"Uhe RURAL N E W-Y O R K E R 
Report of the Federal Milk Commission 
THE JANUARY PRICE.—Last month the Federal 
Food Commission reduced the price of milk to pro¬ 
ducers one-half cent a quart, promising to make an 
investigation of the cost of production and to fix a 
price for January, February and March on the cost 
of production, plus a reasonable profit. If the De¬ 
cember price was proved to be less than the cost of 
production, then it was promised the difference 
would be made up by the added price for subsequent 
months. It was also promised that the cost of food 
would be reduced. After the months of investigation 
the committee has now fixed the price for the month 
of January alone. It did not fix the price on the 
cost of production plus a reasonable profit. It ad¬ 
mits that the farmer has been producing milk at a 
loss, but it did not make up the December loss in 
the new price, as promised. It makes the .Tanuary 
price to the farmer $.'>.52' per hundred pounds, and 
authorizes an advance of one cent a quart for bottled 
milk delivered to the family iu the city. The prices 
to consumers now authorized are: 
A grade..$0.17 per quart 
P. grade.15 j^er quart 
P. grade in dealers' stores in bottles.. .14 per quart 
1> grade loo.se in dealers’ stores.11 per quart 
P. grade in pint bottles.IS per quart 
B grade in half-pint bottles.20 per quart 
MILK TRUST IN CONTROL.—The complete con¬ 
trol by the milk trust is evident in these consumers’ 
prices. The great bulk of the A milk pi’oduced by 
farmers is sold as B grade. Wlien he receives any 
allowance for the extra (piality he gets 15 cents per 
hundred pounds. In the city the commission au¬ 
thorizes and sanctions 84 cents charge for this 15 
cents' worth of quality. It is admitted that it costs 
no more to deliver a bottle of milk with an A cap 
than a bottle with a B cap, yet the commission ap¬ 
pointed for the purpose of reducing the cost of food 
allows one and two-third cents more for the delivery 
of the A grade bottle. They allow the dealer nine 
cents for taking a bottle of xV grade milk from the 
farmers’ hands and delivering it to the city con¬ 
sumer, or at least a full cent more than the farmer 
gets for producing it. The iirice to the consumer for 
January milk is ly-^ cents per quart to the farmer 
for producing it. and cents is authorized to the 
dealer for delivering it. In the dealer’s milk stores 
the price is fixed at 14 cents in Itottles to be carried 
home by the housewife, and for loose milk, also to 
be carried home, the price is fixed at 11 cents. This 
gives the dealer at least four cents a (pnart extra 
for the bottling and home delivery, and all the 
hou-sewife can save after hunting up a milk store 
and carrying the milk home is one cent on a quart. 
I'here is evidently no puri)ose to encourage the sale 
of bottled milk from the stores. 
AN ECONOMIC FAILURE.—The commission has 
failed utterly in any constructive policy for an eco¬ 
nomic distribution of milk in the City of New York. 
It was charged openly before the meeting by at¬ 
torneys representing consumers that the big milk 
companies were making enormous dividends on their 
watered capital, and a demand was made that tin? 
committee examine the books to either substantiate 
or refute the charges. 4'he committee refused to 
make the impiiry and contented itself by accepting 
the testimony of the dealers’ witnesses and allowed 
them to charge the consumers the extra cent a quart 
under the old extravagant and admittedly wasteful 
system of distribution. No provision was made for 
the supply of milk in l>ottles to the grocery stores 
at a reasonable co.st, that the poor and frugal people 
of the cit.v might have milk at a less cost than they 
are obliged to pay by the wagon delivery, and that 
the extra consumption resulting from a lower price 
might increase the demand for milk and stimulate 
increa.sed production. If we add to the 7l^ cents 
paid the producer three-fourths of a cent for freight, 
one-half cent for pasteurizing, and one-half cent for 
city delivery. .“> per cent milk in cans could be de¬ 
livered to the store at a close margin at 8i4 cents, 
and easily at !> cents for all the extra fat that is 
ever found in the milk on city delivery. If the con¬ 
sumers are retpiired, as they should be, to pay a de¬ 
posit for the bottle, the bottled milk could be del'.v- 
ered to the store at a half a cent extra per quart. 
