The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1103 
A Consumer and His Milk Prices 
I am a consumer in New York City, but am spending 
the Summer with my family on the New Jersey, Mon¬ 
mouth, coast. I inclose you the notice we have just re¬ 
ceived of milk prices: 
NOTICK 
The following prices effective July 1. 1919, and nut 
otherwise announced : 
“Sealect.” Brand Grade A 
Grade B milk. 
Certified milk . 
Buttermilk . 
X cream . 
Condensed milk . 
milk....... 19c per qt. bottle 
.17c per qt. bottle 
.2tlc per qt. bottle 
.13c per qt. bottle 
.28c per 14-pt. bottle 
.18c per %-pt. bottle 
SHEFFIELD FARMS CO.. INC. 
From the city papers I learn that farmers get about 
7c a quart for B grade milk, and about 714c for A 
grade, so that it costs from 12.8 per cent to 165 per cent 
of the farmers’ price to get it delivered. Tn other words, 
we pay from 28 to 65 per cent more for delivery than 
we pay for the milk itself. On the face of it this is 
: surd. Manufacturers often make a maximum retail 
price for their goods, and they are never sold above 
this price. Why cannot farmers do the same with 
milk? If they want to increase the consumption of 
milk they must do something to protect the consumer 
from the greed of the middleman. suburbanite. 
Farm Power Demonstration 
New York State, through the Farms and Markets 
Department, is arranging for five immense farm 
power demonstrations. One of them will he given 
on the State Fair Grounds at Syracuse during the 
Fair. The others are to he held in various parts of 
I he State, and they are under the direction of Calvin 
•T. Huson. The first of these demonstrations will 
he held in Utica, Thursday and Friday, July 24 and 
25. Each demonstration will last two days, and 
they are planned on a very large scale to cover all 
lines of farm power. There will not only be a great 
display of tractors, hut of farm lighting systems, 
milking machines and other farm power machines 
now coming into common use. 
Another demonstration will he held in Western 
New York, a third in the Northern part of the 
State, and the fourth either somewhere in the 
Southern tier of counties or in the Hudson Valley. 
It is expected that at least 10.000 people will attend 
the opening demonstration at Utica, and an immense 
area of land will he required to enable the tractors 
to give a full demonstration of their power. The 
land is not only to he plowed, hut disked and har¬ 
rowed. Surely anyone interested in tin' study of 
farm power can find what lie wants at this demon¬ 
stration. 
Rural Mail Delivery in New York 
East week in Washington there was a hearing 
before Secretary Burleson on the rural mail situa¬ 
tion. II. E. Babcock, secretary of the Federation 
of County Farm Bureaus, presented a strong state¬ 
ment. from which we take the following extracts: 
OUR PRESENT POSITION.—Immediately upon 
receiving a promise of help I returned to New 
York State and prepared a second questionnaire, which 
was sent out in conjunction with the Masters of the 
New York State Grange to all Grange officers and 
Farm Bureau Association committeemen. In consid¬ 
ering the summary of these questionnaires it should be 
borne in mind that they were answered by Farm Bureau 
Association committeemen, active farmers, selected by 
the farmers of a county to act for them because of their 
proven leadership in agricultural matters. 
SUMMARY OF QUESTIONNAIRE. 
1. Total number of questionnaires tabulated.... 403 
2. Total number of persons stating service was 
satisfactory to self. 178 
Total number of persons stating service was 
satisfactory to community. 117 
3. Total number of persons stating service was 
unsatisfactory to self. 188 
Total number of persons stating service was 
unsatisfactory to community. 220 
5. Total number of persons reporting that these 
complaints were heeded. 25 
(41 persons reported that complaints were 
given no attention). 
6. 68 persons reported that their mail was not re¬ 
ceived every day. 
7. 106 persons reported that mail was received too 
late in the day for business purposes. 
8. 41 persons reported that the mail was not sent 
out from the postoffice the day it was collected. 
0. 59 persons reported that their house delivery was 
lost. 
10. 72 persons reported that because of the changes in 
the mail routes they were obliged to travel from 
one-quarter to two and one-quarter miles further 
to get their mail. 
11 . 48 persons reported considerable inconvenience due 
to the changes in their postoffice address follow¬ 
ing changes in routes. 
