The RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
1133 
Dominating the Food Situation 
Dr. Jonathan C. Day, Commissioner of Markets 
for the City of New York, had charges-filed against 
him by William M. Bennett for alleged violation of 
law, and the hearing was on last week before the 
city Commissioner of Accounts, One of the wit¬ 
nesses reported a recent conversation in which Dr. 
Day was quoted substantially as follows: 
“Dr. Day told me that under the present system of 
political-commercial influences at work in the city, his 
department was hopeless and helpless. No department 
of markets could hope to serve the people in such 
circumstances, he said. He complained that, having 
contracted to bring ice to New York from Maine to 
relieve the ice situation, he was unable to do so through 
the efforts of ex-Governor Benjamin B. Odell, who 
actually succeeded in making an artificial ice famine 
in this city by playing up rumors from Washington to 
the effect that there was an ammonia shortage. 
“Dr. Day admitted that he had purchased coal to 
the extent of $400,000 to relieve the local shortage, but 
that his efforts were thwarted by those higher up. He 
said that with the brokers, commission men, and food 
interests clamoring for his destruction and using politi¬ 
cal pull to bring it about, he earnestly hoped for an 
opportunity to take the stand and reveal everything, 
regardless of whom it might hit.” 
The witness testified that he agreed with the 
opinion of Dr. Day that under the corrupt condi¬ 
tions now destroying its functions the Department 
of Markets should be abolished. 
“It is obvious,” he said, “that unless the department 
serves the profiteers it cannot hope to survive, and if 
it does serve the profiteers it cannot hope to serve the 
public.” 
The city authority for creating a department of 
markets is a part of the State farms and markets 
law. That law was not made to help producers 
and consumers by reducing the cost of distributing 
food. It was made in the interest of distributors, 
and to head off the system that farmers had 
initiated themselves and were developing through 
the State Department, which they created for the 
purpose. Of course the politicians who served the 
distributing interests did not tell the farmer that 
they were going to destroy what he had. They told 
him they were going to make something bigger and 
better. What they did was to put the control of 
the whole thing—State and city—into the hands of 
the distributors and food trusts. What Di\ Day has 
discovered in the city has already been experienced 
in the State. It proves the domination of political 
parties both in the State and city by the food trust 
interests. Dr. Day made the mistake of trying to 
get some necessities to consumers without paying 
the customary toll to the regular distributors. This 
is the one thing that will not be tolerated. It is 
the one way the trust magnates, big and little, have 
of getting back the money they pay in campaign 
contributions and for keeping their own men in im¬ 
portant. positions. If Dr. Day had observed this 
prerogative of the middlemen to levy toll on food 
and other necessities he might remain on the pay¬ 
roll of the State or city until doomsday for all the 
higher politicians might care, but as long as the 
system lasts no man can honestly serve the public 
to the full extent of his official opportunities. To 
do so would be to change the whole system, and that 
would mean home jobs for the politicians and loss 
of special privileges for their masters. 
A Bunch of Milk Notes 
The Trouble Over Milk Tests 
Inclosed find $1 for renewal. More strength to your 
good right arm in your battles for the rights of farmers. 
The cream test is the biggest steal the dairy farmer has 
to face. My cream is sold to an ice cream company, 
practically the only market for cream here. They 
started me in with a test of 33 per cent, ran it up to 40 
per cent, then ran me back down to 31. In the mean¬ 
time I have churned twice, weighing the cream and but¬ 
ter. and find my cream will churn out almost 50 per cent 
butter. I sent a sample to the experiment station for 
analysis June 20 and got a test of 40 per cent. The 
cream company’s test for the same day was 35 per cent. 
I have every reason to believe cream should have tested 
40 per cent right along, but according to the test re¬ 
turned me yesterday (31 per cent) they are taking 
within 1 per cent of one-fourth of my butterfat. What 
can I do about it? s. J. B. 
Vermont. 
