229 
Cos; of Growing Tomatoes 
Now comes Mr. Forsythe on page 207 with a 
statement of his cost of growing tomatoes. Sup¬ 
pose lie had not kept any such figures, and the 
canners offered him $25 per ton for this year's crop. 
How could he know whether he should accept that 
price or not? The price of 1% cent a pound may 
seem high to people who in past years have sold for 
less than half as much, but a farmer must now 
consider a price not by its size but by the margin 
it offers between above tlie cost of production. And 
there is no reason why this price should not be 
figured on tlie same basis as that employed by man¬ 
ufacturers. The canner why buys these tomatoes 
will figure out his cost and include “overhead,” a 
good sum for depreciation and a wide margin of 
profit. That is his cost, and he will not do business 
unless he can get all of it and a profit. No one 
blames him for looking out for his own interests, 
and he has no right to blame the farmer for figuring 
in the same way. Until we come to figure out these 
costs of production many farmers kept their busi¬ 
ness going simply through the unpaid labor of 
women and children. A good share of their unpaid 
labor simply helped to support a lot of useless mid¬ 
dlemen. The truckers of South Jersey must get 
together, agree upon the cost of production, and 
then stand out for a price which gives them that 
cost and a profit. 
League Members and the Strike 
Now that the smoke of battle is over dairymen 
are anxious to express their own views of the strike 
and its effects. It is a hopeful sign in any organization 
when the members take a personal interest in its af¬ 
fairs, and the more they are encouraged to discuss its 
policies and principles the better it will be in our 
judgment for the organization. During the last two 
weeks the volume of correspondence on the subject 
has been unusually large. The following letters are 
fairly representative of the volume received. 
I am enclosing a circular letter received with our 
December milk check. A nice lot of “bunk,” in my opin¬ 
ion. I suppose they think it all right for the dairymen 
to produce milk for less than cost of production, but 
when flic “shoe is on the other foot” there is nothing do¬ 
ing. If reports are true, the condenseries were making 
$2 per 100 on the milk they bought this past season, 
which surely must mean cost plus 10 per cent and “then 
some.” The dairymen in this section are standing “pat” 
to a man, cheese factories are working overtime, and 
separators, too. c. it. L. 
Forestvilie, N. Y. 
I am enclosing a statement which the International 
51 ilk Products Co. sent out with the checks for Janu¬ 
ary 20 to farmers of Middleville and vicinity. Please 
note the last line, that they cannot pay the price with¬ 
out loss, and if forced to do so they would have no choice 
but to close down the plant. Isn’t that a triumph for 
the Dairymen’s League? Farmers have decided at last 
that they cannot produce milk at. a loss, and the weeks 
just past have proved to us that it isn’t necessary. We 
respectfully submit that if their contention is true they 
would better close down their plants, since that is the 
only remedy open for them. Certainly they cannot got 
the milk for loss, and no one expects thorn to lose any 
money in the milk business. Are we trying to produce 
milk in competition with other States? Are we not, 
rather, through the medium of the League, joining hands 
with other States to obtain a price that will keep our 
own babies clothed while we feed the infants of the me- 
lopolis? 
Do you knmv. I think the milk fight is not won—we 
have had two skirmish battles, and the last one, of 
Course, has proved to our enemy the strength, solidity 
and unity of the organization they are fighting, but no 
distributor or company of distributors, can be expected 
to give up thus easily the profits that have overrun their 
pockets all these years, and all these little scraps so far 
will he as nothing to the big fight they will stage some 
day for our overthrow. Of course we know that we 
have only to stick together, hut I feel it in my hones 
that more is coming, and it will be well to he pi-epared. 
u. L. w. 
“ A Doubtful Victory ” 
The above is the caption of an editorial in the New 
York Tribune today. It calls in question the claim of 
the Dairymen’s League to have won in the recent milk 
strike, and goes on to say that a victory in some cases 
may he worse than a defeat, and is likely in the long 
run to work injury to the best interests of the dairymen. 
It strikes me that this light has much in common with 
the European war. Germany set out to overrun Europe. 