12. 35 persons reported that as a result of the changes 
in the rural delivery routes community life was 
affected detrimentally. 
13. 120 persons reported that in general the changes 
caused irregular delivery. 
1 1 . 169 persons expressed an opinion that the routes 
would be more satisfactory if returned to former 
status. 
OUR PROGRAM.—The activity of the Federation 
to date has been principally to determine the situation. 
What the real situation is as regards rural free delivery 
service in the State of New York ve are convinced from 
our studies to date : 
1. That the expressed program of the Postoffice De¬ 
partment is not being carried out. 
2. That the service is being administered with little 
appreciation of the rural life and organization of 
the State. 
3. That while the claim of the Postoffice Department 
that more families are receiving the service than 
ever before may be true, such increase in service 
has caused less efficient service to others, and that 
what our people want is not decreased service to 
any but rather an increasingly efficient service to 
all. _ Farmers {Jo not regard the mail service as a 
business proposition, but rather as a public serv¬ 
ice that is indispensable to the maximum rural 
development of the country. 
Following this hearing we shall return to our State 
with the. object of having the mail service of every rural 
community considered at a community meeting some 
time before next Spring, at which a study of the situa¬ 
tion will be made and a definite bill of complaints drawn. 
Getting in Behind a Scamp 
. Unless one has some means of ascertaining the finan¬ 
cial responsibility of the city man who wishes to buy 
farm produce direct, lie should be Cautious about ship¬ 
ping his stuff until it has been paid for. This precau¬ 
tion may be open to objection upon the part of the city 
consumer, on the ground that it compels him to pay for 
goods that be lias not seen, and cannot know the quality 
and condition of. It is evident, -however, that the inev¬ 
itable risk in the transaction must be borne by someone 
and the really honest producer will be wise if he insists 
upon applying the old, and legal, if not wholly defen¬ 
sible maxim, caveat emptor—let the buyer beware. 
An experience of several years ago in shiiipin 0- e^gs 
to an affable resident of New York Citv. with whom 
the. writer became casually acquainted on one of the 
city man s vacation trips to the green fields of the coun¬ 
try, taught that it was not always necessary to permit 
city residents of doubtful business morality to assume 
rha.t. in business, transactions, farmers were as green as 
their fields. This suave and urbane young gentleman, 
who was manager of one of the distributing plants of a 
peat meat packing concern in New York, conceived the 
idea that it would be profitable to purchase eggs from 
the producer by the case, doubtless considering that the 
culd storage facilities of his plant would enable him to 
hold them until they could be disposed of at a good 
profit. He offered an advance over market prices, and 
knowing him to hold a position of responsibility, liis 
offer was accepted. Cases of eggs were shipped and 
Promptly paid for. But the evil day finally cfline when 
payments were unreasonably delayed, and soon two or 
three crises appeared upon the farm books as more 
closely resembling liabilities than assets. Shipments 
were, of course, promptly stopped, and the erstwhile 
purchaser was informed that checking checks checked 
shipments also. No complaint having been made of 
checked eggs, checked egg checks checked eggs. It was 
simple enough, but the city man had evidently decided 
to close the transaction while lie was several cases to 
the good, and he declined to enter into any correspond¬ 
ence with regard to.it. Being one of the countless thou¬ 
sands of the salaried employees in cities who seldom, 
or never, have a hundred dollars ahead, prospects of 
collecting the amount due did not appear bright. 
However, the. happy thought that moral suasion 
sometimes prevailed where legal persuasion could not 
occurred to the writer, and he looked up the address 
nf the firm for whom the forgetful egg purchaser worked. 
The manager of the firm was courteously written to, the 
circumstances were explained, and he was asked if he 
would not. kindly use his influence with the erring em¬ 
ployee to induce him to resume business relations with 
his creditors. This letter was never replied to. but 
almost the next mail brought a check from the delin¬ 
quent debtor, paying for the eggs in full. With it was 
the statement that he had never received the eggs, any¬ 
way. The statement was read with a smile and the 
check was promptly cashed. A check isn’t cash until it 
is cashed: people have lost money bv forgetting that 
little detail about checks. 
