department of Agriculture has issued the 
foll^ing notice to shippers of fruits and vegetables: 
‘The oflmials in charge of the enforcement of th.- 
1 ood and Drugs Act report that inspectors have found 
several interstate shipments of packages of fruits and 
vegetables, such as grape.?, tomatoes and berries, which 
contain no statement on the packages as to the quai- 
tity of contents. The net weight amendment to tl ■ 
federal Pood and Drugs Act requires that all pack¬ 
ages of foods which are shipped into interstate or for¬ 
eign commerce must be marked plainly and conspicu¬ 
ously with a statement of the quantity of the net con¬ 
tents, either by weight or measure. Shippers who vio¬ 
late the law by failing to mark the quantity of the 
contents of each package of fruits and vegetables thev 
ship into interstate commerce are liable to criminal 
prosecution. Several shippers have already been cited 
to hearings under the Food and Drugs Act for vio¬ 
lating its provisions in this resDect. 