She failed. You cannot say that the German army was 
destroyed or even routed. When the armistice was 
signed she still held in hand a tremendous military 
force. The New York milk combination set out to 
destroy and annihilate the Dairymen’s League. They 
failed. They still have their organization and business, 
and the Dairymen's League is none the worse for its 
plucky tight in defense of its rights. Who won out? 
Dutchess Co., N. Y. H. v. D. seed. 
Did the annual meeting of the League vote to pool 
all the milk of members in a strike so that all would 
be paid alike whether their milk was sold or held? 
Some members have claimed that they did. It seems 
unfair that some members should have a market at full 
price and others be obliged to hold the milk and virtually 
lose it. Some plants in Orange County are not yet 
shipping on the 27th. and others are held up yet for 
lack of cans. With the loss during the strike and re¬ 
duced prices during February and March we have no 
need to worry about the income tax. j. F. 
New York. 
At the annual meeting in T’tica in 1017 towards 
the close of the meeting it was voted to lay a reso¬ 
Ctte RURAL NEW-YORKER 
lution on the table which provided that all members 
should receive the same returns for milk under 
similar conditions, whether it was sold for consump¬ 
tion or held because of a surplus or a strike. But 
our correspondent probably refers to the following 
resolution which was adopted at the last annual 
meeting in Jersey City: 
“10. That we urge our League, to devise and adopt 
a method by which all members contributing to the 
support of the League- teceive equal benefits; that those 
members whose milk is sold at League prices be re¬ 
quired to contribute to a special fund controlled by the 
League and used to reimburse those members whose 
milk, because of a surplus, the League is unable to sell 
at League prices.” 
This does not refer particularly to a strike, but 
it seems to give the administration authority, if not 
direction, to make adjustments on a basis equitable 
to all. 
February and March at a Loss 
I am one of the hundreds of common farmers who 
know full well that it costs exactly as much to produce 
milk in February and March as it does in December 
and January, and I am one of many hundreds of far¬ 
mers throughout the State who do not approve of the 
February and March prices for milk. I see where the 
real farmer has been out and injured, because for 
February we receive here $3.44 in the 150-mile zone. 
We should receive $3.94, to get even the cost of pro¬ 
duction. Hence it is easily noticeable that we are 
losing 50 cents on every 100 pounds of milk we pro¬ 
duce. For March in this zone we receive $3.21 per 100 
pounds. Allowing, which is absolutely a fact, that it 
costs just as much to produce milk in March as it does 
in December and January, we must produce milk at an 
absolute loss of 73 cents per 100 pounds. We feel here 
in Herkimer County that we have lost three-quarters 
of January completely, and we now have the prospect 
of producing at a loss during February and March. 
New York. producer. 
Cows are Being Sold 
The milk strike is settled, and officials say the League 
lias won the fight. To us, the rank and file of the 
members back on the farms, who have stood loyally bv 
the League through those 18 long days, taking a loss 
on an average of $5 per cow, the dealers are the ones 
who have won. We get the cost of production for six 
days, and tjje dealers make the price for (10 days. 
According to the argument as printed in the papers we 
arc to make and deliver milk to the dealers in February 
for 50 cents per hundred less than it will cost us to 
make it, and in March for 70 cents less. Under these 
conditions do you wonder the farmer feels that the 
dealers have won? I can tell you one thing is certain. 
The consumers of New York will in a short time realize 
the dealer has won and they themselves have made a 
mistake. From every railroad station up-State here 
the cattle are leaving by the carload. Right here where 
I live, a little town of a few hundred inhabitants, since 
the first of January 15 or 20 carloads have gone, and 
it is going to keep right up from every station. With 
every load of cows go double the number of calves. No 
one thinks of raising calves now. What do they want 
to raise a calf for now? They want to get rid of them 
and their cows too. To keoji them is to lose money. 
I have a dairy whose production will average about 
10,000 pounds of milk a year each. x. c. 
New York. 
I cannot sec how the settlement of the strike is a 
victory. Producers are heavy losers for January and 
succeeding months, according to terms of settlement. 
Dealers’ profits are assured. A League official says 
that when there is a surplus the Warren formula is 
impractical, hut his only information as to surplus 
comes from the distributors. Milk trains serving this 
section of Washington County carried, through strike. 
50 per cent of normal load, owing to League’s policy 
of releasing to conference board members who were 
willing to pay $4.01. e. j. x. 