The shipper considered the incident closed, hut the 
thought, of being done out of money which he owed ap¬ 
parently rankled in the breast of the receiver, and egged 
him on to seek revenge. He was evidently determined 
to persist in being a bad egg. Several months later a 
pompously written letter was received from him saying 
that he had never received his commission for soiling 
eggs for the shipper, and that the matter had been 
placed in the hands of “their” attorneys. If a remit¬ 
tance for the amount due was not promptly received, an 
action for recovery would be begun. The shipper 
smiled again and cheerfully acknowledge receipt of the 
letter, at the same time assuring the writer of it that, 
if any more like it were received they would all be 
turned over to the writer’s employers. That really 
closed the incident. m. b. n. 
New York Co-Operative Work 
Work of co-operation is making a very healthy 
growth. The fruit packing associations of Niagara 
County have been particularly successful, and we look 
for an increase in such associations in the west end of 
the State during the coming season of somewhere around 
20. We have organized the onion men of Orange Comi¬ 
ty. and are looking forward to organizing the onion and 
vegetable men in several other productive sections. 
The Troy market gardeners were incorporated through 
our assistance, and have bought their own public mar¬ 
ket and paved it. which appears to be very much to their 
advantage. This, of course,' is only very little of what 
over 100 associations which we have put through in the 
past year are accomplishing. Our big point just at the 
present time that we are working on is a federation for 
a State selling agency, which now looks favorable. They 
all admit it is essential: that sufficient volume of busi¬ 
ness should be centered in one concern so that the in¬ 
stitution will have sufficient income to employ as good a 
sales manager as can be procured. c. i?. white. 
Milk Prices in Indiana 
Below you will find a clipping from the local paper 
which explains how the dairymen of Allen County are 
handling the milk problem: 
“In arriving at a fair price to be paid to the producer 
for market milk the commission recommends that the 
average cost of producing 100 lbs. of 3.5 milk for Indi¬ 
ana. Illinois and Michigan cow testing associations were 
used as n basis for the present. These figures are as fol¬ 
lows : Grain. 3(1 lbs.; hay, 45 lbs.; silage, 150 lbs.; 
other roughage, 31 lbs.; labor, 2.6 hours. For the month 
of June this amounts to: 
35 lbs. grain at $3 per 100. $1.05 
45 lbs. hay at $30 per ton. -67% 
150 lbs. silage at $7.50 per ton. .56 
31 lbs. other roughage at $10 per ton.15% 
2.6 hours of labor at 25c per hour. .65 
Total . $3.09 
Plus 10 per cent for management. .31 
Total production. $3.40 
“In order to discourage production during the flush 
season and to encourage Winter production of milk, a 
percentage schedule for the various months was agreed 
to. For June the schedule calls for 70 per cent. Ap¬ 
plying the 70 per cent basis for June with the total cost 
as figured above gives $2.40. which the commission rec¬ 
ommends should be paid for market milk during the 
month of June at the farmer’s gate.” 
Two years ago the Summer price was as low as $1.80 
until October. Now the price is $2.70 for July, which 
gradually increases up till December, when 119 per cent 
of th.i cost of production will he paid. Now if it is 
right and just to figure the cost of production of an 
article the farmer produces, add a fair profit and recom¬ 
mend that the consumer pay a certain price, then why 
isn’t it right to do so with other necessities such as 
clothing, shoes, etc.? I think this will he the entering 
wedge, and I am proud to think it came from the farm¬ 
ers. 
The milk commission has decided on another feature. 
They deduct from the price paid to the farmer le per 
100 lbs., the dealer contributes a like amount for each 
100 lbs. he buys. This creates a fund that is to he used 
in advertising the food value of milk. The farmers are 
thoroughly aroused through here. They are shipping 
their stock, grain and hay and transacting their own 
business'. At a recent meeting-they organized a Farm¬ 
ers’ Federation, and refused to allow any officers in the 
federation who devoted more time to business than they 
did to farming. In other words, a man’s first interest 
must be the farm. HUGH HARTMAN. 
Indiana. 
Up-State Farm Notes 
CHEESE CONDITIONS.—No change was reported 
in cheese prices by the Gouverneur Dairy Board over 
the price of a week ago. 30% cents being paid. Pre¬ 
mium of % cent will probably be paid on the week’s 
sales of 4,546 boxes, in 45 lots. This price is 7% 
cents more than was paid a year ago for the same 
period. Hot weather again affected the market of the 
Watertown Produce Exchange, with offerings lighter. 
