1053 
Selling Milk by Butterfat 
The Dairymen’s League is seeing milk in up-State 
"cities on the pooled butterfat basis of 3.6 per cent. In 
other words, all milk, regardless of whether it tests 3 
per cent or 5 per cent, is paid for as if it tested 3.6. 
Is this fair to all producers? Does not the League 
unconsciously show discrimination in favor of low- 
testing cattle? If this is unjust discrimination, not¬ 
withstanding the fact the majority may favor the 
practice, cannot the State on demand require the sale 
<.f milk on its butterfat value? tompkins county. 
New York. 
This custom existed in some sections before the 
League sold the milk, and the League provided that 
settlements might be made on that basis, when 
mutually satisfactory to the dealer and the pro¬ 
ducers. The local members have always heretofore 
had the privilege of deciding for themselves whether 
they would accept the flat 3.6 basis or insist on the 
composite test of each dairy, provided of course the 
dealer was willing to accept either system. We 
know no law that gives State officials authority to 
enforce one system over the other. Manifestly if a 
majority of the dairies showed a test less than 3.6 
there would be a sentiment in favor of the flat 
basis; but producers showing a higher test would 
want the composite test. Since prices are based 
now on the fat content it would seem proper to 
limit all sales to the composite test. Where a num¬ 
ber of dairies run from 4 to 5 per cent it is mani¬ 
festly unfair for even a majority to insist on a 
lower average, and we take it that few local sections 
would impose such a hardship on a minority of its 
membership. Again, we must emphasize the impor¬ 
tance of fairness in our organization work. A 
majority or a minority that forces an injustice on 
any portion of its membership sows seeds of. divi¬ 
sion and discontent, and invites xiltiniate disaster. 
Nothing will pay better in the end than a high 
standard of ideals in our organization work. 
A Discussion of Milk Plans 
I am greatly interested in the Dairymen’s League— 
so much so that I have never missed a meeting. I am, 
however, opposed to the plan for organizing the Dairy¬ 
men’s League Co-operative Association. The only rea¬ 
son why milk dealers maintain receiving stations and 
manufacturing plants is for the purpose of getting milk 
to distribute in the large centers. This is concededly 
the profitable end of the business. Under the new plan 
it is proposed that the producers shall purchase and 
operate the receiving stations and maintain the manu¬ 
facturing plants, deliver the milk to the city line and 
still leave the dealers in control of the distribution or 
profit-making end of the business. 
If we are to assume the enormous burden of purchas¬ 
ing and maintaining these plants, paying salaries of op¬ 
eratives and officers, insurance, taxes, repairs, and 
many other overhead and operating expenses, we should 
go a step further and obtain the profit the , dealers get 
to compensate us for the additional risk. The promoters 
of the plan claim that they cannot handle the distribu¬ 
tion of milk in the large centers, and they cite the fail¬ 
ure of the Country Milk Company as one of the reasons. 
Surely there are men who are capable of handling the 
distribution of milk in the large cities, and the pro¬ 
moters of the scheme should give way to them. 
If we cannot distribute the milk and divide the deal¬ 
ers’ profit between the pxaxlucer and consumer, thus in¬ 
creasing the use of milk and making the business more 
profitable, we should hesitate long before handing over 
a sum estimated to be from $10,000,000 to $20,000,000 
to any set of men for any such experimental purposes as 
the proposed scheme involves. Unless we can control 
both ends of the business, it is far better to continue 
our present organization, seeing to it that the most 
cannble men are handling the reins. 
The only way. however, to avoid the possibility of 
another milk strike is to control both the production and 
distribution of the product. A factor that contributed 
very largely to the settlement of the last milk strike 
was the enormous expense the dealers were under in 
maintaining the receiving stations when they were get¬ 
ting no milk. Had the producers owned the plants and 
been obliged to carry this burden the result might have 
been quite different. In this section there are many 
dairymen who will keep their share of the $10,000,000 
or $20,000,000 in their pockets until they see better 
prospects of additional profit than they see in the pro¬ 
posed plan. C. W. HALLIDAY. 
Columbia Co., N. Y. 
