IShe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
A Bunch of Milk Notes 
Collections for Milk 
Over a year ago this territory was canvassed by a 
League organizer, and many of us signed up because 
Borden’s were buying milk here. During the strike we 
disposed of the milk through other channels. When the 
strike was settled Borden's caused a day’s delay by first 
refusing to include our Richmond, Vt., plant in the con¬ 
tract, and then agreed to do so. They have just paid 
us for January, and the price is $3.90 per 100 lbs. for 
four per cent milk, with 10 cents extra for barn score. 
This is 23 cents less than League price. Will you take 
the matter up for us? As members we are entitled to 
full price, and we insist that it is the dutyof the League 
to get it for us. w. It. WHEEI.OCK. 
Vermont. 
One of the boasts of the Borden’s Company in the 
past has been its reliability. This was acknowledged 
by producers and helped smooth the way for the com¬ 
pany in many roads made rough by their own acts. 
But during the past year complaints have been fre¬ 
quent from various sources that Borden's take mat¬ 
ters into their own hands in violation of agreements 
and natural rights of producers. In some instances 
the conditions are reported as intolerable. For a 
time last year when they were making options and 
maneuvering for a monopoly contract for all the milk 
they showed for the first time a friendly hand to 
milk producers, but with that prospect past, the 
talons again show through the silken glove. The 
contract for the Richmond. Vt., milk for January, 
February and March was definite, and is, we believe, 
enforeible in the courts. We have made the demand 
tor the amount due the producers, and unless it is 
paid we shall take it to the courts on their behalf 
and try it out. We have already begun suit against 
the Sheffield Farms Company on a similar complaint 
on behalf of some farmers in Delaware County. It is 
now time something more than scolding and propa¬ 
ganda were done to see whether contracts for milk 
are binding or mere “scraps of paper.” 
Building a Co-operative Plant 
We come to you for advice on tin* following mutt*!T: 
For years our farmers have been sending milk by truck 
t<> a city eight miles away. If is sold to dealers for 
delivery. Just now there is a dispute with regard to 
price with one of the dealers. They want what they 
••all the League price and he refuses to pay it. Another 
dealer does pay it. but is unable to handle all of the 
milk. There is a surplus of about a thousand quarts. 
What we want to know is if we cannot build a co¬ 
operative plant here and sell milk in New York or Phil¬ 
adelphia direct to some reliable private party, restaurant 
oi hotel. We are situated between two cities and are 
sure of our money here, but have to accept a small price 
for our milk. We are all reliable people here, and no 
fakers ever get into our (1 range. If you could recom¬ 
mend it and show the way, we believe farmers would 
be willing to invest in a plant. 
Mill feed averages here $60 per ton to the farmers, and 
the price is something of a harden. When the Govern¬ 
ment took off the restrictions on feed, up went the 
price. We could handle a car or two of feed, hut we 
do not kuow where to get it right. The rule is sight 
draft, bill of lading attached—no money, no feed. 
Where and what can we do to get prices for supplies 
and products where they belong? We only seek fair 
play. I shall be glad to submit any suggestions you 
••an make. We have 60-odd members here and we rely 
largely on The R X.-Y. for advice. it. w. s. 
New Jersey. 
The price of all milk was reduced for February 
smd March because of an alleged surplus. This 
gives the dealer an extra price on the milk lie sells, 
so that be may be able to care for a surplus without 
loss. To reduce the price and take care of the sur¬ 
plus too. double-crosses the producer. As we under¬ 
stand it. the agreement was that dealers take all 
the milk at the price fixed, and it should be en- 
lorced. 
Co-operative plants to pasteurize 1,000 quarts of 
milk would not be profitable on the bulk system. It 
might be possible on the Van Aernnrn system, but it. 
is hardly practical for a small farm plant to dis¬ 
tribute its own milk to customers in the city. These 
customers take a fixed amount daily, but if they need 
more during the day the dealers have a supply and 
send it. The small farm plant cannot do this. It 
cannot even send a steady supply each day. because 
sometimes they have more, and again less. Again, 
there is the problem of delivery in the eity. and the 
»ustomer would not care to assume the trouble and 
annoyance of the deliveries. Occasionally a cus¬ 
tomer wants a special brand of milk or cream and 
is willing to pay enough for it to justify extra ex¬ 
pense. but there is little chance of an ordinary trade 
and very few specials. 