()n a close margin the loose milk could be delivered 
at 10 cents a (piart, and bottled milk at 11 cents a 
(piart. and 11 cents for the loose milk and 12 cents 
for bottled milk would provide more than libei’al 
pndits. If the commission were disposed to take its 
position seriously and make prices and conditions 
independent of the dictation of the milk trust, it 
would order that bottled milk be supplied grocery 
stores in every nook and corner .if the city on terms 
approximating the.se figures. The fact that it has 
not done so can lead to no other conclusion than 
that the milk trust dictates the price and the terms 
to the consumer and that the city. State and Federal 
authorities are either unwilling or unable to over¬ 
come the influence of the milk trust. 
Questions About Elon R. Brown 
Who is this Senator Elon R. Brown we hear so 
much about? Where does he live? Who sends him 
to the Legislature? What do they send him for and 
does he have a unanimous vote ? s. L. K. 
New York. 
This man lives in the southwest corner of the State 
while Senator Brown lives at Watertown near the 
northeast corner. Mr. Brown is a lawyer—undoubtedly 
very shrewd and able. If a man were on trial for his 
life before a jury he would feel that he held a tower of 
strength if Mr. Brown defended him. MThen a farmer 
goes to a hearing at Albany and stands for something 
which he thinks is worthy he must be of a strong and 
stern character or Brother Brown will surely bluff and 
bulldoze and badger him until he will quit. The R. N.-Y. 
has never questioned the personal power and ability 
of Senator Brown. In politics we think he is tricky, 
unscrupulous, arrogant, unprogressive; an obstruction¬ 
ist with a very bad influence upon his party and 
especially upon young men. He is the “majority leader” 
of the Senate. With the present well-oiled political 
machine at xVlbany that puts Mr. Brown in charge of a 
steam roller which can and will smash down and 
flatten out any ordinary opposition. 
Mr. Brown represents the counties of Oswego and 
Jefferson and the following figures show the vote at the 
last election of Senator. 
Jefferson Oswegt* 
Total Population . 81.000 75,024 
Total Vote (1010) . 10,440 17,277 
Elon R. Brown . 9,217 8,070 
.Tames Gray . 6,51.8 5,004 
Enrolled Voters (Rep.) ... 11,612 0,170 
Enrolled Voters (Dem.) .. 5,0.34 5,745 
Thus we see that out of a total vote of 30,72.3 Mr. 
Brown received 17,.887 or less thah one-half. In Jeffer¬ 
son Co. Mr, Brown received about 2,400 less than the 
total enrolled Republicans while Mr. Gray rec*eived 
nearly 000 more than the total enrolled Democratic 
vote. AVe are told by men who know these two counties 
well that a combination can be made which will beat 
Mr. Brown this year. Why do .Tefferson and Dswego 
continue to send Elon R. Brown to Albany? M'e have 
had many answers to that question. Here are a few of 
them—all. we think, containing some truth. 
1. There is at AVatertown “the slickest bunch of 
politicians in the State.” 
2. Mr. Brown can get more petty graft and small 
jobs than any other man in the Legislature. He can 
put the.se jobs where they will do the most good. 
3. Most of the men in Jefferson are afraid of Brown 
and will not come out and make a determined fight. 
He is a strong man and has most of the voters bluffed 
iind frightened before they start. 
AA’e think these things are all true and there are 
others. AVhile Mr. Brown may have the men of his 
county blulVed and frightened he will find it very dilTer- 
ent with the women—who will vote this year. AA'e 
have, before now, seen women come into a house, where 
men had lived alone for a time, and the way they cleaned 
it up was a caution. AA^e expect to see them try their 
brooms on Mr. Brown. He is a strong man and has 
.stood up and exchanged blows with other strong men 
in a way to excite admiration even while we might des¬ 
pise his cause. AA'^hen the w'omen get after him as 
they will this Fall, we shall feel a little sorry for him, 
for the dust will ;fly. The country people of Oswego 
and JelTersou should begin at once to find a strong, 
active and intelligent farmer to represent that farming 
district iu the State Senate. 
