974 
things to the iiser be so expensive?'’ Simply becaiise 
we are doing the booby’s job in a l)ooby’s way, using 
no brains whatever in the task. We have neglected 
to systematize, co-ordinate and moI)ilize delivery 
v;ork, being satisfied to use the crude, old-fashioned, 
dnefficient marketing methods in vogue fi-om the be¬ 
ginning of civilization. As a consequence we are 
paying from ^2 to ?10 for the delivery of products 
that cost only $1, or, to state it in man-power, we are 
using from two to 30 man-power to deliver a one 
man-power px-oduct. 
A NEW SYSTEM NEEDED. — What is the 
remedy? A new and scientific marketing system 
V’hich will carry the product in a straight lino from 
the farm, packing-house and factory to the ])antry. 
eliminating thereby all waste labor. How can this 
be done? By systematizing, co-ordinating and mobil¬ 
izing the bool)y's job of carrying things. The Federal 
'jovernment already has in operation :in organiza¬ 
tion for this very purpo.se, called the post otlice, 
which furnishes a delivery service, very satisfactory 
and quite inexpen.sive. There is I'eally no e.ssential 
difference lietween the delivery of a postal card and 
a pound of butter or any .other food. The scojxe of 
the I'ostal service, therefoi’e, should be (mlai'ged so 
as to include the delivei'y of all foodstuffs. Inas¬ 
much as the food delivery would be consolidated 
with the mail delivery, this extension should be 
called a “postal market.” Milk, groceries, farm 
px'oduce and all other foods would be delivered 
along with the mail, thus saving a great many 
■sxiiarate trips by different cariiers. The National 
''Jovernment alread.v has a deiiartment in charge of 
the trans])ortation system of the country, which is 
the big factor in the tran.smission of foods fi*om the 
producer to the consumei’. To establish the postal 
market, therefore, it would only be necessai’y to co¬ 
ordinate this dei)artment with the T>ost office delivery 
S'-rvice, and build or rent a building suitable for a 
market house neai’ the post otlice, where ovei\vthing 
uould be handled in standard i)ackages and standard 
grades. People could visit this market and carry 
liome their purchases or they could order l)y tele¬ 
phone, specifying the .gi-ades desired and have it 
sent out on the i-egular mail delivery and be sure of 
getting just what was wanted, fidie chai-ge for this 
delivery service would be'just suflicient to cover the 
actual cost of hauling the ])roduct from the farm, 
packing-house or factory to the jiantry, via the 
postal m.ai'ket. This would be a trifling sum com¬ 
pared to the present ]irices. Some idea of the saving 
that would I'esult therefrom may be obtained from 
the experience of IMayor Shank who, by partially 
straightening out the path between the pi-oducer and 
the consumer, cut down the delivery charge on 40 
cents worth of potatoes from $1.00 to ,1.5 cents. The 
postal market could do much better than that, owing 
to its superior fa'-ilities and efiieiency. The delivery 
service then would not cost more than 10 or 15 cents 
on the dollai’, or to state it in terms of man-powei*, 
one man could deliver the product of 10 men, which 
would be a complete revei*sal of the present system. 
FACILITIE.S at ri.VND.—The Food Administra¬ 
tion has an organization, city, county. State and 
I'ational, ready at hand to take charge of this work. 
The local food director would act as market ma.ster 
aixd instead of ad\ ising othei-s how to do the woi*k, 
at pi-esent. would do it himself with a corps of 
assistants. Then the Food Administration would be 
in a position to enforce its regulatiojis in regard to 
the use of sugar, fats, meats, etc, which it is unable 
to do now with .any degree of certainty. The con¬ 
solidation of food delivery with mail delivery would 
xjecessarily abolish the grocery business. No doubt 
some gi'ocers would object, but most of them arc too 
loyal and patriotic to hampei' the Government in its 
hour of peril and obstruct the path to victory by 
opposing the adoption of a new and better plan 
which would enable their work to be done with 
fewer men. To complete the mobilization of the 
delivery service the recently foi-med American Ex¬ 
press Company should be mei-ged w’lth and utilized 
by the postal market. With such a centralized, sys¬ 
tematized and lu'opei'ly mobilized delivei’y service a 
vast amount of man-power would be .set free and 
made available for war purposes. 
NEEDED MAE-POWER.—The need of man-power 
is imperative; every ounce of it must be utilized to 
the best advantage. To do otherwise is to jeopai-dize 
democracy! Consequently the postal market should 
be adopted as a war measure if for no other reason. 
From a military point of view the nation in war 
time is divided into two armie.s, one at the front 
fighting the enemy, the other at home toiling to fur¬ 
nish the fighters with food, supplies and ammunition. 
