1085 
The Duty of the Dairymen’s League 
PRESENT CONDITIONS.—Why the indifference 
this year in the Dairymen’s League? Compai’atively 
siieakiug milk pi-oducers are no better, if so well 
l)aid for the pi-esent half year as they were for the 
same period last year. The dealers are getting more 
than two cents a quart now for delivering milk this 
year than they got last year. The producer after 
his hard fight of last October gets only one cent more 
than last year. 
LAST YEAR’S FIGHT.—This time last year pro¬ 
ducers were up in arms in protest against the 
prices which prevailed then. The whole State was 
alive with the subject. To-day there is little or no 
evidence of a purpose to meet the present situation. 
In the meantime legislation has been enacted 
which makes it unlawful for producers or anyone 
else to hold milk, or waste milk; or to allow milk 
to deteriorate; or to agi*ee with each other to hold the 
milk, or to control the marketing of it to affect the 
price of it. Furthermore an administrator of the 
law has been appointed who is on record against al¬ 
lowing fanners the privilege of making the price for 
their own milk. He never objected to the price when 
the trust made it 
THE PRODUCERS’ ERROR.—The dairymen 
luive themselves largely to blame for this new law. 
They discovered the puriiose in the Wicks hill and 
defeated it. At that time they had the opposition 
whipped. If they Insisted no law he passed, they 
|•(^nld have won the season’s fight. Put just when 
the fight was won, some one weakened. Compromises 
were made. The second Wicks bill was approved; 
and the case was lost. Some of the leaders did not 
even support the Towner hill with any too much 
fervor, though it was the one measure that would 
serve the cause now. The enemy succeeded in the 
old, old trick of dividing the opposing forces. It made 
slight concessions to disarm the opposition. It suc- 
ceedeil, and when the compromise was once made 
the present bill was forced through in spite of all 
oppo.sition. The original purpose has been attained. 
The Department of Foods and Markets is stripped of 
the power it bad last year to put the strong arm of 
the State on the side of justice in the contest for a 
fair price for milk. It was stripped of the authority 
to again help the dairymen as it had just done be¬ 
fore by the consent of the men who above all others 
might be expected to protect it. It took time to 
get that arm of the State organized to help .secure 
justice for the producers of the State. It was quickly 
ilestroyetl. It will be a long hai'd fight to again get 
it back. 
ONE WAY OUT.—In the meantime if the milk 
pr(tducers get any ade(iunte relief, it must come 
through the sale of a part of the milk to the city 
stores. This has in any event been a de.sirable thing 
to do. Now there is nothing else to do. The I.cague 
has money enough, and can get more, to put up a 
plant to receive and distribute 5,000 cans of milk 
daily to the stores in the city of New York. It can 
pay the producers two cents a quart more than they 
get now, and yet sell it for a c-ent a quart less than 
present prices This will .set a standard for the de- 
liA-ery of all the milk, and force a reform in the 
whole traffic. This service the League can now do 
for producers. That it can serve them in any other 
way now is a question of grave doubt. 
If prices be again fixed let it be from month to 
month; and in the meantime let the League estab¬ 
lish the fair standard for an economic distribution 
of milk, and give producers a fair share of the sav¬ 
ing. 
Revive the Old Grist Mills 
In Northern New York some of the old-fashioned 
grist mills are being revived. At least two are being 
repaired for service in Clinton County, in the vicinity 
of Plattsburgh, to grind native grains and feed. 
Thirty years ago every community had one of these 
grist mills. They were for the most part built on 
river banks, and utilized water i)ower. .Since then 
the larger fiour mills of the Northwest refined the 
process of producing flour to such an extent that 
these local mills declined. The experts of the large 
mills succeeded in producing whiter flour than the 
local mills could produce. The large millers also 
succeeded in educating the public to demand their 
special brand of flour. They went further and 
deliberately undersold the local mills. As a matter 
of fact the more you refine or whiten flour, the 
more you denature it, and take from it its best parts. 
'Ihe best bread is made by grinding all the wheat 
together, and discarding none. The experts separate 
the dark parts from the .starchy portions, and 
tlu-ough the advertising of special brands induce us 
to use the less nutritious parts, and feed the best 
parts to the cattle. The success of this kind of 
ar/ie RURAL NEW-YORKER 
education dj’ove the local flour mills out of business. 