A total of 9.030 boxes was sold here. Brockville re¬ 
ceived 2S% cents for its cheese. 
SELLING HAY CO-OPERATIVELY.—Members of 
the Farm Bureau of Otsego County have employed a 
manager for their hay association. Individual growers 
are giving much support to the officers and directors. 
Branch organisations are being formed and 200 acres 
of hay were pledged early. Montgomery County hay 
growers have an association which, though in its first 
year, is having excellent success. Up to March 1 it 
had sold 4.588.443 pounds of hay and 549.159 pounds 
of straw at a commission of $1 a ton. All expenses of 
this association were met and $254.43 was in the treas¬ 
ury at that time. 
HOME BUREAU SUMMER SCHOOL.—Norwich 
is to have a Summer class in junior project work, con¬ 
ducted under the auspices of the Chenango County 
Home Bureau. Seventy-four pupils, including four 
boys, are already registered and the school will begin 
July 14. Sewing and cooking will be taught, and there 
will be an evening class in addition to that of the day. 
WOOL SALES.—Those worrying over the future of 
wool may be glad to know that five counties. Tompkins, 
Tioga. Cayuga, Seneca and Broome, have pooled their 
wool sales. S. E. Avery of Syracuse being the buyer. 
Five bidders were preseut at the sale. The price* of¬ 
fered is said to be the highest yet paid in the State. 
Otsego County growers also sold about 35.000 pounds 
to Mr. Avery, the price being 62% cents per pound. 
Cortland’s sale committee is negotiating with Mr. Averv 
and Onondaga growers have sold their clip of 10.000 
pounds to the same buyer. The terms are on the basis 
of complete settlement at the time of delivery, and 
every member has the privilege of withdrawing his wool 
after grading if the grading is unsatisfactory. 
COAL SHORTAGE IMMINENT.—Farmers and 
other coal users regret the announcement that August 
or later buying of coal will be too late, that order- for 
coal must be placed at once or Winter discomfort is 
certain. Coal production June 14 was 64.000.000 tons 
short, and as there is no storage of coal at the mines, 
motive power to transport it must be used now. The 
movement of crops is impending, and when that begins 
the time to get coal will be past. 
on every District Attorney in the State to begin vigor 
ou.s prosecution of milk dealers, in respouse to the re 
cent rise of a cent a quart iu retail milk. The Mayo 
says that in this time of plentiful milk there can hem 
excuse for raising its price, lie also asks Robert E 
Dowling, chairman of the Governor’s Milk Commission 
to request the Governor for authority for District At 
torneys to act as prosecutors, and adds that the peopb 
will no longer tolerate profiteering in the necessities 
of life. As an indication of the price to be received ii 
factories making up butter and cheese, the report of It 
Hibbard, manager of the I’harsalia creamerv. am 
winner of many high marks in the dairy contests at t h. 
State I Jiir. is of interest. In April his creamerv re 
ceived 100.805 lbs. of milk, sold 2.481 lbs. of buttei 
and 6,461 lbs. of cheese, netting $2.69 per 100 lbs. o 
V 1 . 1 , 1 !- „ Iu May he received 139.308 lbs. of milk, soli 
*!•—< lbs. of butter and S 9 oil lbs. of cheese, nettins 
$2.94 per 100 lbs. of milk. 
EXTENSION WORK THWARTED.—Where Nev 
York State has had $160,000 Federal funds, outside o 
the Smith-Lever funds, for county farm and home bu 
roau work, and extension work generallv, the Stat. 
will hereafter receive but $58,600. Congress is savin; 
$3,000,000 on a project of known value in public better 
meat, and spending $500,000,000 on the untried Lai: 
scheme, which all understanding agriculturists con 
deimi. There is perhaps no way in which the Stat 
will suffer more than in this needless curtailment of it 
extension work in agriculture. 
ENDS SERVICE FOR WOMEN.—Miss Grac 
Dwight rotter, long the efficient superintendent of th 
)\ omen s Department of the State Fair, has resigned 
and no successor has yet been named. She had als< 
given valuable assistance in connection with the hors 
show for a period of years, on several occasions gettin 
"lit a catalogue for the heavy horse classes. Miss l*oi 
ter has enlarged the domestic department and don 
much tor its development, and now will give her who! 
time to newspaper work. M G F 