The second milk strike has been won on grounds 
never before won by any other organization. As near 
as I can make out less than one-quarter of the League 
members won the strike. If the members of the League, 
62,000 in number, having 700.000 cows, can win a strike 
letting more than three-quarters of the members sell 
their milk in 10 days, how long would it have taken to 
win it if one-lialf of the members had held their milk? 
Some lost a good deal of money, while their neighbors 
made some money at the same time. This looks hardly 
fair, as the same ones will do the losing every time 
there is a strike, as they sell to the “big” dealers. They 
are getting tired bearing the brunt, while their neighbors 
make all the money. Many about here who sold their 
milk arc ready to divide with those who could not sell. 
The League sold the milk of more than three-fourths 
of its members and asked less than one-fourth its mem¬ 
bers to hold. Nearly everybody did as requested. Why 
should not the League levy a tax on those who profited 
by selling and divide it among those who lost? Then 
hereafter when the League asked some to hold and 
others to sell they would do it more willingly. Some 
say they will not hold again while others sell if they 
have to lose it all. Then why should not all have the 
same protection? Think of a union labor organization 
going on such an unequal basis! Think of a neighbor¬ 
hood where 18 farmers sold their milk, while five were 
held up and not permitted to sell! These reflections 
are from the country. If the League will do the follow¬ 
ing we will never have another milk strike: 1. Spread 
the facts concerning the value of milk and the farmers’ 
side before the city people. 2. Do a little missionary 
work fai tlier back than the League reaches. 3. Have 
places to manufacture the surplus below the last ship¬ 
ping station on each railroad. g. t. l. 
New Jersey. 
A Grange Favors State Police 
At the regular meeting of Lowville, N. Y.. Grange, 
No. 71. P. of II.. on January 25, a live Grange whose 
membership exceeds 300 and is rapidly growing, a mem¬ 
bership made up of the best element in this locality, we 
took action strongly against Governor Smith’s action 
urging the repeal of the State police law. Many fine 
testimonials of service by the State police were brought 
up at this meeting, and the feeling was so strong that 
the lecturer was requested to write to Tiie IL N.-Y., 
and the secretary was instructed to put in a strong pro¬ 
test to the Senator and Assemblyman from this district, 
and directly to the Governor himself. Mention was 
also made that it is a fact that the fines collected by the 
State police in their regular work practically equal the 
amount appropriated for their salaries and maintenance. 
This is not usually mentioned or given any credit by the 
opposerc, who have so much to say in regard to the nec¬ 
essary large appropriation for the State police. 
We in rural communities surely have as much right to 
part of the benefit derived from some of these large ex¬ 
penditures as the city folk who have police and many 
more costly and far less important protections. As for 
the man who drove several thousand miles through the 
State and only saw one policeman, what did he expect? 
That they would all line up along the broad highway 
that they might see him pass, or that they would be 
quietly going about their own business, whether casual 
passersby saw them or not? If you care to publish this 
to help in your fight for a mighty good thing, the more 
than 300 people backing this statement would he pleased. 
ELIZABETH L. ARTHUR, 
Lecturer of Lowville Grange. 
Up-State Farm Notes 
NEW YORK STATE CROPS.—The Bureau of Crop 
Estimates for this State summarizes the 1918 crops of 
Winter wheat, buckwheat, beans and hay as giving 
rather low yields per acre. But the splendid harvest of 
Spring wheat, rye, oats, corn and barley made the com¬ 
bined production about average. The poorest crop of 
all was beans. In the other important bean States this 
crop averaged 10.3 bushels per acre. In New York 
nearly 10 per cent of the crop was not harvested, due 
to unfavorable weather, so that the average yield was 
8.o bushels per acre. Reports indicate that an average 
of eight pounds of beans per bushel must be removed 
as damaged, before the crop is fit to market. The 
acreage planted to Winter wheat is six per cent greater 
than the year previous, the greater increases being in 
the western part of the State. The rye acreage is three 
Per cent less than last Fall’s^ both crops are in fine 
condition. The State’s average yield of corn per acre 
was 36 bushels, as compared to the United States 
average of 24 bushels, while the tobacco yield per acre 
was 1,420 pounds as compared to the average of other 
States of 865 pounds. Oats average 41 bushels, as 
compared to a general average of 34.6 bushels, and 
Spring wheat 20, as compared to 16. With the great 
surplus of wheat of all kinds on hand and for next year 
farmers _will do well to plant lightly of Spring wheat 
the coming Spring. 