The Present School Question 
As a member of the board of education of the town of 
Montezuma, I can personally say that the new school 
law is not taking well with the farmer, or, as a rule, 
with the taxpayer of the incorporated villages in this 
locality. It has caused an advance in taxes iu general 
between 25 and 75 per cent, without any improvement 
in educational advantages. One farmer in particular 
whose school tax for 1916 was $27.86 has just paid for 
the year 1017 a school tax of $1(>4.20. His oldest child, 
attending high school in an adjoining town, pays $10 
tuition over and above the ,$20 allowed by the State. 
The next neighboring high school demands .$20, and the 
city of xA-uburn .$.30 iu addition to the State’s $20, and 
the boards -of education say that next year it must be 
necessarily increased. If .so, only the well-to-do farmer 
will be abb* to give his children a high school education. 
Boards of education of villages which maintain high 
.schools inform towns which do not maintain high schools 
that if the matter of increa.sed tuition was referred to 
xVlbany a higher tuition rate would be allowed the high 
.schools, or towns would be compelled to build high 
schools. If this was a fact, and to my personal belief 
upon reading the school law, the latter is the main idea 
of the State Educational Board. This would work an 
unjust tax burden upon towns in which the population 
and location would not warrant a high school, and a 
large percentage of the towns throughout the State are 
iu this class. 
The taxpayers of villages were led to believe that 
taxes would be lowered by taking in the entire town, 
but, with four villages here, this is .shown so far, 1017, 
to be an error, as they average the same, to $2 per 1.000 
higher. 
As almost all of the high schools of this countv are 
in debt, this law compels the school districts to' help 
45 
liquidate this debt without any voice or vote on the ad¬ 
visability of incurring this debt. 
Schools have been closed, necessitating a hardship 
upon one-half of the students, according to age, by be¬ 
ing compelled to walk miles further to school, no way 
provided for their transportation at present, or thought 
of by boards of education, becau.se of the expense neces¬ 
sary to carry this out, thereby becoming an additional 
tax on the town, which the taxpayers object to, and iu 
every case to my knowledge the board of education is 
composed of residents of the village, or have a control¬ 
ling vote on the board. 
AVhile the law says members of the town board of 
education shall receive no salary, it leaves to the town 
board the right to fix the salary of the clerk and treas¬ 
urer, which varies all the way from 30 cents an hour to 
.$.500 a year. One town near here is reported as paying 
that amount. 
There is hardly any end to the arguments against the 
present school bill, and but few in favor of it. Person¬ 
ally I do not think that this Alachold school bill would 
have become a law if some of our State Grange officials 
had not been unduly influenced regarding it. I believe 
I can truthfully say that this law would never have 
been drafted if the assessed valuation were greater in 
the incorporated villages throughout the State than in 
the towns outside of the villages. a. p. fuller. 
Cayuga Co., N. Y^_ 
Conditions in Central New York 
”'he following is a statement of conditions and prices 
exis ng here in Central Cayuga County on these last 
days December, 1917: Dairy cows, from $70 to $150. 
This \.-;de variation of price due entirely to difference 
iu quaUrication, age, period of lactation, etc. Calves 
and young stock very high ; in fact, can hardly be found 
on sale except at auction; veal brings the farmer 18 to 
20c, hog-dressed; butter brings 50c when sold to cus¬ 
tomers, about 45c at the store; cheese not made here, 
retails at .30 to 32c; milk, 7c per qt., wholesale; lie 
retail; eggs,* storage, retailing at 37 to 45e; fresh, 70 to 
75c; most of the fresh ones sold direct to consumers at 
the retail price this time of year. Pork, dressed, brings 
the farmer from 20 to 22c; chickens and fowls, 20 to 
22c, alive: fresh-killed turkeys, 38 to 40c; ducks and 
geese, .30 to .3.5c; chickens, 25 to 27c, all wholesale. 
