The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-12-28
PARCELS POST THAT AIDS ALL
Profits of Middlemen Could 'e Largely Saved by Con
 Sumer. With One. /
SOME FINE EXAMPLES.
Wealthy Farmer Compares cost to Dealer and Price
 Paid by Retailers.

S<@SA " @VSSAAS>"s
 At the request of a subscriber who is an advocate of parcels post, The Farmer is re-printing the following from the New York Tribune because 1t is so rich with arguments for a parcels post and worthy of careful reading by all progressive citixens. To. the Editor of The Tribune.
 Sir:-The- contribution from your Washington bureau in The Tribune of Dec. 8. entitled '.MiddIemen Blamed for High Prices is an interesting ad- (1ition to-the many reasons given for the, existing high prices of farm pro- duee. I say interesting, but only so as coming from Secretary Wilson. who, beng chief of one of the depart ments of the general government. shows only one way, and that one a very doubtful expedient for the solu- may cause any statesman concern if he ,has any actual knowledge of the conditions which underlay the prob lem.
 At the beginning wish to say that have no axe to grind, as I am not only a bondholder in many railways. but am also the owner of some five hundred acres of land in a high state of cultivation only three hours by ral from New York. This farm has pro- duced the- largest crops and has taken theE highest prizes at our local fairs. Everything is managed upon a strict 1y business basis, all supplies are pur- chased in bulk and accurate and sys- tematic accounts are kept showing ex- Actly where everything goes to and what the profits are from any particu- lar crop, if any. I say if any, for des- p.te- the best of help at moderate prices this farm has never yet paid it's running expenses.
 First-I pay. for milk here in New York nine cents a quart, whereas if I sell it at the farm I must deliver 1t at least three miles away and re- ceive only four cents. Now, milk at four cents a quart-and in summer 1t sells as low as three and even two cents . Quart-is a very unprofitable product, and looking at it as a purely milk proposition it is a dead loss. Moreover, in my case, as my herd is composed entirely of fine Jersey cat tle, the loss is far more serious, as the quantity of milk given by Jersey cattle is very nearly in the inverse ra- tio to the percentage of butter fat. CT is simply milk and that is why far mers or cow keepers who sell milk keep COWS giving a large quantity of milk but poor in butter fat.
 Second-I have a model chicken plant. can produce some five thous- and eggs every day in the year. but if I ship these eggs to market I could not get at the present moment more than hfty-six to fifty-eight cents. which by the market men would retail at sixty-f1ve cents, and my ex- press charges for the delivery of these eggs in New York would very largely reduce my return.
 Tbird-I have 500 feef of YV,nSh. room beds, where I can and do raise the finest mushrooms during any pe- riod of the year. If I ship these mushrooms to New, York I cannot get paying express charges baskets and ten per cent. commission on the sales, but if want to buy mushrooms for my family will have to pay to-day eighty-five cents a pound for stale stock. which we would not think of using in our family.
 The recent express strike in New York has brought out many letters to the press asking why We cannot have a real parcels post instead of the sham thing the post office is masQue- rading. and yet. while I faithfully of them have I yet seen any straight forward and earnest advocacy of a parcels post by any leader writer of the New York press.
 I think there are very few people in this country aware of the immense facilities provided by the British post office by it's parcels post department. I lived in England for twenty years, and was the managing director of q lar-~ business sending parcels to all parts of the world. Fully one-halt of these parcels went by post with ab- solu;e safety and speed and at a very low tariff. My own sirloin roast left Kircady. north of the Scottish bor- der on Friday night, and was always delivered at my house in London at 10 o'clock Saturday morning for the small sum of one English shilling, which is twenty-four cents of our mon- ey. Eggs, cream, fresh and smoked fish, butter. cheese and a multitude of things for household use came in the same way promptly and cheoply By this system every householder was brought into direct contact with the producer, and 1t hardly needs any great aeumen to realize what a boom it was to both producer and consumer. for. to say nothing of the cheapness of carriage, our supplies were of fresh- ness and cleanliness absolutely un- known in this country.
 Mir. Wilson Is perfectly right; the farmer does not get these enormous prices. He is a very patient. hard working and useful member of society, but If he can give his children a com HUI SCuOol cQuCdtlOu aiu Qle N.CuOuI a mortgage on his farm he is more fortunate than the average.
 ] cannot agree with MT. Wilson's suggestion of cooperative stores as a panacea for high prices, as I have carefully investigated the entire mat ter. The trouble is not entirely the fault of the retail dealer. as any one will see who will invest gate the rents paid in New York for stores. And, as far as cooperative stores in Eng land are concerned, they are to my personal knowledge cooperative only in name and have never returned any adequate dividends to the stockhold- CTS commensurate with the investment andthe risk involved, while the prices charged by these stores are never less and often very much more than the same article can be purchased for else where.
 In England the parcels post has solved the entire difficulty and m!l- lions of families get by far the larg- CT proportion of their farm produce direct from the producer.
 -~ Methinks I hear a growl from Wash fngton way, non possumus. We have all become accustomed to it. but I doubt If any intelligent American business man is willing to admit that q system wh' oh has become in Great Britain household necessity cannot be as effective here in the United States, and some day. notwithstand- ing the express lobby and all the politicians with their ears to the ground, the public long suffering and disgusted will demand a real Drac-