LIMESTONE RESULTS.—Broome County this year 
used 8.000 tons of limestone, an increase of 3,000 tons 
over the amount used a year ago The increase was due 
to the emphasis placed on its value by the county agent. 
One farmer applied a ton of finely ground limestone per 
acre in 1917 at the time of seeding. In 1918 the area 
produced 5,324 lbs. of hay. while the plot beside it, with 
no limestone, produced 4.017 lbs., or 1.307 lbs. in favor 
of the lime. Another farmer top-dressed hay land that 
had been mowed one year, with one-half ton of marl per 
acre. On the marled area he secured 4.200 lbs. of hay. 
and on an untreated area of equal size he had 2 160 
lbs., a difference of 2.040 lbs. Still another produced 
• >.324 lbs. of hay per acre on limed soil, as against 2.904 
lbs. on unlimed soil of similar quality. 
CHEAPER FOOD UNLIKELY.—This was stated 
by Calvin .T. TTuson of the State Food Commission at 
the Syracuse Tractor School last week. Cheap food is 
neither needed nor probable with the present price of 
farm labor, machinery, fertilizers and other necessary 
supplies, he said. lie stated that the Food Commission 
lound that many tractors were not operated to capacity 
because their owners were not fully capable to operate 
or repair them, and thought that the tractor schools 
would help to increase the amount of tractor work done. 
Dean Howe of the Syracuse College of Agriculture 
urged the building of tractors for hillside operation, and 
has devised one himself for this purpose, which is soon 
to be tested out. He believes the need of a movable 
weight or a movable motor for hillside work could he 
avoided. 
FARMERS’ MILK PLAN.—East Homer farmers 
were prepared for milk emergencies. A few years ago 
they built a modern shipping station, equipped for 
making cheese and butter. They had leased it to a 
distributor with the stipulation in the contract that 
the plant returned to their possession whenever the dis¬ 
tributor did not take their milk. So for over two weeks 
they made up their own milk and some for nearby pro¬ 
ducers, and they have sold their cheese at 34 ‘cents 
having produced 8.500 pounds. These men lost little if 
anything by the strike. Cortland dairymen are plan¬ 
ning to lease and equip the old Sears cheese factory for 
their own future protection. Cayuga Countv now has 
a 100 per cent membership of farmers in the Dairymen's 
League, the last community to organize being Kings 
Ferry, where 50 milk producers joined. There are 19 
branches of the League in this county. Dairymen of 
McLean, Groton and West Danbury, in Tompkins 
County, voted to donate 41 cents per 100 pounds to 
needy farmers who were hit by the price war on milk 
Two public milk stations for the benefit of the city’s 
poor are to be operated in Syracuse, due to the efforts 
Mayor Stone. This city is considering the building 
of a centrally located municipal milk .plant. Senator 
IT. .T. Walters of Onondaga Countv. Assemblyman I F 
Rice aud Senator C. R. Lusk of Cortland County. 
Senator F. B. .Tenks of Broome County aud Assembly¬ 
man D. P. Witter of Tioga County have each stated 
their opposition to the annulment of the Hill-Lord 
amendment to the Donnelly anti-trust act. Homer milk 
lias long been famous in the State. The farmers here 
harp learned lind will equip the old woolen mill for their 
future use in making cheese and butter. In reference 
to the charge that farmers who sell milk in New York 
City get highest market prices the following table of 
prices given in 1918, compiled by the U. S. Crop 
Reporter, is of value: 
1913 
January . 
Ffbruary . 
March . 
April . 
May .. 
.Time .. 
J uly . 
August . 
September . 
October . 
November . 
Average. 
New York Prices 
Cent 
8.17 
7.36 
6 . 
5.6 
4.5 
5.46 
6.4 
6.6 
S.1 
8.6 
6.77 
Nation-wide Prices 
Cent 
7.6 
7.7 
7.7 
7.5 
7.5 
7.5 
7.4 
7.7 
7.8 
8.3 
8.5 
7.74 
