aK6e RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
1157 
The Milk Situation 
At the last moment the New York City milk 
dealers capitulated and agreed to accept the price 
asked by the milk producers for the months of Oc¬ 
tober and November. This price is as follows: For 
October .$3.10 per 100 pounds; for November, .$3.34 
per 100 pouud.s. This is for three per cent. B grade 
milk and four cents extra per 100 pounds for each 
one-tenth of one per cent butter fat in excess of the 
three per cent standard. The prices are based on 
the first Koue, and the new schedule of prices issued 
by the Interstate Commerce Commission will govern 
the rates for the other zones. 
This settles the price to the pi’oducer for the two 
months. The dealers have insisted all along that 
any addition to the producers’ price will necessitate 
a further increase to the consumer. During the past 
12 months the price to the consumer has been in¬ 
creased 3% cents per quart for B grade milk, and a 
proportionately greater increase for cream and 
other grades, so that while the increase to the pro¬ 
ducer has been about one cent i)er quart, the de.al- 
ers have had an increase of about three cents per 
quart. If the price to the consumer is to be in¬ 
creased in anything like this proportion, it will in¬ 
evitably cau.se a further decrease in consumption 
and a suri)lus if the present production is main¬ 
tained. This is the danger to the dairy interests. 
Any system that undul.v increases the price to 
the consumer will decrease the demand and cause a 
surplus. The Leagtie will yet be obliged to bargain 
for the price to the con.sumer in making terms with 
the dealers, either in negotiations or in demonstrat¬ 
ing the cost of distril)ution through a city plant of 
its own. Sooner or later this city plant will have to 
come and the sooner we get it started the l)etter. 
The Contest Over Geo. W. Perkins 
The Perkin.s-Brown controversy at Albany never 
was sublime, but it is now I'idiculous. The I.egis- 
lature “met,” and we understand that two Senators 
and three Assemblymen voted to adjourn for one 
week. What a useless farce the whole thing is. 
There is now another advertising battle going on 
through the daily papers. It seems that IMr. Per¬ 
kins asked the farmers, or their representative, ^Mr. 
Samuel Fraser, to state their objection to him. 
They replied that they did not have the money to 
pay for an advertising campaign. At that Mr. Per¬ 
kins offered to pay .$2.3,000 for putting before the 
public whatever the farmers had to say. This offer 
was accepted, and the advertising is printed in 141 
pai)ers at a cost of probaltly .$.30,000—all paid for by 
Mr. Perkin.s. The best two points in this document 
are the following: 
Mr. Perkins, allow for once that the farmer’s judg¬ 
ment is right when he tells you that you are not the one 
for the place, that your presence on the commission will 
discourage production, and we need now to do all we can 
to encourage it. . . . 
Now, Mr. Perkins, tell us frankly who does want you, 
and why? If you are appointed, the farmers will feel 
more convinced than ever that it was your money and 
not your record that secured it, and do you not think 
that after going through this experience in Albany the 
farmers may well ask yon. Why is the Governor so in¬ 
sistent on your appointment? And ought they not to 
oppose you until they have a satisfactory answer?-— 
that is, provided we live under a representative govern¬ 
ment, as we believe we do. 
We regret that the farmers allowed IMr. Perkins 
to pay for tlie newspaper advertising. They are 
thu.s placed in a wrong i)osition before the public. 
We can see just what Mr. Perkins and the financial 
and political powers will now say when the farmers 
again go to Albany. We should have let this money 
alone, and won or lost on the clear-cut is.sue of prin¬ 
ciple without incurring any obligations from Mr. 
Perkins or anyone else. We think Mr. Perkins 
spent this money as a shrewd investment, in order 
that he might without further criticism spend very 
much more in his own behalf. The final outcome is 
still uncertain. 
A Farmer for the Legislature 
Last week on page 1135, we told how the farmers 
of Delaw'are Co., N. Y., nominated Mr. .1. Clark Nes¬ 
bitt for the Assembly on a non-partisan platform. 
Mr. Nesbitt is the first New York farmer to be nom¬ 
inated or selected in this Avay, and the campaign he 
is making is a big event in New York political life. 
In the letter below Mr. Nesbitt states what he will 
do and what he stands for: 
I feel that the greatest need of the State and nation 
today is a better understanding and a closer relation 
between producers and consumers. In Delaware County 
our main product is milk. I believe the Legislature 
should aid in providing means whereby the costs of the 
production and distribution of milk can be ftilly demon¬ 
strated to the consuming public. Any individual, or¬ 
ganization or corporation that opposes such a measure 
apparently does not wish to give the public a square 
deal 
If elected. I will give my efforts and influence, and 
pledge my support to the enactment of such a measure. 