PAST HISTORY.—The failure of the Country 
Milk Company did not prove that we could not suc¬ 
cessfully sell milk in New York City. It only proved 
that we could not do it while following the milk 
trust prices and regulations. During the milk tight 
in 1916. milk was successfully sold in the city on 
temporary arrangements to small and independent 
dealers. We won on that policy. Sooner or later 
we shall return to that practice and through proper 
development of it control the distribution of milk. 
A RENEWED DANGER.—Rut the new company in 
another way renews the danger of the Country Milk 
Company. It is a subsidiary of the Dairymen’s 
League. Like all subsidiaries, it will create discrim¬ 
inations, favorites and divisions in the organization. 
This is a fundamental defect in a voluntary member¬ 
ship organization and should be avoided. In our 
judgment subsidiaries are a danger because they do 
not treat all in the original organization alike. 
DIVIDED COUNSELS.—This danger is already 
apparent. If some members of the League contribute 
to the new company and others do not, a division is 
7ht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
created at once. If there are benefits and non-con¬ 
tributors share them, they get an advantage which 
they do not help to ci’eate. If they ai*e not permit¬ 
ted to share the advantages, they do not get what 
their membership in the League promised them. If 
thei’e were losses the contributors would have to 
bear them. Above everything else, this division in 
the League should be avoided. Full discussion and 
open criticism are helpful and necessary, but unity 
of pui*pose and action must be maintained. Here 
again is a fundamental defect in the machinery of 
the organization. Thei'e is no provision to register 
the will of the membership, and without such pro¬ 
vision the oi'ganization is neither demoei-atie nor co¬ 
operative. It would be a simple thing to organize a 
system of voting at the local branches through a 
committee independent of the administration to give 
every member an opportunity to vote on important 
measures, and under such a system evei*y member 
would submit to the will of the majority. We can 
permanently maintain a voluntaxy organization only 
by being fair to eveiy nxembei*. and thei’e is no better 
way to promote fairness than by a majority vote on 
well-defined issues. 
Hold on to Your Liberty Bonds 
Accept nxy many thanks for the valuable advice and 
information contained in yoxir letter of some days ago. 
It is the means of quite a sxim of money not being in¬ 
vested by myself and friends in this fertilizer proposi¬ 
tion. It* is really a shame how many of our good people 
have been defrauded out of their War Stamps and Lib¬ 
erty bonds by exchanging the best of securities for 
worthless oil and automobile stocks. Truly we have a 
‘‘blue sky” law, but it has no teeth in it. Our last 
Legislatxire had a bill before it that, if passed, would 
have pi-otected the public, but enough influence was 
brought to bear by the slick promoting gentry to prevent 
it becoming a law ; thus they have an open field and are 
making free use of the opportunity. 
Texas. J. w. stubenrauch. 
This was a case where a company was to be or¬ 
ganized for selling a new fertilizer. It was a form 
of marl dug out near the seacoast, containing a 
small amount of potash and of phosphonis. We 
submitted the proposition to Dr. Crane, who wrote a 
convincing opinion about it. All over the country 
these schemes for selling rich soil as fertilizer seem 
to be starting ixp. The idea is to sell stock in a com¬ 
pany. Selling the fei’tilizer seems to be a minor con¬ 
sideration. It is pitiful to see how many millions in 
Liberty bonds are exchanged for stock in these wild¬ 
cat enterprises. Some of these bonds are now a little 
off in price. They are sure to come back to par or 
above, and are always good for the interest. It is a 
far better investment to buy these bonds x-ather than 
sell them. The stock promoters get after the men 
or women with a few bonds and frighten them by 
showing how they are below par. Then they offer 
to accept tlieixi at the market price and give par 
value in their stock, which “is sure to pay 12 per cent 
at least.” It is pitiful to see how many otherwise 
intelligent people will actually ixxake the exchange. 
Aside from the folly of it the whole thing is un- 
pati’iotic. If we become ci*editoi*s of the Government 
let us not sell it out! 
Wool Marketing 
My mail shows so many wool growers ax’e on the 
anxious seat now that I reply in print. Buyers are just 
as anxious, and are all busy as bees. There is nothing 
said about “a probable 35 or 40 cents for the 1919 clip.” 