It will be a fortunate thing if the pre.sent situation 
brings them back, and develops a taste for darker 
and bettta- bread. In turn they Avill induce 
a larger i)roduction of cereals in New York State, 
and lncrea.se the consumption of them at home. 
Wlieat, rye. buckwheat and corn can be profitably 
gi'own and consumed in the sections where they are 
grown, and the cost of transportation and middle¬ 
men's ]irofits saved. There is also great promise in 
developing trade for the i)roduct of these local mills 
in nearby cities. These products can easily be 
standardized, and a home industry developed to the 
benefit of county communities as well as city con¬ 
sumers?. 
The water powers all over the State now going to 
waste can again be utilized; and feed for dairy 
cattle prepared as well as flour and meal for the 
human family. It is to be hoped that other com¬ 
munities Avill follow the lead of Clinton County un¬ 
til every hamlet will again have its local grist mill. 
Geo. W. Perkins and Sheep 
On August 15 the New York Globe printed an 
interview with Mr. Geo. W. Perkins, written by A. 
W. McCann, the food expert. Among other things 
Mr. I’erkins Avas quoted as saying: 
“I Avont out into the West and spent 187,000 per¬ 
fectly good dollars purchasing sheep to aid the farmers 
and sheep growers of this State to build up a profitable 
animal industry against the great needs of days that 
are to come and The 11. N.-Y. advised the farmers that 
I had invested a lot of money in old rams and scabby 
animals, so that they might be on their guard against my 
sheep.” 
Post Office 
County 
Occupation 
F. Dobson 
Charlotte 
Monroe 
fanner 
tv. Duke, .Tr. 
Wellsville 
•Allegany 
mercliant 
E. A. Everett 
Potsdam 
St. 1 .a Av rence la Avyer 
G. H. Fearson 
Syracuse 
Onondaga 
hiAvyer 
F. L. Gardner 
Poughkeepsie 
Dutchess 
insura nee 
F. D. Gaylord 
Sodus 
AVayne 
fruit packer 
A. (ieiersbach 
TJtica 
On?id;i 
merchant 
Ij.Ford Hager 
Victory 
Cayuga 
farmer 
.T. A. Harris 
Penfleld 
Monroe 
fruit groAvei- 
F. D. Hopkins 
White Piains 
AVestchester 
title insur’ce 
F. E. Hopkins 
.Tamaica 
Queens 
I’res.M.Pn'ss 
L. W. .Tobn.son 
Seneca Fa'll s 
Seneca 
for. inch shop 
F. W.Judson 
Gates 
Monroe 
fa rmer 
It. Z. Kasson 
Gloversville 
Fulton 
civil engineer 
U. T. Kenyon 
Ausable I<’orks 
F.ssex 
dentist 
■W. W. Law 
Briarcliff Manor Westchester 
real estate 
A. P. i.efevre 
New Paltz 
rister 
<'oaI,lum.re<-d 
B. Tx)rd 
Afton 
Chenango 
nierclia nr 
J. G. Malone 
Albany 
Albany 
eh'c. c()n. 
L. M. Martin 
Clinton 
Oneida 
lawyer 
W. S. MeXab 
Ripley 
Chautauqua 
Mgr.C&E<; Co 
J. A. McGinnies Schenectady 
Schenec-tady 
la wyer 
T. MeWhinney 
I.awrence 
Nassau 
automobile 
H. .T. Mitchell 
Watkins 
Schuyler 
sherltr 
H. A. Murphy 
Huntington 
Suffolk 
real esta fe 
W. E. I'ierce 
Plattsburgh 
Clinton 
lawyer 
It. M. Prangen 
Hornell 
Steuben 
ice dealer 
C. O. Pratt 
Cambridge 
Washington 
lawyer ‘ 
F. L. Seaker 
GouA’erneur 
St. l.aAvreu<-e 
farmer 
G. T. Seelye 
Burt Hills 
Saratoga 
lann u- 
H. Seesselberg 
Concord,S.I. 
Richmond 
banker 
\V. A. Serven 
Pearl River 
Rockland 
him. mer. 
.7. F. Shannon 
Troy 
Rensselaer 
electrician 
J. W. Slacer 
Buflfalo 
Erie 
chief clerk 
M. .T. Soule 
Euclid 
Onondaga 
la rni'T 
M. E. Tallett 
De Ruyter 
Madison 
coal pi'oil. 
