N. Y. State Agricultural Society 
The annua] convention of the New York State 
Agricultural Society was held in the city of Albany 
on .January lo-IO. The attendance was rather small¬ 
er than usual, hut yet many of the old members were 
l)resent and had an opportunity to renew ac(iuain- 
tances, and the discussions were, for the most i)art, 
interesting and important and in themselves woidhy 
of larf^er audiences. During the first morning's ses¬ 
sion lion. Dred Boshart made a good report on the 
Committee on Legislation, and Air. R. Ingalls of the 
city of Xew T’ork delivered a learned, practical and 
timely paper on the requirements and needs of stat¬ 
ute laws to authorize the organization of co-opera¬ 
tive corporations in the State. 
A notable feature of the second session was an 
elo(pient and scholarly address hy ;Mr. .Tohn Burke, 
'^I'reasurei' of the I’^nited States. He discussed the 
war issues generally and made plain the aims and 
ambitions of the German imperial government in its 
attempt at, world domination. Ilis advice to the peo¬ 
ple not to strain for extraordinary effects, nor to 
aspire to extreme undertakings, hut to do every day 
the thin.gs that we haA’e been doing in the past, only 
to do more of them and do them better, had been 
said before and probably hy many different people, 
Init it is an advice that is worth repeating and was 
exi)ressed with especial power of conviction by Mr. 
Burke. His subject was approved hy frequent ap¬ 
plause during the address and a rising vote of ap- 
pi*eciation at the close, ilr. Burke was a guest of 
ex-Governor and Mrs. Glynn during his stay in Al¬ 
bany. and ex-Governor Glynn accompanied the speak¬ 
er to the convention. 
.Vnother eloquent address on much the same line 
was given in the evening hy Dr. H. C. Culbertson, 
Th S. Food Administrator from Washington, and on 
the Wednesday afternoon session ]Mr. Foster D(‘be- 
voise, of the Liberty Loan Committee, made a very 
strong appeal for support of the Federal Government 
Liberty loams. He was very earnest in his appeal 
and made a favoralde impre.s.sion on the audience. 
Dr. Eugene IT. Porter, the new Commis.sioner of 
the Division of Foods and Mai-kets, made an address 
inancipally in opposition to the town.ship school law, 
which he opposed with a great deal of force and 
ability. He referred only casually to the food sub¬ 
ject and did not go into any detail in his purposes or 
l)lan.s for the administration of his official work for 
the future. 
Chas. IT. Betts, the Secretary of the State Food 
Commission, read a carefully prepared and well ex¬ 
pressed paper on the subject of “The Farmer and 
Production.” After reciting familiar statistics to 
show the decrease in farm iiroduction per capita, and 
the relative decrease in agricult)iral values, he 
foemsed resi)onsibility for the decline on the want 
of business methods of a lai'ge ])ortion of farmers. 
He magnified the influence of those farmers who 
combine the hmsiness ])iancii)les and intensive meth¬ 
ods and progressive ideas in their farm operations, 
and expressed the conviction that if other farmers 
were like this all farmers would he prosperous. 
Dr. Walter L. Williams of the State Veterinary 
College, delivei'ed a valuable pai)er on “Diseases of 
Dairy Cattle.” and the Hon. Henry M. Sage, chair¬ 
man of the Finance Committee of the Senate, gave a 
good talk on the “.State Institution Farms.” Harry 
B. Winters. Deputy Commissioner of Agriculture, 
gave a very illuminating address on Tuesday even¬ 
ing on the State institution farms. It was illus¬ 
trated with lantern slide.s. This was a valuable 
contribution, giving many of us, as it did, new in¬ 
formation about these State fai-ms. Mr. H. IT. 
Charles made an effective report bn the Publicit.v 
Committee, showing beyond any doubt more activity 
and better effects for this committee than heretofore 
had been recoi’ded. 
Governor Whitman made a brief address on Tues¬ 
day evening, the pxincipal feature of which was a 
suggestion for a law to draft men for service on the 
farms of the State. This suggestion was indefinite 
and stated in no detail and with no stress of insi.s- 
tence. It was i-enewed in a formal way at the next 
morning session, and, after brief discussion, it was 
laid on the table. 
One purpose Avas noted through this particular 
convention. Tliere was absolutely no reference to 
distribution problems iix any way, shape or form, ex¬ 
cept in some of the resolutions handed in by mem¬ 
bers. When this society was reorganized or revived 
in 190S the express purpose Avas to develop a better 
and more economic system of distribution for farm 
food products. Some of its functions have been de¬ 
voted almost exclusively To this ])roblem, and here¬ 
tofore this subject has had a cons])icuous idace in 
all of* the conA’entions unlil-'now. and the comi»lete 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
elimination of the subject of distrilxution at this time 
in connection with the reorganization of the agricul¬ 
tural AA'ork of the administration, indicates a fixed 
■purpose on the ])art of the administration that is 
entirely consi.stent Avith its present line of Avork. 
