705 
A Third Edition of the Wicks Bill 
Fanners condemned tlie oriLcinal Wicks bill in no 
uncertain terms. They thought they killed it. They 
did. hut a mild substitute was promptly proposed iu 
its place, and some farmers and leaders of farm or¬ 
ganizations were induced either to favor it or con¬ 
sent to it. The second and emasciilated edition 
passed. Now that they have it. no one knows what 
to do with it. It does nothing, and gets nowhere. 
It was a substitute and a iiretence. The farmers 
who consented to it now see that they are worse ofl' 
than they were before. From the first its sponsors 
apologized for it. and now that they have it on their 
hands, the.v do not know what to do with it. 
The New York interests that were againsl llu' 
original AVicks hill, as well as the men who wrote it. 
are either opposing the second edition or ridiculing 
it. Governor AYhitman. who was expected to sign 
it promi^tl.v. has made it a fiO-da.v me:isure. :ind some 
of the friends of the original Wicks hill have de¬ 
clared that he has promised to veto the .second hill 
unless it he amended. 
H’he men who accei)te<l this ver.'<iou of the situation 
w('re in .some measure confirmed in their view when 
;i new emergency bill was introduced two days l)e- 
fore adjournment of the Legislature as a war meas¬ 
ure. earrying an appropriation of ifl,500.000. This 
hill had many of the features of the original AVicks 
Iiill. and then .some more. It was at first thought 
that it would slip through the Legislature lu-omptly 
under an emergenc.v message fi’om the Governor. 
The ])rotests were not and could not he ver.v numer¬ 
ous because, if for no other reason, farmers knew 
nothing about it, and had iio time for a protest. 
There was, however, prompt protest enough from 
the country to cause a hesitation ou the ])art of 
countr.v representatives, and it was defeated in the 
Senate by an overwhelming majority. This mejisure 
was introduced h.v Senate l.eader F. It. Frown and 
bore his name. 
AA'ith adjournment of the Legislature it was re- 
])o)-ted that the measure would he taken up by com¬ 
mittees, a)ul firohahly a special .session of the T,eg- 
isl.-iture would he called to pass it. Through it all 
runs the i»ersistent energy of the interests behind 
llie original Wicks hill to put over that kind of leg¬ 
islation at this time. AA’heu the dangerous principles 
of legi.slation were defeated in one form the.v sim- 
])ly reoccurred in another. It was as if a farmer 
had kicked a sneak thief out of the front door- only 
to h.Mve housebreakers and burglars climb throu.gli 
the windows and break in the hack doors. The great 
State and National concern now is to encourage the 
l>r<-)duction of food. If the purpose were to di.scour- 
age production it would he hard to find a mor(‘ effi¬ 
cient method than some of the provisions of this 
third (slitioii of the AVicks hill. 
New York Seed and Crop Conditions 
The surve.v recentl.v made by the New York State 
Food Suppl.v Gommission reveals one item of great 
concern to the dairy interests of the State. One 
year ago the number of heifer calves under oho 
.vear old which were being raised for dairy cows 
in the dairy counties, amounted to 200..302. The 
number of the same age held for the same purpose 
this year .amounts to oid.v 21(>.2.’>2. This indicates 
that next year we will have practically 75,000 less 
t\vo-.vear-old heifers coming in to milk than we have 
had in the State this year. AA’ith the usual turning 
ofl' of old cows and other losses, we will naturally 
h:iv(> fewer milk cows next .vear than we have this 
year. The falling off is undoubtedly due to the fact 
that veal is high and in good demand, and the 
temi)tation exists to turn it into ready mone.v. 
Feed is .also high and is ])rohahl,v, lo some degree, 
responsible for the results. The number of cows 
of all ages is given at 1.2S,5,fi4.‘>. These records are 
for returns in fifty countie.s. Keturns from eight 
counties have not yet been compiled. The records 
shew th.at the number of cows wanted is .‘I0,51S and 
the number for sale is 4G..‘>.‘10; IT.tiOO heifer calves 
are wanted and 15.000 are for .sale; 24,00<1 breeding 
ewes are w.anted and only S.OOO for .sale. 
N.tiOO horses are wanted and 17.000 for sale. 
47.()<K) pigs are wanted and 00.000 for s<ale. 
.‘’>40,(K)0 bu. potatoes wanted and 218.000 bu. for .sale. 
52.000 bu. field beans wanted and 65.000 bu. for sale. 
0.5,000 bu. buckwheat wanted and 54.000 bu. for sale. 