DeW. Talinage 
E. Hampton 
Suffolk 
farmer 
W. T. Thaver 
Chateaugay 
Franklin 
manufactui'er 
L. H. AVells 
Pavilion 
Genesee 
mendiant 
IT. E. Wheeler 
Holcomb 
Dnta rlo 
mercliant 
G, 11. Wiltsie 
Cortland 
Cortland 
dry goods 
Here Ave have 10 men calling themselves farnuM’s 
out of 52 men Avho repre.sent rural districts. There 
should bo at least 40 faianei’s in the liCgislaturt* and 
eA’ery one of them pledged before election to suppori 
ertain definite legislation. That is Avhat Ave sb.all 
have before long. 
We do not believe Mr. Perkins ever said any 
such thing, for the food administrator of a great 
State like Noav York Avould not make a statement 
Farmers and the Food Legislation 
Things are moAdng liA'ely in the farm politics of 
so evidently false and foolish. To us it seems more 
like Mr. McCann, after reading many of his verbal 
distortions. The R. N.-Y. never mentioned scab or 
rams in connection Avith these sheep. On page 809 
Mr. .Toseph I>eyo, a reputable farmer of Orange 
County, says he Avent to Selkirk expecting to buy 
some sheep. This is Avhat he said: 
“They were culls, they had not lambed thl.s year, and 
they Avould Aveigh about 80 pounds. We caught eight and 
looked at their teeth. One Avas a yearling, two AA’ere four 
years old, three were five years old, the other two were 
so old their teeth were Avorn doAvn short and badly sepa¬ 
rated. A man AA’ho is employed by the New Y'ork 
Central, and who seemed to have charge of the sheep, 
said when AA’e told him that some of the sheep were old, 
that he Avould eat all of the sheep in the lot that were 
over a year old. 
Perhaps ]\Ir. Perkins and Mr. McCann will join 
this man in eating the old sheep. We thiidc they 
Avould need no other meat for several years. 
We never mentioned scab or rams in any \Amy. 
The only explanation AA'e can think of is that Mr. 
McCami imagines that “scab” is some dental disease 
and that a “ram” is a sheep with its teeth worn off. 
We Avill back Mr. Deyo in his estimate of these 
sheep. We have tAvice a.sked anyone Avho saAv these 
sheep to tell us just Avhat they thought of them, as 
Ave Avish to be entirely fair in the matter. We have 
laid one report—that .1. W. WadsAvorth has bought 
100 of the sheep. We iioaa' repeat the invitation for 
all who haA"e seen these .sheep to give their honest 
oi)inion about them. 
Of course, Mr. Geo. W. Perkins aaHI iioaa' revise 
his statement about scab and rams. While he is do¬ 
ing it Ave call his attention to another .statement 
made by Mr. Deyo as follows: 
Noav Avhy, if they are selling these sheep at cost do 
they misrepresent the facts? It is not difficult to sell 
anything at cost They say the cost is .$14. How much 
did the man who raised the sheep get? IIoav much does 
the freight amount to? And how much is the committee 
charging for overhead expense? 
If Mr. Perkins knows that he paid “187,000 per¬ 
fectly good dollars,” of course he knoAvs wdiere 
those dollars went to. Will he noAV answer these 
questions by Mr. Deyo? 
Voted for the Food Control Bill 
Last Aveek Ave printed the names of the members of 
the Noav York Legislature who voted against the 
food control bill. Here Ave print the names of the 
Assemblymen from the rural counties Avho voted 
in favor of the bill. We do not print names of 
members Avho are elected by city vote entirely, but 
those Avho could not be elected Avithout votes of 
farmers. We gh'e i‘esidence and occui>ation. Keep 
this table, for you may nee<I it before election. 