Our experience and correspondence leave no room 
for doubt that farmers lose heavily on the fat test of 
milk, but the churning test, while serving as an indi¬ 
cation. is not conclusive. Sometimes considerable fat 
remains in the buttermilk, or the butter may contain 
excess amounts of moisture and cheesy matter. The 
first effect, would indicate less fat than the cream. 
To pass the Federal pure food test a pound of butter 
must contain .S25 of a pound of butterfat. In 100 
lbs. of cream testing 40 per cent there will be 40 lbs. 
of fat. Hence 40 -v- .825 = 48.48 lbs. of butter in 100 
lbs. of 40 per cent cream. 
The only thing that can be done in this and similar 
cases is to secure an accurate test. Where there are 
dairy interests enough, the best way is to organize a 
local branch of the Dairymen's League and appoint 
a manager or agent to test the milk regularly, and 
see that the producer gets paid for what he delivers. 
We have repeatedly urged this plan, and all agree 
that it would save annoyance and loss' to dairymen, 
but milk dealers or buyers prefer to have the test 
left exclusively to themselves, because by lowering 
the fat test they can reduce the average price of the 
milk. 
If no League branch exists or can be formed, you 
should buy a Babcock tester and learn to test your 
own milk and cream. The cost of the outfit is only 
$5 or $0, and you can follow the printed directions 
and make your own test. 
Prompt Payments for Milk 
Is Sam Levy responsible? Does lie furnish the State 
a bond to insure the payment of milk bills? We were 
told he would pay every two weeks, but we have not had 
a check in six weeks. c. c. 
New York. 
Mi-. Levy is credited with some responsibility, and 
we believe has furnished a bond which, however, 
would probably cover only a small part of his out¬ 
standing milk bills. But no matter what a dealer’s 
standing or size of his bond, six weeks is too long a 
credit for milk bills. If the agreement is for fort¬ 
nightly payments, and it should be in such cases, the 
agent who made the contract should insist on prompt 
and regular payments. One way to avoid losses in 
milk accounts is to insist on prompt payments. 
Milk Prices Figured 
We live 317 miles from New York City on Lehigh 
Valley Railroad, and 326 miles on New York Central 
Railroad. Our milk is shipped over the Lehigh Valley. 
What should be our price for milk for May, June and 
July?. What is the price for New Yox-k butterfat for 
July?* The R. N.-Y. was a Christmas present, and I 
think it is the best all-around farm paper we ever sub¬ 
scribed for. and we have taken quite a few. j. e. s. 
New York. 
The price of 3 per cent May milk 200 miles from 
New York was $3.06. To figure the exact price of 
your milk it would be necessary to know the fat test. 
Assuming that the test was 3.4 per cent, you would 
add 16 cents to the 3 per cent price, making it $3.22 
per 100 lbs. The 200-mile freight rate is .445. At 
317 miles it is .530. Your differential is .530 — .445 
= .085, and your price is 3.22 — .085 = 3.135. The 
June price was $2.89 per 100 lbs., and July is $3.01. 
This is also for 3 per cent milk in the 200-mile zone. 
Add to these prices 4 cents for each one-tenth of 1 
per cent of extra fat, shown in your test, and follow 
the formula above, and you will be able to find the 
net price at your station. 
We have no public quotation in New York for pure 
butterfat, but it can be readily figured on the basis 
of butter prices. The average price of butter graded 
as extras is now 54*4 cents. The Federal pure food 
law requires that this must be not less than S2.5 per 
cent pure butterfat, and there is .825 lb. of fat in a 
pound of commercial butter. Since the moisture has 
no value the price of the fat is .545 -r- .825 = .660. 
This is without any allowance for making the butter. 
School Districts in New York 
We are often asked how many school districts in 
New York are affected by the sanitary toilet require¬ 
ments. Mr. Frank H. Woods of the State Depart¬ 
ment, who has charge of this part of the work, says: 
Our statistics division is unable at present to give me 
the precise number of rural districts. There are 11.000 
school districts iu the State and I would estimate that 
approximately 8.000 of them are strictly rural districts. 