127,000 bu. corn wanted and for seed 45,000 bu. for 
.s.ale. 
At the time of taking the census 27,000 bushels of 
Spring wheat was wanted and 9,000 bushels for sale. 
The names and addresses of the men wanting these 
supidies and also the men who have them for sale 
are filed with the county agent in each county and 
may be had on application. 
I.ast week the Llepartment of Foods and Alarkets 
made a return to a potato .shipper at St. .Tohn’s 
RURAL NEAV-YORKER 
Park, Fla., for the sale of 22 barrels of ])otatoes as 
follows: 
16 bids. No. 1 potatoes at .$9.00..8144.00 
4 bids. No. 1 potatoes at 9.25. :>7.00 
5 bbls. Xo. 2 potatoes at ,8.00. 40.00 
5 bbls. X'o. .’> potatoes at 6..50. 22.50 
2 bble. No. 4 ixitatoes at (>.25. 12.50 
-.8266.00 
Freight ..825.60 
Selling ('omniissiou . 12>.2() 
- 28.90 
Net returns . .8227.10 
'I'he Florida croj) is largely controlled by a few 
large receivers, but individual gi’owers m.aking theii’ 
own shipnumts are getting .good money for ])otatoes 
this year. 
Losses by Early Harvesting 
In less than a month Yirginia will come pouring 
her great sui)pl.v of potatoes in the markets of the 
countr.v. 'So great is our eagerness to get the early 
market that we do not allow these potatoes to get 
their growth. At least a third of our whole croj) is 
dug before the tubers are a half or two-thirds grown. 
This means an ab.solute los.s to the country of .at least 
20 per cent, of our wlude output. And not only this, 
but this one-third that goes in earl.v goes in ba<l shape 
.and will not keep. Now the (piestion is. is there not 
.some way to i)rovent this great lo.ss of lu-oduce. and at 
the s.ame time guaiaintee us against a monetary loss in 
holding them till they get grown? It may not appear 
■so. but it is really money in our pockets to rush off 
liotatoes like^ this before the great glut begins; for $5 
for two-thirds of a yield is much better than .$2 for a 
whole yield. Y'ear in and year out it is about the only 
way we get anything out of them at all. This great 
loss is a i>ity. this year, yet we must live. There is 
a third more potatoes this year than last and we fear a 
greater rush. Is it safe to .ask for h'gislation and 
minimum i>rice? Or. is it coming in time? 
A’irginia. K. T,. WHIGHT. 
R. N.-A’.—It se('ms doubtful if the government coidd 
help iu this now. It would be more of a job for the 
farm organizations which have beim Formed by South¬ 
ern potato growers. This loss of crop ought t>i be 
saved this year. This ju’oposition is familiar to grow¬ 
ers who supidy the m.arket with early potatoes. 
Organizing Farmers for Business 
T1h> consistent stand you have always talom in re- 
gaial to farm matters, leads me to venture a sugge.s- 
tion. 
It .seems to me we are ver.v rapidly going “money 
mad,“ we talk in millions, biliion.s. and think nothing 
of it, and now there are thousiinds of farm bureaus 
to be established, each one to coat from .82,000 u(i. and 
at least one automobile. All this wild scramble for 
money suggests the old milkmaid song “\A’hither art 
thou going, pretty maid,” which might be modernized 
into, “AA’hither art thou going little man?” “To milk 
I’ncle S.am, kind sir. he said.” 
Now there are thousands and thousands of able- 
bodied, .strong-minded Civil AA’ar pensioners burning 
with patriotic enthusiasm who, I feel sure would jump 
at the chance of running these farm bureaus free ex¬ 
cept for necessary expenses, and these expen.ses might 
be very light. I do not know just what the f.arm bu¬ 
reau is supposed to do. but what we need immediately 
is some one somewhere in each county to receive and 
give information, by telephone. For example, I have 
10 bushels of seed potatoes, one bushel beans, live tons 
rye .straw and two tons hay that I do not need. I call* 
up this Civil AA’ar veteran and he registers the.se items 
that I have for sale, anyone else having fnn/th'nifi to 
sell would do the same. Now you want some rye 
straw or something else, you call up this veteran and 
ask him if he has it listed. He .sa.vs, “A'es. .Tohn Smith, 
’Phone 79. Spring A'^alley has some.” A’ou call up 
.Tohn Smith about his rye straw. I venture to say 
there would be many more wants listed than for .sales. 