I heartily commend the record and work of the De¬ 
partment of Foods and Markets, and believe the State 
.should aid in every way possible in the maintenance of 
its high standard of efiiciency and increase its scope and 
powers. 
I will oppose any legislation which tends to establish 
useless commissions or to provide salaried positions for 
political patronage. 
The Assembly fight in Delaware County this Fall has 
simmered down to the point where it is up to the voters 
to determine whether they will be represented by one 
who holds the interest of the farmers to be fully equal 
to those of any other class of producers, or by one who 
is bound to be subservient to party interests first, and 
to the people’s interests afterwards. 
Blooinville, N. Y. clark nesbitt. 
The Spirit of the City Papers 
The cartoon printed on this page is taken from 
the New Y’ork Evening Telegram, and goes to prove 
some of the statements made on the first page. The 
Avhole spirit of this picture is fal.se and hateful. An 
effort is made to sIioaa' that farmers’ are obtaining 
.$2.20 for Avheat AA-liich they produce at a co.st of 70 
cent.s. The object of this is to dhscredit farmers as a 
class, and arra.A' the consumers against them. Thex’e 
is no farmer Avho receives $2.20 for his wheat. ^Most 
New York farmers receive $2.0," or a little more, as 
their A\dieat is graded Ioav, and is docked for the 
expense of delivering. As for the cost. Prof. War¬ 
ren of Cornell shows that the cost of growing an 
acre of Avheat Avill run about ,$.31 (at a fair esti¬ 
mate), Avhile the aA’erage yield is 15 bushels. Yet, 
even Avhen they knoAA* these facts, the city papers 
continue to lie about the situation and throw the 
entire bln me upon the farmers. So far ns AA’heat 
goes, of the fanners within 300 miles of New Yoidc 
at least TO jier cnnit. are buyers rather than sellers 
of wheat, so flour or feed and high prices hit them 
A False Picture of the Farmer 
as hard as they hit town consumers. These foolish 
and bitter tirades ag.ainst f.armers as a class are 
Avithout reason, and are doing serious luirm by stir¬ 
ring up bad feeling. 
What About Wheat Prices ? 
Fnque.stionably many farmers are dissatis¬ 
fied with the AA'ay the AA’heat prices are W’orking 
out. They expected Ji price fixed at the farm and Ave 
kuoAV that many of them Avere led to expect this 
from the early reports from Washiugtou. Mliat they 
got is a general i)rice from which deductions must 
be made, and the.se deductions and the differences in 
grades puzzle and ahnoy the farmers. The city peo¬ 
ple persist in saying that all farmers receive $2.20 
a bushel, Avhen the fact is most of our readers Avill 
average $2.0.5 or $2.08. Of cour.se, we all realize the 
difficulty in making a price Avhich Avould satisfy all. 
The present method is the result of much hard study, 
and perhaps it Avill Avork as Avell as any piece of price 
fixing could. We do not think the Administration 
made the plan and the method of deducting the price 
plain enough in its aunouncement. We Avant all the 
facts abxnit actual prices that Ave can get. In that 
Avay Ave c.an nuike fair compari.sons and see just 
Avhere Ave all stand. As it is, many farmers feel 
disappointed, and they AA’ant to knoAv just AA’hat 
other farmers are receiving for their Avheat. 
Farming and the Junk Business 
I .itJST told an Italian, about 15 years old, he made 
a mistake when he quit working for my neighbor. I 
told him he would have learned more and that his 
emi)loyer was the best farmer in the vicinity. He said: 
“Do you think I Avant to be u farmer? It costs $10,- 
000 to buy a farm and work hard and make no money 
and I can buy a horse and wagon for .$100, and my 
brother m.ade .$4,000 in five years buying junk, and 
my father gets $4..50 a day and only works eight hours 
a day—no farming in mine.” The city man who thinks 
he wants a farm might consult the little Italian. 
Pennsylvania. h. h. c. 
Some of our readers ask Avhy we ever print stich 
notes. Because they are a part of the truth, 
and as such they must be answered and made clear 
before we can make the public realize Avhat farm¬ 
ing represents. When a junkman Avith a capital of 
$100 can make a greater profit than a farmer who 
OAvns and ])a.A’s taxes on a good farm, Ave have a con¬ 
dition of affairs AA’hich needs a A’iolent surgical oper¬ 
ation. Does the little Italian know what he is talk¬ 
ing about? Where did he get his information, and 
how far is it true? These things represent the fun¬ 
damental proposition of farm economy, for if young 
men begin to feel that Avay farming Avill lack the 
necessary labor and s.atisfied management which it 
must have in order to provide for the nation. The 
troulble with most of our farm education is that it 
has largely ignored a full study of the proposition 
of the junkman and the farmer, and confined itself 
to advocating two blades of grass where one grew 
before. 