Estimating from a report made a few years ago, there 
are approximately 4,000 rural schools with a registra¬ 
tion of 10 or less pupils, and 1,250 districts with a 
valuation of less than $20,000. Probably from one-third 
to one-fourth of the districts have school buildings that 
will need to be replaced at an early date. In quite a 
large number of the supervisory districts of the State 
practically all of the scuools that fall within this re¬ 
quirement have installed some approved form of sanitary 
toilet. 
As was stated last week, the districts where the 
schoolhouse must be rebuilt, where the district valu¬ 
ation is below $20,000 and the attendance small, do 
not come under the requirement. 
“Daylight Saving” and Sleep Loss 
The following note is written by a city man who is 
not particularly interested in farming. We print it 
as a new contribution to the discussion: 
I have been an ardent and hopeful supporter and fol¬ 
lower of the President throughout his course. I am not 
a farmer, but a city man, a father of children, and I 
hope alive and awake to all the currents of affairs that 
bear upon the welfare of our country and our people. 
Now. in the sum total of American legislative matters, 
this ''daylight" question is seemingly very small, and 
yet I must confess that it has shaken my confidence in 
the judgment of our Chief Executive as nothing else has 
done. Somebody has misled him into a false step that 
will cost him more loss of support than his attitude on 
many of the apparently larger things. 
During last year many of us suffered in silence, and 
even saw our children suffer, and said nothing, lest we 
incut the unwelcome charge, however unjust and un¬ 
warranted, of lack of patriotism, so- long as the pro¬ 
ponents of the change made the false claim that it was 
a measure necessary or desirable to the winning of the 
war. This was a lie from the very start. The very 
slogan, “daylight saving,” had its birth in deliberate 
subterfuge. The only thing saved by this change has 
been sleep; necessary, refreshing sleep, without which 
there can be no health of body or mind. God knows the 
children of this land, those between the ages of two 
and 13 particularly, are paying with broken bodies and 
stunted minds that the childless of the cities may pos¬ 
sess a slight addition to their pleasure. If you doubt 
this, ask of the school teachers in the lower grades con¬ 
cerning their dull and sleepy-headed charges under the 
changed conditions; ask of those mothers who them¬ 
selves assume responsibility for their children ! 
The claim that children can be put to bed according 
to the clock may be argued pro and con as long as any¬ 
one has breath, and yet the fact remains that they are 
not. The Red Cross launches a children’s health cru¬ 
sade, and establishes as its standard, based upon the 
best authority it can find, a minimum requirement of 10 
hours’ sleep for every child below the age of 13, a thing 
impossible now in many a household, owing to this 
change. 
And not only are the children sufferers, but adults as 
well. I have talked with heads of offices here who 
frankly admit that instead of increased efficiency the 
change has resulted iu definite and remarkable loss of 
efficiency, and, strange as it may seem, those whose effi¬ 
ciency has suffered most are the very ones loudest in 
praise of the change of time! They have had an extra 
hour of leisure in the afternoon, have slept one hour the 
less, and wonder why they feel so dull and listless for 
the forenoon’s work. 
On the score of economies claimed in the veto mes¬ 
sage it may be said that the patriotic urge to more 
careful use of coal and light, and still more the greatly 
increased price of these, did lead to lessened use, a 
saving arrogated to themselves by the daylight med¬ 
dlers. but in no way chargeable to their account. And 
so with other claims that they have made. In this 
community, a populous suburb of a populous and over¬ 
crowded city, our observation is that nobody retires 
earlier by actual time than they did before; they must 
rise earlier and merely sleep the less. No evening 
gathering scheduled for eight o’clock can be secured on 
time, and starting late perforce ends late, and often, 
even in urgent matters, fails of attendance in sufficient 
numbers to be effectual. This condition probably ob¬ 
tains in every other community, a fact that does not 
tend to lessened use of artificial light. 