Production, more ])roduction. greater production, the 
means of production, the arguments for production, 
the allurements for production, the necessity for pro¬ 
duction. the patriotism of production, are the themes 
of the .State influences today, and Avere A’irtually the 
exclusive subjects of formal discussion at thi?^ con¬ 
vention. 
V e admit the need of food production in increas¬ 
ing volumes not only to satisfy the I’equirements of 
our OAAUi people hut to help keep our allies in Europe 
from starvation and .as a means of helping to AAdn 
the Avar. We differ from these gentlemen only in 
the most eflicient means to secure the incresised need¬ 
ed supply. When the Government wants shoes, or 
unifoiau.s, or guns, or shot and shell, it goes to the 
manufacturer and asks for an estimate for the cost 
of pi'oduction. The manufacturer figures up the cost 
of his raAV material, his hihor, his superAusion, his 
inve.stment, his insurance, his lask, his dei)reciation, 
and the upkeep of his propert.A-. He figures the cost 
of prodxiction on this basis. The GoA'ernment alloAvs 
him a rea.sonable profit in advance and the contract 
is made for the delivery of the goods. 
We are assured over and over again that food is 
more important than clothing or guns or ammuni¬ 
tion ; but when the Government Avants food, it ap¬ 
peals to farmers to produce it as a patriotic duty. 
It yet .sticks to the old theoi*,v that farming is not a 
busine.ss. and that the production of food on the 
farms must not be worked out on an economix* basis. 
We cannot escape the conviction that many people 
in this country want to buy food of the fai-mers for 
less than it co.sts to produce it. They refuse to en¬ 
tertain the proposition that if farmers coAild get the 
cost of production Avith a very reasonable profit 
there would he no food crisi.s. There Avould be food 
enough for everybody and to spare. They refuse to 
see tliat food is scarce because middlemen and specu¬ 
lators and gamblers in food have forced the i)rice 
beloAV the cost of production, and have discouraged 
the production of food on the farms. 
They are Avilling to grant gratuities to help in the 
furnishing of .seed, to give free instruction and (>du- 
cation in the production of larger crops, and if the 
Avorst comes to the Avorst to giv’e a little credit or 
bonus or charity to help out the farm opei*ation, hut 
they refuse to do the one thing that AA'ould make 
farming attractive and profitable, and that AA’ould 
jjroduce all of the food that Ave can ])ossibly need. 
That one thing is to take the food from the hands 
of the farmer after he has produced it in the country 
and lay it doAvn and jdace it in the hands of the 
consumer in the city Avhere it is needed for food, 
Avith the least cost and the least possible expense for 
transportation and delh^ery, and to return to the 
farmer a fair share of the consumer’s dollar. To 
do this Avould cut out speculation and profiteering, 
hut the elimination of these abuses and wastes can¬ 
not be considered becau.se of the poAverful interests 
that are involved in the traffic. 
In the meantime, every move that is being made hy 
the great army of food directors and production ac¬ 
celerators is making conditions worse than they Avere 
before. They are increasing the losses on the farms, 
consolidating the control by speculators and increas¬ 
ing the cost of food to the consumer. Appeals for 
the increased production of food under conditions 
that result only in loss to the producer can never he 
successful, and if some of our governmental agen¬ 
cies were giving as much thought to the needs of the 
people for food as they are giving to the needs of 
their OAvn political ambitions, we Avould fexd greater 
hope in a speedy readjustment of food problems. 
The noAV ofiicers elected Avere as follows; 
Bresident—C. Fred Bo.shart. LoAvville. 
1st Vice-President—A. Denniston, Washingtonville. 
2d ATce-President—H. B. Fullerton, Aledford. 
.“Id A'ice-President—Gilbert M. Tuckei*, Albany. 
4th ATce-President—Dean IT. E. Cook, Canton. 
.5th A'ice-I’re.sident—AA’. N. Giles, i^kaneateles. 
0th A’’ice-President—A. W. BroAvn, AA'est AA’infield. 
7th ATce-President—Seth ,T. T. Bu.sh, Moi’ton. 
8th A'ice-President—F. N. Godfrey, Glean. 
nth A"ice-President—F. A. Taber, Poughkeei»sie. 
Secretary—Harry E. Cole, Albany. 
Treasurer—Harry B. Winter, Albany. 
Executive Committee— 
John Y. GeroAA', AA'ashingtonville.’ 
AVhu. H. Manning, Saratoga. 
T. B. AVilson, Hail. 
Geo. W. Sisson. .1 r. Potsdam. 
Government Grain Prices 
Tiik GoA'ermnent has put a maximum price on wlioiit, 
and has asked that wheat in every way he consx'rved. 
At the same time farmers are asked to feed and grow 
animals for food Avhich must he fattened on corn, which 
has been selling for around if2.70 i)er bushel and .$n.S 
per ton for cornmeal. AAJiy has not the price of corn 
been fixed? Has the high price been cau.sed by specu¬ 
lators? If not, Avhat is the cause? k. ii. p. 
New York. 