Wheat Prices and Local Millers 
I luiA’e road the notes about Avlioat price.s on page 
1135. I can see where the local mill has, under the 
plan outlined in your communication from the Food 
Administration, a distinct advantage over the miller at 
the zone points, and I see also the necessity for promul¬ 
gation of a li.st of zone points at once. 
It AA’ould be manifestly unjust to force Virginia farm¬ 
ers to sell, using Baltimore as a ba.se, when Ave have 
large milling points in our own State which should be 
zone points for the Stati'. 
Even so, the local nuiller will be Ihe gainer, for he is 
competing with the mills at the large points, with less 
oA'erhead exi)enses; and. under the ruling, is to be priv¬ 
ileged to buy his wheat from the producer at a price 
“less freight” to the nearest zone point. To be fair to 
all concerned. eA’ery flour mill at a railroad shipping 
point should be a “zone point.” Otherwise the large 
millers at the scattered zone points Avill very soon raise 
a hoAvl: for every “less freight” mill will be able to 
quote flour, at competing points, just that much loAver 
than the zone-point miller. epavin Eakjle. 
5'irginia. 
A Western New York Man Talks 
The farmers of Orleans Go., N. Y., are receiving let¬ 
ters from a company including Governor Whitman and 
Secretary Wilson offering recleaned seed wheat and rye 
at .$3 per bushel. Pray, have our public servants gone 
into the produce business? If so, who gets the profits? 
If any of the farmers want seed they can get it from 
their neighbors at the market price. We learned years 
ago that seed Avheat does not Avant to be screened so 
as to take out the smaller kernels. 
The farmers, numbering over a thousand, at a tractor 
demonstration at Albion recently, voted unanimously 
condemning the c.alling of an extra .session ; it was a 
wanton Avaste of the taxpayer.s’ money, which should be 
dealt Avith as a criim*. 
Governor Whitman need not try to smooth matters 
out; it has been published that he said that the wheat 
prife should be fixed at $I.,50 per bushel and that the 
se.ssion Avas called to sma.sh prices. The farmers are 
the loAvest paid laborers there are. I have never seen 
their average yearly income placed at over $660, and 
often it is much le.ss, out of which they pay interest, 
taxes, help and all other expense.s. We consider it noth¬ 
ing less than an insult, the fixing of the price on onr 
wheat, which has been placed at a lower price than the 
coarser gr.ains are worth, by professors and others who 
know nothing about the farmers’ circumstances. 
We farmers who labor from 12 to 16 hours a day, 
have_ no objection to the six or eight hour men using 
the idle land to rai.se produce for a living, but it is 
another proposition Avhen we are expected to raise pro¬ 
duce with the price set by the other fellow. We de¬ 
mand that this unjust hiAv b»! repealed ; it takes away 
the long established right of taking tAvo to make a bar¬ 
gain, fought out by our forefather farmers when they 
heeded the call of I’aul Revere and attended the Boston 
Tea Party. CHARLES H. porter. 
Albion, N. Y. 
Government Potato Grades 
The Agricultural Department and Food Administra¬ 
tion recommend the following grades for commercial 
potatoes: 
U. S. grade No. 1 shall consist of sound potatoes sim¬ 
ilar in variety, practically free from dirt or other for¬ 
eign matter, frost, sunburn, second growth, cuts, scab, 
blight, dry rot and damage by disease, insects or me¬ 
chanical means. The minimum diameter of round 
varieties .shall be 1% inches, and long 1% inches. Va¬ 
riation of 5 per cent, by weight of any lot under pre¬ 
scribed size, and 3 per cent, by weight under the other 
requirements of this grade aa’III be permitted. 
IT. S. grade No. 2 shall be potatoes of similar variety, 
practically free from decay and frost injury, and not 
seriously damaged by sunburn, second growth, outs, 
scab, blight, dry rot or other disease, in.sects or mechan¬ 
ical means. The minimum diameter shall be ly^ 
inches, and variations of 5 per cent, by weight will be 
allowed from these various requirements. 
“Practically free” means that damage from the causes 
mentioned can be removed by paring Avithout more than 
ordinary waste. 
“Diameter” means greatest dimension at right angles 
to the length. 
No provision has been made for specially fancy grades 
or qualities beloAv No. 2. 
iNo. X graue, unless in miiK, .sboiild be only in new 
clean sacks or barrels Avell filled, securely covered and 
marked U. S. No. 1. The No. 2 .should be plainly 
marked U. S, No. 2. 
