561 
The Problem of Milk Distribution 
III the city of Schenectady hottled pastouvized 
milk is heins delivered to consumers in ((uavt bottles 
at 11 cents per rpiart, and in pint bottles at 12 cents 
per (luart. In the city of Xew York the consumer 
jiays 14 cents for quarts and at the rate of 10 cents 
in )>ints. Tn either case the producer sets cents 
l.er «iuart. The New York cousnmer pays three cents 
in f[uarts and four cents in pint bottles more than 
the S<-henectady consumer pays. 
'I’he Board of Health of the city of Xew York re¬ 
ports that children are nsins toji, coffee and beer 
as a substitute for milk, and that 21<>,000 school chil¬ 
dren are anemic and sick for lack of nourishment. 
They particularly need milk. More than OdO.POO 
other children, the report says, are on the brink of 
Illness for want of milk. The report is made by 
doctors, and the complaint is made that there are 
not doctors enoush in the city employ to attend to 
all the cases. Children are starving, and the best 
that is recommended is more doctors to visit them 
at imblic expense and tell them they are hungry I It 
does not seem to have occurred to the city i»rofes- 
sional oflicials that hungry children need milk more 
than the.v need drugs. l\Iilk is cheap at the soni-ce. 
ami the money paid doctors for one visit would 
deliver milk enough to feed them for a month. But 
lh(' milk trust controls delivery charges now; and 
when the case is between starving children and the 
milk trust, the verdict is registered in advance in 
favor of the trust. The dealers tell us that there is 
loo much milk. The city children think there is not 
enough. The milk costs oi/o cents at the country 
sbijiping station. Tt costs 14 I'cnts at the consumer’s 
d.)or. The dealer gets 81/2 oxtortion is 
prescribed by the Federal Milk Commission. Tt is 
ai.in-oved by the State Food Commission, and is 
sanctioned by the spokesman of the Dairymen’s 
l.eague. 
When the Broducers’ Milk Distributors’ Associa¬ 
tion and the Country iVlilk Com])any were formed as 
subsidiaries of the League, some producers could not 
see how it could he a danger. They now begin to 
realize that these subsidiaries are milk distributors. 
They are to all intents and purposes a part of the 
trust. They conform to the trust prices and regu¬ 
lations. Tt is to the interest of their oflicers to keep 
up the cost of distributinii, Just as it is to the in¬ 
terest of other dealers to do the same thing. The 
bigger the ilitfercmce between the producer and cou¬ 
snmer the better for them. They get personal revenue 
out of it. Of course they will sanction prices that 
will help their busim^ss, and rules that make their 
business easy and jn’otitable. 
'Phe business of the T.eagne is to develop a de¬ 
mand for milk and to establish a ])rice for the sale 
of it. The League escapes res])onsibility for the 
jirices by turning tbat function ovtn' to a. Federal 
Milk Commis.sion, dominated by dealer interests, Tt 
cannot develo]) a largm* demand for milk without 
reducing the cost of distribution. Tbis function it 
turns over to subsidiary companies, and their in¬ 
terests are to kei'p the cost of distribution high. 
'Phey. too, pay salaries to oflicers of the League. 
It seemed at first that a mere riTerence to these 
conditions would l»e enough to correct them. ’Phe 
jiroducers in control of these federatiul plants at 
shipping centers know little about city conditions. 
'Phey do not realize the drift of this movement. 'We 
do not believe they look for any advantage to tlunn- 
selves. Tn the long run as they weaken the in¬ 
fluence of the League they would undoubte<lly be the 
heaviest lo.sers. But milk producers must not let 
anything weaken their organization. Tt is their 
only salvation. Tt is more important than any man 
or any set of men. The T.eague has great possibili¬ 
ties; but a member of the milk trust will never de- 
v(‘lop them. 
Improve the Primary Nominations 
'Pliose of us who fought hardest and most hope¬ 
fully for State primary elections must acknowledge 
that the primary law has not worked out as we 
hojied it would. The purpose was to take the nomi¬ 
nation of candidates for public oflice out of the 
bands of party leaders, and the naming of candi¬ 
dates of political parties by the voters themselves. 