AVe sent that question to th.e Food Administrjition 
Grain Corporation and received the folloAving reply: 
Let us see: Air. Hoover rexpiested last year the 
.‘luthority to trade in all food necessaries. Congress 
finally pas.st'd a bill which allowed actual trading in 
“wheat, flour, meal, beans and j>otatoe.s.” In wheat, 
which was the one cereal allowed to be traded in, the 
price has been stabilized, the distribution expialized, and 
gradually the price of Avheat has been refiectxal closely 
in flour and mill-stuffs. I Avonder if your particular 
correspondent realizes that on December 25 a new mill¬ 
ing regulation went in whi(*h rexpiired mills to sell in 
carload lots bran, f. o. b. mill at .'IS per cent of the cost 
of wheat per ton. In New York State conditions should 
make bran somewhere around .$28 per ton, plus the cost 
of sacks, at the mill. 
The rest of his lettei*, as to why the price of corn h.-is 
not been fixed, is answered by our statement above, that 
the Food Control Bill carried no authority for fixing 
the prices, nor for trading in anything but the five 
articles mentioned above. Julius ir. iiakxes, 
Prx'sident. 
We do not see that this Is an ansAver to the (pie.s- 
tion. Our correspondent does realize tluit bran oufjht 
to sell at about .$28 per ton, but ho also knows that 
he cannot buy it for any such price. On the day this 
letter AA'as received Avheat bran aa-us (pioted herx* at 
.$4.2, Avith the following statement: ‘"The Govrni- 
■menTs price on Western hran is $37.8~) per ton, hut 
VO business has been heard of at this flpurer It 
looks as if this feed price proposition is handled by 
men Avho figure that ought to spells is. 
A Farm Census for New York 
On Fxffiruary G another census of tin; agricxiltural 
resources of New York State will be taken. This is 
under the direction of the State FfM)d Commission and 
the County Farm Bureaus. The figures will be collect(*d 
hy the school children all oA’er New York. Blanks Avill 
be sent to every district, and will be filled out so as to 
cover returns from every farm in the State. ’The figures 
Avill show the number of farm workers, as compared with 
a year ago, the number draftx'd, those who have gone 
from farming into other industries, and tho.se who have 
come back to the farm. It will show the number of 
cows, horses, sheep and SAvine as compared with a year 
ago, ,‘ind idso comparative figures covering grain, pota¬ 
toes and fruit. One of the be.st features will be the 
statistics shoAving the location of seeds, implements, live 
stock and similar farm necessitie,s which are offered for 
sale. The figures aaoII be arranged at oiicx*, and sent to 
every fanner in the State. ’Phe great value of this will 
ht“ not oidy in knowing just where we stand in regard to 
food supplies, but just where seed.s or live stock can be 
purchased or deliv(‘i*<'d from om; farmt'i* to another. For 
instance, if a man have a .stock of ))otatoes good enough 
for seed purposes, his name .-ind addre.ss, and what he 
has for sale, Avill be brought to the attention of every 
f.umei in New York. The transfer of goods in thi.s Avay 
A\ ill be made easy, and a grx'at busiiu'ss can be done. 
This feature alone will be of inun(*nse value to Nxhv 
T oik farmxu’s, and they should take .'ulviintage of this 
census. AA hen you list 10 bushels of (‘oi'n good enough 
for seed, you may benefit another farmer in a distant 
corner of the State, and he in his turn may offer jada- 
toes, dairy cows or sheep, which will i>rove just what 
you want. The census also makes a good drill for the 
schoed children. They will learn how to collect figures 
of this sort, and studying these figures and putting them 
together Avill bx* made a part of their busy .schx)ol woj*k. 
It is a good thing, and every farmer may wx‘ll help 
it along. 
Farmers and Canning Prices 
The farmers of Orleans and Niagara Counties. N. Y.. 
have decixled that they still have a right to*carry tlu'ir 
heads erect and be men among men. They, with the aid 
of farm bureau members and delegates from the Granges 
of the two x*x)unties, have met and established prices on 
the different factory crops to be raised thi.s .sea.son, based 
on the cost of production in B)17, namely: Corn,',$17.50 
per ton; tomatx)es, .$20; peas, .$75. .Since the factorix's 
located in thi.s section, although corn has risen from .20 
cents per hushel in carload lots to the prxxsent price, 
sweet cx)rn has advanced only about $2 per ton. The 
above plan was adopted after the canners refu.sed to 
meet the farmers to establish equitable prices, they 
claiming that th(>y would not establi.sh prices until the 
I’ooxl Axlministratx)!* had given them orders. The farm¬ 
ers would not concede to this, claiming that the prices 
set on wheat and hogs are unjust, therefore detrimental 
to the farmers, and without doubt will be to the govern¬ 
ment, for the .setting of prices is creating a si)irit X)f di.s- 
like toward government polixues. Carl Parker, Porter's 
Corners; AT. L. Hakes, Gaim‘s, and Lyman Holman. 
Yates, are the men selected to circulate the ironxlad 
agreement in Orleans County, which is being signed by 
nearly all grx)wers. Air. Holman reports that the I.ock- 
port and Aliddleport factories have decided to pay the 
above prix*e for tomatoes. u u' c 
Albion. N. Y. 