Grain, to the grower: AVheat, .$2.10; barley, $1.50; 
oats, 85 to 90c (retailing at $1) ; corn, bushel basket of 
ears, 75 to S5c, only sold at auctions; buckwheat, .$,3.25 
per cwt. _ AA”e have to pay for feed: Bran, $44 ; mid¬ 
dlings, .$54; oilmeal, .$60; cornmeal, ,$00; cottonseed 
meal, .$(54; Buffalo gluten, ,$60; union grains, $62; heef 
scrap. $100; laying mash, ,$78. Potatoes are wholesal¬ 
ing at 8.5c to .$1.10; retail, $1.25 to $1.60; cabbage, ,$:15 
per ton ; apples, $1 to $1.75; garden vegetables, about 
75e per bu. Hay not so active as a few weeks ago. 
when No. 2 brought .$20 and Alfalfa $25; No. 2 has 
now droppe<l off about ,$4 ; so little of No. 1 to be found 
no quotations are given. New farm machinery almost 
prohibitive in price; at auction, second-hand tools and 
implements bring about double former prices. Sheep are 
another thing that can hardly be bought except at sales, 
where they bring .$13 to $16 per head. Seeds of all sorts 
are very high, the clovers from $13 to $18 per bu.; 
corn, ,$,3; beans, .$8.,50; fertilizers, $24 to ,$34 per ton. 
Coal and sugar very hard to get. Clothing and hard¬ 
ware cost from one and one-half to three times what 
we used to pay. Farm hands almost unobtainable. 
AVartime conditions are not likely to be cheering. I 
take it, but if by effort and sacrifice we can bring this 
struggle to a successful termination we shall be amply 
repaid for all discomforts. r. e. l*. 
Cayuga Co., N. Y. 
A Farmer's Suggestion to Business Men 
The resident of the rural districts thinks that the 
word efficiency has been overworked of late. But there 
is room, the farmer thinks, for the practice of efficiency 
by those who are furnishing or forwarding supplies to 
the farmer or his family. Last May a farmer in looking 
over his implements discovered that three of the teeth 
of his two-horse cultivator were broken and that until 
he procured new ones the cultivator could not be used. 
.\s he planned larger crops than usual in order to show 
his patriotism, he immediately ordered new teeth for 
that cultivator. AA'eeks and months rolled on. I.et- 
ters were written and answered, but he has not received 
those cultivator teeth yet. The writer can quote many 
similar cases. In many instances the fault was in the 
inefficiency of tlie clerical force of some house or firm. 
If so. why not go a step farther and say it was due to 
the management of that firm or house? 
Farm work is frequently delayed or abandoned be¬ 
cause of the inefficiency of some shipping firm or car¬ 
rier. In the case of the carrier I make the assertion 
that nine-tenths of the delays of farm freight can be 
avoided by better management and imsiiection. I know 
freight depots and junctions that have not been cleared 
out for months. In them can be found goods for which 
farmers .have been waiting for months. Even if goods 
are ordered by local dealers for the farmers the result 
is the .same. Delay means loss, especially during the 
busy season, when crops are waiting. I know of .seed 
grain that was shipped in April but not received until 
xVugust. And the railroads and express companies are 
subject to gi-eat losses by this carelessness. xVn old 
railroad man told me that the great majority of the 
cases in which his company paid damages could be 
avoided if the management took any interest in tin* ri'al 
work of the road. Let there be an agent, not an ex¬ 
railroad man, but a man wide awake, up-to-date, effi¬ 
cient and free from old acquaintance with the freight 
handlers, put out on every road to go into every 
freight house and junction to inventory the goods 
therein and to order the same to be immediately for¬ 
warded, and many damage claims would be headed off 
and much would be done to encourage the farmer to tiy 
to do things beyond what he is doing now. 
I know a farmer who ordered a pair of shoes of a 
kind that his home merchant did not keep. He received 
a shoe of a different kind and size from that ordered. 
He returned them, and before he got through wdth the 
transaction be had three pairs of shoes and his money 
return check. Of course, he sent back what did not 
belong to him, but it was a queer transaction for a house 
that rings many changes on the word efficiency. 
Some houses would do well to show a little more i-e- 
spect for the farmer’s trade. The railroads could quit 
running empty cars past stations half filled with goods 
that belong elsewhere. Later on I would like to call the 
attention of manufacturers to costly errors that they are 
making in putting out goods for the farmer that do not 
fill his demands and that cost more to manufacture and 
give less satisfaction than would goods that cost less in 
both labor and material. “u^'CLE pick.” 