Co-ordination of effort and mobilization of forces 
js just as essential in the home army as it is in the 
fighting unit, for the war has resolved itself into a 
i37>c RURAL NEW-YORKER 
race for efficiency. Germany has held the world at 
bay for four years solely by her superiorit.v in this 
itsi)ect. If the Fnited State.s hope.s to win she must 
surpass hoi- enemy in efficiency. She luust take up 
every bit of economic slack in every line of work 
and in every place possible. There is no better op¬ 
portunity of saving man-power offered than in sys¬ 
tematizing, co-ordinating and mo))ilizing the booby’s 
job of carrying things to the user. If this is done 
by establishing a post.al market the mobility of the 
home army will be enhanced manyfold and a v;ist 
army of men will be made av.-iilable for the final and 
decisive drive which is to make the world safe for 
democracy. j{ oimEXE. 
Indiana. 
Collar Rot and Fire Blight 
■ ■'HE 1 ennsylvaniji .State Exjieriment .Station has 
issued Bulletin 316 on collar-blight and re¬ 
lated forms of^tire-blight. Wherever Ave go Ave find 
apple trees showing injury from the last Winter. 
There are others showing blight, although .some¬ 
times this disease is confused Avith the appeai'auce 
of the tree suffering from Winter injury. In the 
Tree Affec/ed with Collar Rot. Fig. Jf7G 
bulletin just mentioned, the .synii)toms of this blight 
are described as follows: 
The curly sj’mptoins of collar-blight are xisiudlv evi¬ 
dent during the growing sea.sou by a more of less 
unheahhy appearance of the foliage. The leaves aiipear 
j eliow ish and smaller on one or more of the large limbs 
as contrasted Avith normal foliage. When infected areas 
on the trunk progress slowly and extend through two or 
or more seasons, the foliage, especially on that side of 
■', ? affected, is rather sparsely deA'eloped. .Since 
this ellect on the fidiage is rather gradual, it does not 
result in the wilting.or drying of the leaves in contrast 
to tire-blight infection of twigs. The ultimate effect on 
pe foliage in all cases is the premature falling of the 
jeuA'cs. 
The general yellowing of the foliage facilitates the 
lecogmtion of infected trees during the growing season. 
On examination of the collar of such tree.s there Avill 
be touiid a sunken are.a of A'ariable size, depending uiioii 
the time AA^hieh has elapsed since infection took place. 
The picture at Fig. 47(1. taken from tbi.s bulletin, 
fellows lioAv the trunk of the tree is affected by this 
collar-blight. It i.s different frqm Winter injury, 
and fiom .root-rot, Avhiidi attacks a number of apple 
tree.s. Winter injury usually occurs on the south¬ 
west side of the tree.s. In this the bark and cam¬ 
bium are certainly killed by freezing. In this case 
the intei’-injured bark aa’III often sjdit, loosen and 
loll back fi’om the sap Avood, but there is a diffei’ence 
ii’ the aiipearance of thi-s bai’k from that found in 
collar-blight. This di.sease is CA’identlj’ caused by a 
para.sitic organism. 
Some varieties are more susceptible to collar- 
blight than other.s. This bulletin states that Grimes, 
Baldwin and York Imiiei-ial are quite su.sceptible to 
the disea.se. We have found Sutton and King among 
the Avorst varieties in this respect, Avhile Avith us 
BaldAvin has not been .seriously troubled. This bulle¬ 
tin states that the disea.se is more seA’ei’e on trees 
Avhich have received heavy application of stable 
manure or other forms of nitrogen. Mulching seems 
to be conducive to the aixpearance of collai’-blight. 
Anything Avhich induces a Amry rapid groAvth is 
favoi’able to the disease. It is thought that culti¬ 
vation may be responsible for the spread of collar- 
blight. Wounds made at the collar and at the roots 
by the cultivator may .serve as a place for entrance 
August 17, 1918 
of the di.sease. It seems that top-AA’orked or budded 
trees are not so commonly attacked. The average 
age of trees in I’ennsylvania at the time of the 
infection by collar-blight is betAveen 12 and 13 years. 
It is felt that collai’-blight, like the other forius of 
fire-blight, m<a.A’ be carried b}’’ insects fi’om one ti’ee 
to .inothei. Ai)2)le borers ai’e CA'idently I'esponsible 
for much of this .spiead, and the holes they make 
probably oi)cn up au enti’ance for the disease. The 
AA'oolly aphis is also thought to be re.spon.sible for 
.some of the spread. Careless cultivation is also 
lesponsible and also the careless removal of suckers 
from the base of the ti’ee, or injui’ies by mice and 
rabbits. 