If this i»lan is carried along :i little I could find out 
in five minutes where I could get some strawberry 
idants. a cow, a pig. a horse or anything else, and a 
little later a basket of peache.s. and one hundred cents 
of my dollar would go into the producer’s pocket, un¬ 
less I had to pay some small one-way freight or ex- 
pres.s, instead of tran.sportation to New A’ork and tran.s- 
portation back again, to say nothing of all the little 
items of expense that city handling incurs. 
It .should not take more than 10 days to get this 
sort of a bureau started, and tbe cost, if the telephone 
compan.v would contribute a ’phone, be nil, exci'pt for 
necessary blank books in which to list wants and for 
sales. ' t'HAS. TOWXKR. 
Rockland Co., N. Y. 
R. N.-A’.—Many of the Farm Bureaus are now do¬ 
ing just this sort of work—not only inside the county 
but also through the State. You ought to organize 
such a bureau in Rockland County. The scheme you 
propose could be arranged by a grt>up of farmer.s, but 
it could not do all the work which a Farm Bureau 
has to do. You would soon find that a full and com¬ 
plete organization is needed with some one to give his 
Kill time to it. A’ou will need .something more than* a 
telephone and a blank book. A’our^ simple plan would 
lead to considerable business, and might be started next 
week if you could get a dozen farmers together. A’ou 
would soon find that you need some one to give his 
time to it. and it would be necessary to pay him well. 
Get in communication with State headquarters at 
Ithaca, N. A’., and organize a Farm Bureau ! 
A Business Proposition for Farm Crops 
“The farmers should all increase their acreage .and 
production this year!” AA’lell, and can it be done? The 
acreage undoubtedly will be increased, but lu’oduction. 
no, because the average farmer has not sullicient capital 
or labor to accompli.sh the desired results. The prices 
for crops are reasonably certain to remain at the pres¬ 
ent levels or at a slightly lower one. but under no cir¬ 
cumstances will they revert to levels prevailing before 
the war. with the possible exceptions of perishables. 
To stimulate the farmers to greater efforts would it 
not be advi.sable and profitable to both farmer and con¬ 
sumer if the people of the cities and suburban districts 
banded together or acted singly iu going to the farmer 
and ordering for Fall delivery whatever ((uantity of 
potatoes, beets, carrots, turnips, etc., they needed at the 
current wholesale prices? For a guarantee of good 
faith the buyer to deposit one-half the amount of the 
order; if done early enough’this would give the farmer 
sufficient cai)ital to purchase new and needed machin¬ 
ery for succe.ssful production. 'I’he Fall payment on 
delivery of products would be the ditVerence between 
any agreed-upon price and the amount i)aid with order. 
In case no price was agreed upon the prevailing whoh'- 
s.ile market price should be the basis. 
This year there will be thousands of backyard gar¬ 
dens, which is as it should be. but the greater major¬ 
ity of the.se should only raise the perishable green 
vegetables, like peas, beans, tomatoes, etc. If everyone 
would order the staple products from the farmer, I be¬ 
lieve it would be money saved for the great majority 
of backyard gardeners. In placing an order encour¬ 
agement is given the farmer, and the profcssii>nal far¬ 
mer is better equipped tn r.-iise the heavy, luilky pro¬ 
ducts. First finance and guarantee the farmer—then 
let all who desiro gardens plant them. I feel convinced 
that 75% of all small backyard and lot gardens that 
will be planted to i)otato(‘s this year will not return the 
money and labor spent upon them. K. B. il.M.T.. 
,AI:issachus(>tts. 
R. X.-A’.— They will be cultivated later on with a 
scythe! The plan here suggested is being worked out 
by a number of New England farmers who have con¬ 
tracted to supply i)otatoes next Fall to employees in 
manuf.actuidng towns. 
Working the Farmer 
Senator .Slater has introduced a bill in the Legi.sla- 
ture making it lawful for the f.armer to work on Sun¬ 
day during the continuance^ of the pre.sent war. and 
until .Tan. 1 next following its termination. Now why 
should it not be feasible to pass one making him work 
nights al.so? I am thinking of putting lights in my 
chicken houses so the hens can work nights and if the 
State will furnish the light. I don’t see any reason why 
we should rest at all day. night or Sunday, but what 
will happen when they h.ave killed the goose that laid 
the golden egg? F. q. w. 