If the voters used their privileges the result would 
be attained. As a matter of fact only about one 
voter in 10 ever goes near the primary, and the re¬ 
sult is that the politicians have more certain con¬ 
trol of the nominations of party candidates than 
under the old convention system. Men in control of 
the party machinery get out enough votes tp nomi¬ 
nate the man de.signated by the party machinery, 
and without the expenditure of a large sum of 
money no independent candidate could under or¬ 
ZTiOc RURAL NEW-YORKER 
dinary circumstances hope to compete with the 
choice of the politicians who have the jiarty ma¬ 
chinery in control. 'Phe only exceptions we can 
recall are the cases of Clark Nesbitt in Delaware 
<’ounty last Fall and Senator Bennett in New York 
City in his contest for the mayoralty nomination 
against Majmr ^litchel. 'Phe Delaware case was 
most significant. The primary vote was large be¬ 
cause the voters turned out under the in.spiration 
of the case, but under ordinary circumstances the 
vote is .small and the party leaders get out enough 
votes to control the nominations. 
The thing to do. however, is to improvi> the 
primary law; and not to destroy it, as some of the 
politicians propose. 'Phe primary law fails liecause 
the citizens do not go to the voting places and ex¬ 
press their choice for candidates. The reimsly is. to 
induce a full primary vote. Just as we now have a 
Dec. 1, 1913, to Nov. IS, 1914 
Per Box Per Cent 
Fruit on Tree (all varieties 
oraniteK) .. 
.$1,150 
25.9 
Harvesting .. . 
.106 
Packing .. . . . 
M .325 
/.3 
Selling ......— — . -.. 
.. .052 
..$1.6.L3 
36.8 
Freight and Refrigeration.. 
.. .927 
21.0 
F. 0. B. Market. 
..$2,560 
57.8 
Jobber’s Gross Margio... . 
.. .390 
8.8 
Tobber's Selling Price. 
..$2,950 
66.6 
KetatleFa Gro.ss Margin. 
.. 1.480 
33.4 
Consumer Paid . .. 
100.0 
fipTittliiff the (fousum 
Dec. 1, 1914, to Nov. 15, 1915 
Per Box Per Cent 
Fruit on Tree (all varieties ^ , 
oranges) ...$1,705 34.6 
Harvesting .. .106 2.2 
Selling ... 
.... .057 
1.2 
F. 0 . B. California. 
..„$^.193 
44.6 
Freight and Refrigeration. 
.937 
19.0 
F. 0 . B. Market. 
....$3.13 
63.6 
Jobber’s Cross Margin. 
.41 
8.3 
Jobber's Selling Price. 
....$3.54 
71.9 
Retailer's Gro^s Margin.... 
.... 1.38 
,28.1 
Consumer Pai<!.,. 
....$4.02 
100.0 
er'.9 
full registration. We can simplifv the whole ebn;- 
tiou machinery and secure the desin'd result by 
doing away with the sejiarate ri'gistralion entirely. 
Make the vote in the primary take the i>la<'e of the 
registration. No one could then vote at the general 
election unless he had voted in the primary. He 
cannot vote now without registration. We w<mld 
simply do away with the extra registration ami 
secure an expression of voter's choice for candi¬ 
dates for his own party. Thirty b'aders will object 
to this, because under such a system they would 
lose control of the nominations. What llu'y would 
lose the rest of the people would g.-iin. 
Chas. H. Betts, the Human Wonder 
The Man Who Knows It All 
I desire for your information, for the information of 
the readers of 'Tiik B. N.-Y., and for mankind in gen¬ 
eral, to state that a most wonderful discovery has been 
made. .V man has been found who knows aU about 
farming. Agriculture from this day will ho as an open 
book : nature has yielded all the secrets of ci’op produc¬ 
tion to mortal man. All knowledge of planting, .sowing, 
harvesting, marketing, fruit raising, stock breeding and 
the thousand other problems that have confused the 
mind of man since the day when the first garden was 
planted in Eden liave been solved. 'Phe iiatriotism and 
the unqualified desire for the uplifting of mankind, the 
upbuilding of agriculture, which is without question 
the sincerest wish of his heart, will render all of this 
infonnation accessible to the human family. It could 
not he otherwise. 