As fox tie.atment, if the tx’ce can be taken in time 
a surgical operation, much like filling a decayed 
t(>oth, Avill often .saA-e the tree. If the tree is more 
than half girdled it hai’dly seems AAise to attemjff 
saving it, unless the ti’eatment can be folloAved by 
bridge-gi’afting. To save such trees a heaA'y chisel 
and mallet are used. The .soil is dug from around 
the diseased collar and i-oots, and all the disea.sed 
roots should be taken out as completely as possible. 
1 two inches into the 
surrounding the disejised spot, 
bung careful to remove all infected tissue. Sterilize 
the surface of the aa-oiiiuI Avith corrosive sublimate (bi- 
ti-.foU mercury) 1 :1000 strength, or Avith concen- 
ti.ited hme-sulphur solution. The wound should be 
n-dry thoroughly, after which a thick coat of 
applied. After 
the l.attu’ has dried, the soil should be carefullv re- 
placed about the coll.‘ir. In the treatments of Avounds, 
(lillexent asphaltic compounds Avere experimented Avith 
and some proved very successful. Owing, however to 
effects of some asphaltic compounds, ’the 
authois hesitate to recommend tlieii- n.se until their 
safety has been established by more complete experi- 
preferable lead seems 
1 he bvilletin also discusse.s fire-blight. It is stated 
that there are four other forms of blight caused by 
the same organism that causes collar-blight. The.se 
are known as blo.s.som, fruit, twig and canker-blight. 
Wai’in, moist AA’eather is most favorable for that 
dcA’clopment, and the common tire-blight may be 
•seen on many ti’ees. Where- there are only a foAV 
trees all infected parts should be cut out jiromptly. 
The cut should be made .six inches below any signs 
of blight on the bark, and all cuts .should be dis¬ 
infected Avith corrosiA’e .sublimate, one tablet dis¬ 
solved in one pint of Avater. Df course, this treat¬ 
ment Avould not be po.ssible in lai’ge orchards in a 
season like the present, Avhere it is imi)ossible to 
perform even the oi’dinary oi’chard operation.s. On 
smaller jdace.s, however, much of this Avork can he 
done, and this will help by ])rcventing a breeding 
place for the di.sea.se. 
Co-operative Milk Industry in Connecticut 
A Model plant.—T here is now located in 
Bridgeport Avhat is knoAvn as “The Farmei-.s’ 
Dairy Company,” having been estahli.slied in 1917. 
'ihe idant is on a quiet, .shaded street, out of the 
congested district, and easily accessible to the 
f.iimers fi’om all sections of the surrounding coun¬ 
try, both by rail and highways. The iiderior of 
the building is sanitation it.self, and an air of en¬ 
thusiasm, good feeling and co-operation prevails in 
overy department. I'he emidoyees at AA'ork reminds 
one of a large, happy family, all trying to do the 
tiling Avhich Avill be.vt con.ser\’e the intere.s'ts of the 
Avhole. ’Fhe result of this co-operation, together Avith 
the cleanliness of eA-erything in the plant, is that 
tlie consumers enjoy the purest milk possible to 
obtain. The .stock is OAvned exclmsively by farmers, 
and is limited to 20 shares each. Stock is $50 per 
fehaie. All of the dix’ectox’.s of the company are 
farmers. 
THE beginning.— Originally about 300 farmerii 
x'liited Avith the idea of giving the consumer “punfied 
milk, and at the same time px’otecting themselves 
from milk speculators; their object aauxs not to 
freeze the dealers out, but to have a central pasteur- 
izing plant, and sell direct to the dealers from the 
jilant. The farmers Avithin a radius of 40 miles 
xe.sponded to the idea, and xioav more than 450 farm¬ 
ers carry their milk to the plant, Avhich began opera¬ 
tions October 1, 1917. Milk is bought by the quart, 
at one-fourth of a cent above Ncav York prices, 
bought on the League, During the first feAv months 
of operation, the company found itself in financial 
difficulties oAving in a degree to mi.smanagement, 
and the developing of a xieAV idea, and the fate of 
the plant sAvung in the balance; but the farmers, 
realizing what the plant meant to them, .stood by 
loyally, hard pres.sed as they Avere, not one Avith- 
draAving his .support; and noAV the plant i.s in full 
SAA'ing, Avith a rapidly increasing output, and the 
faxmers hope soon to see the plant Avox’king to 
capacity, Avhich is 40,000 quarts per nine-hour day. 
The output at present is 24,000 quai’ts per day. All 