Just as soon as farmers learn the art of applying 
business principles to farm organizations they will 
be able to protect themselves on prices of supplies 
and products. They can never do it by propaganda. 
They can do it by business methods, and they will. 
Who Got the Money? 
Home milk first as far as it goes for New York con¬ 
sumers should he the slogan of milk producers. To pit 
one section or State against another to smash prices is 
the familiar trick of that old dragon, the Milk Exchange. 
In the country milk should be assembled in co-operat¬ 
ive creameries, with a trademark of its own, and shipped 
to the salesmen in the city terminals. These city ter¬ 
minals should be supervised by the State Market Com¬ 
missioner. I would leave the distribution to the con¬ 
sumers. They ought to have grit enough to do something 
for themselves. The Legislature appropriated a million 
dollars for the food and market business last year. 
What did they do with it? The farmers have none of 
it. Whatever the League elects to do, for goodness sake 
let us not repeat the folly of harkening to the slush pro¬ 
moters in putting up a creamery on every cross road, 
crack and cranny of the landscape. 
So out of the twilight of the past 
We move into a diviner light. 
For nothing that is wrong can last, 
Nothing is immortal but the right. 
Delaware County. A leaguer. 
Pooling Work and Milk 
I am no farmer at present, hut have an ambition to 
be one some day. At present I am one of the “rich” 
coal miners which the late war is said to have pro¬ 
duced. Your milk situation resembles a recent trouble 
in our union. Some League members shipped milk 
through the strike and suffered no loss; others could 
ship no milk, and fought the battle. After a shut-down 
the coal company here resumed with only a part of the 
men allowed to work, the object being to demolish Re¬ 
organization. We closed the mine, and it took just 
three days to adjust the trouble so that every man gets 
an equal share of work. We pooled the work. Why 
could not the League pool the milk and divide the loss 
equitably? You must find a way to stop discriminated! 
if you hope to succeed permanently. r. ii. k. 
Pennsylvania. 
A Round Over “Daylight Saving” 
I don’t read the New York Timex very often, but 
the following is what I found today. Doesn’t it look as 
if it needed answering? k. m. kirhy. 
His Clocks, Too. Can Be Re-set 
“For the farmer’s objection to ‘daylight saving’ 
there was in reality only one excuse, or rather the ex¬ 
planation. that it did not add to his profits and his joys 
in quite the same measure that it did to those of other 
people. As for the reasons assigned, they were all based 
on the obvious fallacy that he had to advance by an 
hour the daily working schedule of himself and his men. 
He was and is. of course, under no imaginable compul¬ 
sion or obligation to do that. He can continue to work 
exactly as he always has done. Instead of beginning his 
day at 5. 6 or 7 o’clock, that is. he can begin it at 6. 7 
or N. according to his preference or his needs, and in¬ 
stead of using the hour between 12 and 1 o’clock for rest 
and dinner, he can use for those purposes that between 
1 and 2. Then he would he on exactly his old time 
table, and all his woes would disappear, while by having 
his clock set in the new. or newer, way he still would he 
in as close touch as ever with the rest of the world. 
“This easy expedient apparently has not occurred to 
the farmers, and instead of adopting it they are bom¬ 
barding (’ongress with demands which, if granted, will 
both displease and injure all of the millions and millions 
of people for whom the daylight saving law appreciably 
has increased the not too numerous joys of life. And 
Congress, if it is not admonished, immediately and 
sternly, by the other millions that they, too, have pref¬ 
erences and votes, is likely to heed the farmer’s plea !” 
An Answer by a Farmer 
Tt docs need answering. The following was writ¬ 
ten to the Timex by Mr. Benjamin Lind. So far 
as we know, the Tim< x has never printed it. It is a 
good specimen of agricultural English: 
I want to say a word about the daylight saving law as 
applied to farmers. I am a farmer, and 1 pay my good 
money for the Timex because it is- a real newspaper; hut 
when it comes to your editorial discussing of farm mat¬ 
ters I should like to say frankly that you make me sick ! 