No one is positively sxire of the future, but we know 
this: There were but half a billion sheep on earth to 
start a four years’ war on, and a world upheaval. Then 
the destruction of wool was fierce, and the demand tre¬ 
mendous. Civilized people in the southern hemisphere 
got no textiles during that time, and the northern 
hemisphere was forced to conserve. All civilization 
needs clothes. Four million of our soldiers must have 
them, and many millions of them over the world. Every¬ 
body is short on clothing, either badly worn or made of 
short-lived substitutes. A late issue of the Wall Street 
Journal is quoted : “It is estimated that 250.000.000 
ai-e wearing very old clothes, or garments made of sub¬ 
stitutes. The sheep is bound to be a busy creature for 
many years to come. May his tribe increase.” I read 
in the Chicago Tribune: “Will men have to resort to 
paper clothing in the near future? That is not by any 
means an impossible outcome of the increasingly serious 
wool situation.” 
Listen to a high-class tailoring journal (June Sar¬ 
torial World) : “No traveling salesmen are needed for 
woolens. Jobbers and retailers are going direct to head¬ 
quarters. knowing they will have hard times to get sup¬ 
plies. Readymade manufacturers are literally swamped 
by an army of buyers, who in a number of instances had 
to be lined up to await their turns. They are looking 
for a wave of speculation in raw wool that will cause 
unprecedented prices.” We read in the last letter of 
the Office of Information of the Department of Agricul¬ 
ture that “lower prices prevail in the seaboard markets 
than at country points.” and know it to be true. The 
highest quotations it gives are 69 to 73c gross, while 
growers who will sell are getting that, net. all over the 
wool sections of Ohio. At these figures it is the cheap¬ 
est thing in the wide, wide world. All the other produc¬ 
tions are spilling over the boundaries of the United 
States at prices relatively double, and clothing is selling 
at triple its worth compared with it. Some growers 
know the condition as well as the clothing men, and are 
waiting for the “wave” or until It springs to its proper 
place. There positively can be no risk in holding wool, 
because it is bound to be a shortage for years. 
' ' A. HOLDER. 
Up-State Farm Notes 
BERRY DEALERS COMBINE.—The growers of 
stxaiwberries near Binghamton, as well as the people of 
that city, resent the profiteering of the berry dealers of 
that section. Px - actically all the berries of that section 
are raised on a plateau that lies north of Port Dick¬ 
inson, and along the Susquehanna on both sides. The 
dealers took note of the fact that the number of growers 
is compai-atively limited. They went among them just 
as the berries ripened and induced the gi-owers to sign 
contracts to sell their entire crops at 17-%c a basket, in 
the field. The berries were practically all displayed in 
one store at 55c a basket. It was too late for the other 
stoi-es to make other arrangements for berries fi*om 
other sources, and this cornering of the market has re¬ 
sulted in harsh criticism that has eaxised the dealers to 
drop the price to 40c, a profit of 180 per cent. Other 
gi*owers have had 20 to 35c a quart for berries. 
APPLE SURVEY.—The Federal Department of 
Agriculture began an investigation of commei’cial apple 
production in the United States in 1917. Since then 
every important apple county has been surveyed. West¬ 
ern New York produces one-fourth of the entire apple, 
crop of this country, and most of its trees wei*e planted 
in the early 60’s and 70’s and ai-e now nearly 50 years 
old. The planting of young orchards has not kept pace 
with the decline of the old trees, and unless plantings 
are rapidly increased the supply in this State is bound 
to decrease. The State’s yield this year will be 2.500.- 
000 bbls. less than last year, it is now estimated. 
HANDICAPPED IN HARVEST.—The fourth day 
for farm helpex-s at the Syracuse State Employment 
Bureau brought many farmei'S from as far as 40 miles 
away, but only 12 laborers were secured. Many of the 
jobs offered $45 to $50 a month, with board and wash¬ 
ing. The bureau will make a special effort to secure 
farm help, and reports a few willing to go to farms by 
the day, but that few will consider a job by the month. 
One farmer of Tully, needing three men. has offered his 
farm for sale. It consists of 160 acres, and has over 
60 head of cattle, yet he is unable to operate it. It is 
valued at $25,000. with stock and tools.. 