Mr. Charles II. Betts, secretary of the New York 
State Food Commission, is the one man in the world 
within whose brain rests this most wonderful knowledge. 
Mr. Betts talked on April 2d in the Education Building 
in Albany, N. Y., on the subject of food production and 
conservation for nearly an hour. I do not presume to 
question for an instant his sincenty or his desire to 
he interesting and instructive, Imt I do question the 
utility of his lecture. I do believe that a very large 
per cent of the lectures given, the work done by the 
various commissions, the bulletins printed and stiilT 
published in new.spapers on the subject are without 
value to the man who is actually producing the food—• 
the farmer, 
T remarked to Mr. Betts at the close of his lecture 
that he was sailing ivay in the clouds and over the heads 
of the farmer, and that if he wished to be of value to 
tlie man who is tilling the soil, he must come down to 
earth where the farming was actually done; that the 
farmer needed practical help and not theories; tliat the 
farmer wanted some assurance that he would receive 
a fair equivalent for his labor That his occupation wa.s 
one that required much knowledge and experience, and 
that words and theories were not of great value. It 
was then that I made the wonderful discovery to which 
T have referred. Mr. Betts replied, “I have been a 
farmer all my life, an'd know all about farming,” 
Jlr. Editor, you am making a very great mistake in 
opiiosing Mr. Betts in his membership on tlie Food 
Fommission. A man who “knows all about farming” 
is too valuable a man tliese days to be allowed to retii*e 
to private life. Fan it be possible that you are in¬ 
dulging in “ignorant criticism,” of which he said he 
had been the oliject? Mr. Editor, by all means get your¬ 
self riglit on this subject. Do not allow prejudice or 
spite to influence you in the publishing of your paiier. 
'Pile issue is too important. Now that the startling dis- 
covf'ry has been made, why not exploit it for the benolit 
of maukindV B. ii. woodworth. 
K. N.-Y.—This is indeed a wonderful discovery. It 
makes us think of the boy at college, 'Phe professor 
asked, “What is the Aurora Borealis?” The boy thought 
for a time and said : “Now I did know all about that, 
but it has slipped my mind.” The profes.sor held up 
both hands: “(Treat Heavens, what a loss to science! 
'Phe only man who ever knew all about the Aurora 
Borealis has forgotten it!” But is not this an added 
reason for asking Mr. Betts to resign? The man who 
knows it all is too large for that job. Ho should resign 
at once and let Congress appoint him master of the 
material universe. Mr. Betts is too modest to push 
himself up. And so we may ask for the eighth time: 
Whan are i/on going to resign? 
That 35-Cent Dollar 
'riiere are still people who say the 2 . 1 -ceiit dollar 
never existed. 'Palking about it is only “the vain 
repetition of an economic fallacy.” We shall have to 
Dec. 1, 1915, to Nov. 15, 1916 Dec. 1, 1916, to Nov. 15, 1917 
Per Box Per Cent 
Prult on Tree (*11 varieties 
oranges) . $1,978 
Harvesting .106 
Packingr ..-..32S 
Selling .. .064 
‘^Tf( 
Rel 
Freight and Kefrigeratn 
F. O. B. Market... 
Jobber*a Cross 
Tobber’a Selling Price...... 
Retailer's Cross Margin... 
Consumer Paid .. 
1:? 
tt 
..$2,473 
- .937 
111 
IIS 
Fruit on Tree (all varieties 
Per Box Per Cent 
Packing ....... 
Selling ........—................... 
F. O. B. California..... 
Freight and Refrigcratit 
F. O. B. Market.... 
Jobber's Margin . 
Tobber's Selling 
Retailer's Margin 
Consumer Paid .... 
,-.$1,621 
33.2 
... 106 
2.2 
... .325 
6.6 
... .061 
1.2 
...$2.1I3 
43.2 
... .937 
19.2 
..»3.0S 
.41 
‘ii 
IS:I 
..H89 
The. Wag It Looked in 1910-1017 
plead guilty of such repetition, for the (doser the 
trade relations between producer and consumer are 
figni‘e<l out the closer thi.s 85-cent dollar comes to ns. 