The Dairyman’s League and the Feed 
Question 
There are few questions that require more frequent 
answer than the one which says. “AA’hat is the Dairy¬ 
men’s League doing about feeds?” It is reported that 
the League contemplates t.aking a hand in the feed 
business, but what it proposes to do is not stated so 
far as we are aware. ()f course it is a poor time now 
to commence doing anything very definite in a practical 
way. Dealers are well stocked up with purchases, 
many of them at much lower prices than those that pre¬ 
vail at present at wholesale. If a group of farmers 
brought in a car now the local dealer could cut under 
that price and still make a good thing at it. Occa¬ 
sionally a nuin h.as a car on the wa.v or is receiving it 
that he bought last Summer or Fall, tie will sell this 
now helow what farmers can buy a car and .still make 
ten dollars per ton or more profit. It has been a year 
for the feed dealer that is long to be rememben'd, and 
the dealer.s have made the most of it. It would .seem 
to be time for the League to be busy getting ready, 
however. They need an experienced man in the feed 
business, and one who understands AA''estern conditions. 
Such a man will command twft or three thousand dol¬ 
lars salary. I am not sure where he should be sta¬ 
tioned, but somewhere so that he can get back of the 
jobbers who now hold control of the situation. lie 
must go pretty near the source or the dealers will 
get liim. In a talk with a man of large affair's a few 
days ago he said that he bought .seven cars of feed 
for a farm that he has control of last Fall, and 
thought he had it right. Soon he found that the local 
dealers had five dollars’ commission on each of the 
<'ars that he bought from the jobbers. The League 
must get back of all that. It is to be hoped that none 
will be trusted with the job except some really ex¬ 
perienced man in the husine.ss, and one who is worthy 
to be trusted. Then the League directors should have 
the oversight and not the direct control of the business. 
One man ought to be i-esponsible to those who have 
the oversight, and he should not be one of the directors. 
II. II. I.. 
Notes from Department of Foods and 
Markets 
204 Franklin St., New York City 
AIay 10, 1917. 
_EGGS.—Fancy State and nearby hennery whites. 
25i/4c to .27e; State and nearby gathered whites. 35Vg<* 
to 36c; fancy State and nearby hennery browns, 35%c 
to 26%c; State and nearby hennery brown and mixed 
gathered, 35c to 36c. 
BUTTER.—Firm. Fancy AA'estern creamery, 40c to 
41c; extras, 39c to 40c; firsts, 37i^c to 3S%c; best 
Eastern dairy, in tubs, 40c; in prints, 40c; in mixed 
packages 37c to 39c. 
CHEESE.—Alarket firm and higher. Old cheese. 
New A’ork State large white and colored, 28c to 2SA^c; 
■State part .skims, 21c to 23c; new State large white 
and colored, 27c to 27^c. 
_LIA'E POULTRY.—Express receipts light. Fowhs, 
25c to 20e; roosters 17c to 18c; Spring ducks, 27e; 
geese, 15e to 16c; live rabbits, 26e per pound; Leghorn 
broilers, 40c; colored broilers, 42c to 45c. 
DRESSED POULTRY.—Fowls, 251 / 2 C to 26y2c; 
old roosters, 21e; Long I.sland Spring ducklings, 24c; 
squabs, ,81.50 to ,8o.50 per dozen. 
LIVE C.ALA’ES.—Alarket lower; calves, 12c to 14c; 
go(Kl to prime, 12%c to 12A4c; common, ll'^c to 12c; 
buttermilks, 7c to 8c; yearlings, to 7%c. 
DRESSED CALA’ES AND LAMBS.—Dre.ssed veal 
higher. Fanc.v white-meated calves, 20c to 21e; good 
to prime. 17i/^c to 1.8i4c; common, 14i/4c to 16c; 
dressed hothouse lambs steady. 81 to 88 each, as to 
•(luality. Dressed buttermilks, 12c-to 13e. 
DRESSED CALF RULING.—The Health Depart¬ 
ment of the City of New AYmk has ordered that all 
country dressed calves must be opened all the way 
through the breast and throat. Shippers are cau- 
tioiual to be very careful to cut through the center. 
.After the calf is cooled the breast may lie protected 
by drawing the skin together with a stout cord. 
LIVE LAMBS AND DRESSED PORK.—Live clip 
lambs firm, 811 to 812 per cwt. Country-dressed pork 
in light supply and firm, 16e to 21c. 
APPLES.—Strictly fancy apples in light supply and 
firm. Tvower gnides slow at irregular prices. Bald¬ 
wins, 84-50 to 85.50; strictly fancy commands 85.50 to 
86; Ben Davis generally (Continued on page 717) 