It is maudlin to talk of the advantage of keeping the 
day’s chief activities within the period of natural light, 
in a country where an eight-hour day prevails and the 
daily period of the sun is from 12 to 14 hours, so why 
not be honest and admit that the sole valid reason is the 
consolidation of leisure time for pleasure purposes? Of 
the rank and file, those who approve do so for no other 
reason. There could be no qnarrel with this advantage 
to a class were it not accompanied by disadvantage to 
another class. And herein lies its greatest danger to the 
nation ; the very insidiousness pf a movement that caters 
to the pleasure of the ever-increasing childless portiou 
of our population, at the expense of child welfare. 
J. S. 
A Great Potato Demonstration 
July 12, 1919, will long be remembered as a great 
day in the agricultural history of Monmouth County, 
New Jersey. A campaign for a new and the most 
suitable variety of white potato for Central New Jersey 
was launched at Holmdel. By two o'clock about 400 
autos were parked opposite the entrance to the orchard 
in which the meeting was held. Over 1.000. growers of 
potatoes had accepted the invitation of the Holmdel 
Potato Club to their first annual field day, which was 
made the formal launching date of the determined 
effort on the part of farmers for new and better potato 
seed for their district. 
As a part of the entertainment the Holmdel Potato 
Club had arranged for an auto truck show, which 
proved a big success. So far as known this was the 
first anto truck show ever held on a farm, and exclu¬ 
sively for farmers. The dealers reported that it was 
the best business move of the kind they ever patronized. 
Potato farming iu Central New Jersey calls for rapid 
transportation from the field to the freight station 
while the potatoes are being dug. since no part of the 
crop is stored as a rule. Hence the auto truck has 
become an indispensable part of every potato farmer’s 
equipment. As a matter of fact, the farm demands 
will absorb more auto trucks than the city require¬ 
ments. once farmers come to know how indispensable 
they are under existing conditions. 
For one hour after lunch a demonstration of plowing 
was given in a nearby field, which drew a large part 
of the audience. Potato diggers also were on exhibi¬ 
tion. On the same farm the agents of the Federal and 
State governments had seed potato, fertilizer and in¬ 
secticide test plots, which were viewed by the guests 
of the day. However, this year’s experience has demon¬ 
strated to the Holmdel Club that July is too late hi 
the season to exhibit the test gardens. About June 
20 would be the ideal date to show the potato vines iu 
their prime. Of course the real answer in the tests 
will come when the potatoes are dug and accurately 
measured by the Government’s agents. 
The club was honored by the attendance of Dr. Stuart 
and Dr. Schreiner from the Department of Agriculture 
at Washington, Dr. Headlee. Dr. Cook. Dr. Blair and 
Dr. Martin from the New Jersey Experiment Station 
at New Brunswick. II. R. Talmage of Riverhead. L. I.. 
II. J. Mclvers of Van Buren. Me., and by the Hope 
Farm man. wbo made the principal address of the day. 
Guests were generous in their praise of the field daw 
and it is believed that it resulted in great impetus to 
the movement for better potato seed for Central New 
Jersey. 
The next move on the part of the Holmdel Potato 
Club will be to consolidate their gains and then drive 
for suitable appropriation, for carrying on the necessary 
experiments. The sum of $25,000 annually for the next 
10 years is needed to do the job right. The County 
Board of Freeholders may be asked to purchase a farm 
in the central part of Monmouth County, to be devoted 
to potato experiments and seed tests. A piece of land 
adapted for irrigation by the gravity system is being 
considered as part of the scheme. Monmouth County is 
blessed with wonderful possibilities in the irrigaton line, 
which will some day largely increase her output of po¬ 
tatoes. vegetables and fruits. t. m. c. 
Moumoutk Co., N. J. 