The trade in California citrus fruits has been re¬ 
duced to a business proposition under the most 
favorable conditions for co-operative work. If any 
producers were to get a larger share of the dollar 
it would certainly lie the inemlier.s of the California 
Emit ({rowers’ Exidiange. Yet the figures printed 
here show in the most .striking manner how the con¬ 
sumer's dollar is divided. The producers’ share in 
four years ran from 25.0 cents to 88.0, or an average 
of 88.1. cents. Tlie jobber ami retailer averaged 87.8 
cents. But for the co-operative hnsiness in shipping, 
still another middleman would have taken 10 cents 
more from the producer, 'riie figures siieak for them¬ 
selves, and It will pay to study them, 'riiis is the 
best showing that producers can make on such ship¬ 
ments—and what must it he when individuals try 
to sell such goods? 
Farm News for New York 
At a receut meeting of over t(X) rei>r<‘.sentative farm¬ 
ers of Toraidiins County, N. Y., members of the Farm 
Bureau Association, the Dairymen’s League and the 
({range, a re.sohitioii was passed recommending that 
Herbert Hoover take over the management of the 
Borden’s Milk Company immediately. 'Pliis followed 
the announcement of the repudiation by the Borden’s 
company of an agreement with the executive committee 
of the Dairymen’s League and the Federal Milk Com¬ 
mission. Another resolution jiassed by this body asked 
the executive committee of the League to organize a 
campaign to immediately increase the use of raw milk 
on the farm.s by requesting every member to use at 
least two quarts a day e.xtra. 'Phis would reduce the 
surplus of milk by over 2,500 cans a day. 
Broome County is in a bad tangle, having had its 
recommendation for a farm labor specialist ignorcil. 
while the appointive powers sent to them a former 
barber and cigar packer, having no iirevions farm ex¬ 
perience, to .seiwe as the county’s labor specialist to 
eng.'ige in the work of securing experienced farm ludp 
from the factories of the county. 'The Farm Bureau 
refused to give him desired de.sk room, and sent a pro¬ 
test to the State officials against such political .selections. 
Ithaca’s valuable new salt mine is now ready to op¬ 
erate. 'Phe work of sinking an immense shaft has been 
going on since Octobei*, 1910, and is now done. A 
solid bed of salt 100 feet deep and 1,80.5 feet below the 
surface, only 100 feet from the shores of Cayuga Lake, 
will yield l,5fK) to 2,(X)0 tons of salt daily. 
Seventeen students have been graduated from Syra¬ 
cuse T'niver.sity as licensed milk testers, after six 
months’ training. Two of them obtained situations im- 
nu'diately. 
Sixty-five members of the ^loravia branch, of the 
Dairymen’s League went on strike Ajiril 1 and declai’ed 
they would deliver no more milk to the Standard Dairy 
Company of New York unless arrangements satis¬ 
factory L) the iiroduoers /•onld be made. 'Phe farmers 
will build a station of their own if the company does not 
come to terras', eipiipiied to make surplus milk into 
butter and cheese. 
'Phere i.s a rising market up State for good horses. 
At Mialone, a leading northern sliipping center. 12 
draught animals recently sold at auction for .$ 8 , 000 , an 
average price of $250 each. 'This is a new record for 
this section for horses that are not purebred stock. 
The animals had been used the past Winter in lumber¬ 
ing operations. 
Forty-five applications for loans have been asktnl <if 
the Onondaga branch of the T'ederal Fai'in Loan .\s- 
sociation, and have been favorably passed upon by the 
examiners. Eight of the loans have been accepted, and^ 
tlie money supplied. 'Phe aggregate amount of these 
loans is about .$ 2 (M). 000 . 
At a recent Senate convention of jioultry growers of 
the State it was said that New York’s egg production 
will be about 28.0()(1.()09 short in 1918. and the siqiply 
of hens about 4.rki(K()()0 short. Dean Mann of Cornell 
TJniversity said the poultry situation of the State was 
very serious. At a recent State-wide conference of 
agriculturists in Ithaca, for the purpo.se of adopting a 
tCfuitinucd on page .5(55) 