Post Oflice 
DcIT. n. Ames Franklinville 
^Y.S.Augsl)ury Antwerp 
W. C. Baxter Watervliet 
(r. Blakley Yonkers 
IT. Brereton I.ake George 
W. W. Chace Hudson 
N. W. Cheney Kden 
A. Cowee Berlin 
E. O. Davies Ilion 
E. C. Davis Eonda 
G. 'I'. Havis Borne 
County Occupation 
Cattaraugus real estate 
.Tefferson banker 
Albany coal merchant 
Westchester bricklayer 
Warren farmer 
Columbia lawyer 
Erie farmer 
Bensselaer farmer 
Herkimer launderer 
Montgomery merchant 
Oneiila lawyer 
New York. The Legislature passed the food control 
bill and Avent home for a vacation until the political 
leaders could get the Avrinkles in theii- programme 
ironed out. On Augu.st 20, at the .^ema-a Hotel in 
Rochester, representives of the associations named 
beloAV met for a conference. Ramuel Fraser. Avho 
represented them at Albany, made his report on tin* 
outcome of the fight against tlie food bill, ff'he meet¬ 
ing decided to take strong ground in favor of tinited 
action on the part of the farmers, and they decided to 
give the fullest support to their fri«mds avIio stood 
by them in the I^egislature, Therefore they Lsned 
the follOAving statement: 
We desire to place on recoi’d our deej) sense nf ;ippre- 
ciation of the service rendered to the farming com¬ 
munities by the following Assemblymen in tlm recent 
legislation in regard to 
.1. r. Allen, Dutchess 
.1. R. Allen, Delaware 
Rewley, Niagara 
Bloomfield, Otsego 
Brush, Orange 
Donohoe. Putnam 
Ellenbogen, New York 
Fenner, Tompkins 
Fullager, Yates 
Gage, Wyoming 
Grant, Ixiwis 
.lenks, Broome 
Lattin, Orleans 
G. L. Mead, Orange 
(}uackenbush, Steuben 
RhoAA'ers, Greene 
State Food Gontrol bill : 
IWieeloek. l.iviiigsron 
Witter, ’Tioga 
AVhitehorn, Kings 
ShiplaeofF, Kings 
Bush, Chemung 
Callahan, Bronx 
Evams, Bronx 
Fertig, Bronx 
Ilamill, New Ym-k 
Larney, Kings 
Mahoney, New York 
Merritt, Sullivan 
E. II. Miller,-Bronx 
O’llare, Queens 
Parsons. Schoharie 
Ryan, Noav York 
These men in opposing the passage of the foo<l bill 
represented their constituents. The average individual 
fails to recognize how much pressure can be brought 
upon a legislator under the conditions like those which 
prevailed in Albany last AA'eek. 
As a rule the rural .sections were averse to au.v food 
control bill at this time. They were averse to the er- 
penditure of a million dollars for the purpose: they be¬ 
lieved that all that was essential could have been se¬ 
cured through the appointment of a Federal Food Ad¬ 
ministrator and an appeal to the patriotism of the dif¬ 
ferent industries interested. It still is the judgment of 
most rural men that the naming of a Federal repre¬ 
sentative in New York would have brought about a 
similar response to that which has been given to Mr. 
Hoover himself at Washington, and unless this volun¬ 
teer aid is forthcoming and the laAV appeals to tin* pa¬ 
triotism of the individuals, the passage of the hiAA; itself 
will be futile, for so much more can be done by inspir¬ 
ing men to do, than by driving them by legal enactment 
to accomplish, that a great many feel that the formei' 
method should have been tried. It sounds Utopian, but 
its tidal was worth while, and the mere extension of the 
Federal control through a deputy of Mr. Ibtover’s 
would, we believe, have been adequate. 
The Democrats caucused and 39 men in the Repub¬ 
lican conference expressed themselA’es as opposed to 
the legislation. Of these 11 Democrats. 2 S<Kdalists 
and IS Republicans maintained their position at the 
final passage of the bill; and to the.se men the organiza¬ 
tions represented below desire to express tlndr thanks 
and appreciation for the services they have rendered ro 
the State: 
Western Noav York Horticultural Society. 1.200 mem¬ 
bers. 
New York State Fruit GroAvers’ Association, I.OttO 
members. 
NeAV York State Vegetable Growers’ Assneiation. 
NeAV York Gold Storage Association; 00 plants, imi! y 
OAvned by fruit groAvers. 
Federation of Farm Bureau Associations, 44 coun¬ 
ties. 25,()0() members. 
Niagara Farmers’ Glub. 700 members. 
Orleans Gounty Fruit GroAvers, 500 members. 
South Lima Growers’ and Shippers’ Exchange. 
The Dairymen’s lycague, .ffo.OOO membeivs, and t''e 
Ma.ster of the State Grange have also pledged to concu- 
in this resolution. 