Of all the asinine, dilletante vaporings I ever saw ou an 
editorial page, yours of last Saturday is the prize: 
“Just what their grievance was they did not make 
very clear, hut it had something to do with their inabil¬ 
ity to get their men at work in haying time till the dew 
was off the grass, and with performing one hour of the 
day’s toil when the sun was hottest instead of in the 
cool of late afternoon.” And then further: 
“The reasons assigned were all based on the obvious 
fallacy that he had to advance by an hour the daily 
working schedule of himself and his men. He was. and 
is. of course, under no imaginable compulsion nr obli¬ 
gation to do that. He can continue to work exactly as 
he always has done. Instead of beginning his day at 
5. 6 or 7 o’clock, that is. he can begin it at 6, 7 or S. 
according to bis preferences or his needs. . . . This 
easy expedient apparently has not occurred to the farm¬ 
ers.” etc. 
I wish the genial Bohemian who wrote that would 
ciline out to my place next Summer and indulge in the 
delights of saving daylight on the farm. Here are the 
main reasons why this new time schedule is not liked by 
the farmers in this region, and they hold with double 
force in the West: 
1. Milk trains run an hour earlier. Therefore cows 
must he milked and all chores started an hour earlier. 
(For three months the morning ham work must he done 
by lantern light. 1 
2. Schools, mails, trains and business start an hour 
earlier. This means that practically every farm house¬ 
hold must adjust to “new” time. 
3. Field work during haying and harvest cannot he 
started in the morning until the dew is off. (Your edi¬ 
tor seems to think this is a passing good joke D This 
costs about half an hour of hired-help time in the morn¬ 
ing. Farm laborers are hound to start and to quit work 
just about on the same hours that factory labor does. 
4. The labor that starts work alt 7 a. m. must have 
dinner at about noon. This means that work is bound 
to he resumed ait 1 p. m.. in the very hottest part of the 
day. One cannot get around this. 
5. At 5 p. m., “new time.” the very best time of day 
to get work done with hay and grain, your hired help is 
ready to quit, and does quit field work, universally. 
This costs another half hour of hired time, on the aver¬ 
age. 
6. The daylight “saved” under this plan is about one 
hour in the evening, auul the farmer in nine cases out of 
10 during the Summer rush is obliged to go to bed con¬ 
siderably before dark. This is not so funny as it may 
sound. 
The long and short of it is that the daylight saving 
law makes the farmer a direct loss in crops and in hired 
437 
labor, ami it. makes him endure a daily schedule of work 
that is most exasperating. Your airy assumption that 
the farmer can set his clock any old way and go it alone, 
in this day and age, marks your general comprehension 
of farm affairs. 
I as a farmer had no objection to being handicapped 
by this law so long as it possibly helped push the war 
machine. But now that is all off! I would not want 
Congress to repeal a law that the actual majority of peo¬ 
ple wish to stand. However, I would cordially invite 
the editor who is so keen about having that extra pleas¬ 
ure hour in the evening to come out on the farm next 
Summer and see how it works here. 
Town Workers and “Daylight Saving” 
Some of our people want to kuow why the work¬ 
men in town and city generally favor the “daylight 
saving” law. The following note from one of our 
readers will partly explain it—though this is only 
one reason : 
I notice in The R. N.-Y. considerable criticism and 
antagonism to the daylight saving law. Now this law 
is of very much benefit to day laborers who have a set. 
tour of a certain number of hours to put in daily; it 
gives them an additional hour daily through the garden 
season to raise produce for their own consumption. 
This is of course a little at the farmers’ expense, as 
these side-liners do not need to buy the truck this hour 
enables them to raise. For example, the hour saved 
with some more work after supper this last season 
enabled me to raise 20 bushels potatoes, one bushel dry 
beans, three bushels onions from seed, two bushels beets, 
two bushels carrots, two bushels ruta baga turnips, 
eight bushels green cucumbers, green peas for all season 
and sweet corn for the season, with several pounds 
dried for this Winter, besides taking care of my bees, 
with a clear profit of $400 on honey and new swarms 
sold. I work 10 hours daily. s. L. H. 
Pennsylvania. 
Up-State Farm Notes 
IMPORTANT TO SHIPPERS—Division freight 
agents of the Lackawanna and Lehigh Valley railroads 
have been meeting with business men and other shippers 
the past week to arrange a new schedule for freight. 
The proposed schedule will allow shipments of less than 
cariots but two days a week, to New York City or 
Philadelphia, and then only by the Lackawanna route, 
regardless of the location of the shipper with respect to 
either line. Other companies are making similar plans 
in co-operation with the Railroad Administration, it. is 
said, in the interests of better service, quicker time in 
transit and conservation of labor and equipment. The 
agents advised that action expressing disapproval should 
he deferred for the present, until it is seen how the new 
plan works out. 