OATS DECREASE.—Due to the wet Spring the 
Department of Agriculture finds that this State will 
produce 200.000 aci’es less oats than last year, or only 
three-fifths of a crop. The greatest decrease is in the 
counties west of Geneva. The acreage of Spiflng wheat 
and barley is also redxiced. A few more beans were 
planted than was ' ntended, and much more corn and 
buckwheat. 
COUNTY MEETINGS.—At the annual banquet of 
the Cayuga County Breeders’ Association a campaign 
was started to push the use of milk and of milk drinks 
at soda fountains. Arrangements were made for a 
Cayuga County exhibit of purebred cattle at the State 
Fair and other fairs. Groups of bi - eedei‘s of Holsteine. 
Guernseys and Jerseys wei - e formed. A live advertising 
campaign to put the association before the section will 
soon be started, and leaders to represent the various 
breeds in this campaign were appointed. Earl Creekrr 
of Sennett. W. A. Alexander of Union Spidngs. and 
Charles Hornburg of Ira were chosen to represent 
Guernsey intei-ests; B. B. Andi-ews of Weedsport. and 
.T. R. Wait of Auburn will represent Holstein biveders; 
Harry Mansfield of Union Springs will represent horse 
interests; E. G. Stephenson of Aurora, the hog inter¬ 
ests, and James Morse of Levanna the county sheep as¬ 
sociation. Thursday. August 21. is the date set for the 
annual farmers’ picnic of Cayuga County at Hamil¬ 
ton’s Grove. West Brutus Sti-eet. Weedsport. A com¬ 
munity auction will be a feature of this big day for 
farmers, when anything from a chicken to a farm may 
be sold. Other features will be a big parade and dance, 
addressee, band concerts, a ball game and a tractor 
demonstration. Politicians will be in evidence in this 
gathering of 2.000 people. 
CATTLE PROSPECTS.—T. H. Holland of Mes¬ 
sina Springs, and T. S. Shotwell of Skaneateles. have 
been engaged by the French Governmexit to purchase 
cattle in this State for exportation to that coxintry, to 
build up its fallen herds. Holstein grade cattle not 
over six yeai-s of age will be accepted, with 25 per cent 
Shorthorns, if deemed best or necessary. This State 
leads all othei’s. xxnless it be Wisconsin, in high-cla^s 
Holsteins, and breeders ai‘e xirged by the United States 
Goveimment to give utmost satisfaction, as on this de¬ 
pends the future of such orders. These buyers have 
contracted to send 1.000 head to Newport News. Va., 
this month, and 1.000 next month. The Federal Gov¬ 
ernment is to assist by allowing the cattle to be shipped 
under “relief” transportation, making immediate ship¬ 
ment possible. Mr. Holland is a buyer of wide experi¬ 
ence in selecting animals for the Allied countries during 
the war. The French inspectors are here and will in¬ 
spect all the cattle, which must be tuberculin tested. 
They know values, and fancy prices will not be toler¬ 
ated. The work of selection began this week among 
Onondaga County breedei’s. and will rapidly spread to 
other counties. Heifers of IS months to two years i f 
age must weigh 700 lbs.; two to three years, SOO lbs.; 
three to four years. 900 lbs.; four to five years, 1.000 
lbs.; five to six. not less than 1.100 lbs. 
FARMS ABANDONED BECAUSE OF POOR 
MAIL SERVICE.—Six farms on rural routes out «f 
Mxinnsville. Madison County, have been abandoned since 
the recent mail changes, as the owners could not stand 
the trouble poor service gave them. One was a farm of 
175 acres, with 30 head of stock. The owners found it 
necessary to get a daily mail with early delivery. Be¬ 
sides nine Pomona County Granges taking action on the 
rural mail question last week. Seneca County Pomona. 
Franklin County and Clinton County Granges all 
thi-ashed out the matter this week. The revolt against 
present service continues as strong as ever, and the 
people are hoping for speedy relief, with the recall or 
resignation of the Postmaster General and the work of 
the sxib-committee in Congress that is to begin a thor- 
otigh investigation of the routes in early July. 
M. Q. P. 