SHALL IT BE A CORN QUARANTINE?—Farm¬ 
ers are worried over the invasion of the deadly European 
corn borer which has made its appearance in Hudson 
and Mohawk Valley counties, one of the most destruc¬ 
tive corn pests known. So serious is the situation that 
a Federal corn quarantine on New York. Massachusetts 
ami Connecticut may be declared to insure prevention 
of its spread to other States. Commissioner of Agri¬ 
culture \\ ilson has taken step.s to oppose such quaran¬ 
tine. and will be supjmrted. by Senator Wadsworth, as 
the State has taken drastic steps to arrest the pest. 
A bill is _to be introduced in the Legislature to appro¬ 
priate $75,000 to fight the pest, and John Mitchell of 
the State Food Commission says it will take $200,000 
to control it. The Federal Government is expected- to 
appropriate $500,000 for a similar purpose. Dr. At¬ 
wood. chief of the Bureau of Plant Industry, will rep¬ 
resent the State at a hearing of the Federal Agricul¬ 
tural Board on this question, and will try to restrict 
the quarantine to infected areas. Teu inspectors of the 
State agricultural force are now at work in the infect* ! 
counties to determine the exact extent of the pest’s 
ravages. 
BIG CATTLE SALE.—Sixty purebred Holstein 
sold for $35,000 on the second day of the big Liverim d 
auction last week, the sale having the best attendance 
and prices for over a year. The high price of the day 
was $3,050 for an animal sold by Stevens Brothers ■ ' 
Liverpool to Lynn Kinney of Ithaca. Abbott and Clark 
of Cortland, sold several young head at $1,500 and $1,600 
The Holstein Breeders’ Club had a meeting iu Syracuse 
at the close of the sale, addressed by D. W. Laury of 
the Bureau of Animal Industry, and many legislative 
questions hearing on the live stock industry were dis¬ 
cussed. 
PAPER MAKING PLANT AT COLLEGE.—Re¬ 
cently machinery has arrived at Syracuse College of 
Forestry for making paper from logs of wood, complete 
in all details, though on a small scale, so that students 
can he trained to step into positions with paper manu¬ 
facturing companies. Prof. R. F. Hamill, who was 
engaged in the work in Canada during the war, will 
prepare the students for efficient work along this line. 
STATE FAIR APPOINTMENTS.—The coming 
State Fair will put out a great industrial exhibit, ex¬ 
ploiting farm tractors and mechanical devices to be 
used in the reconstruction era. The following assign¬ 
ments have been announced: T.ieut-Gov. Walker, State 
institutions and advertising; Commissioner Charles S. 
Wilson, Grange fruits, flowers, farm products, county 
agricultural exhibits, boys’ and girls’ exhibits, rural 
dramatics; Commissioner Charles A. Weiting, cattle 
sheep, swine, gates and admission: Commissioner Fred 
B. Parker, draft, and farm hors**, police, boys’ judging 
contests, passenger and freight rates; Commissioner 
Pierre Lorillurd, Jr., horse show, poultry and dog show; 
Commissioner John I). Cahill, buildings, grounds, races, 
transportation ami forage. 
MAPLE SYRUP MAKERS' ORGANIZATION — 
The new Maple Products Co-operative Co.. Inc., of 
Cortland and adjoining comities, recently held a meet¬ 
ing to fix prices and lay out policies, appoint committees, 
etc., for work for the coming season. Prof. Colliug- 
wood. of the extension department of forestry work in 
the State College, gave a helpful talk aud will assist 
the makers in finding buyers for their pure, high-grade 
products at fair prices, which shall be much lower than 
those now paid by the ultimate consumers for adulter¬ 
ated maple products and also considerably more than 
local buyers have heretofore paid. The price on Grade 
1 pure maple sugar to be asked by these producers 
this year will be 35 cents a pound; on Grade 1 syrup, 
$2.50 gallon ; on Grade 2 syrup, $2.25 gallon; on 
Grade 3 syrup, $2 gallon, though most of this will 
doubtless be made into tub or soft sugar, or sold locally. 
The State College is doing all it can to lift the rewards 
of maple, sugar manufacturing to a point where the 
industry is not in danger of extinction, because farmers 
'(Continued ou page 457) 
