New-York tribune., 1910-02-01
MILK PRICES FALL.
Eggs 4lso Drop, but Neat
Holds Up-PouItry High.

The Sheffield Farms-Slaw son-Decker Com
pany. one Of the two large milk concerns
which has stood out for the price OF
cents quart, announced yesterday that on
March 1 it would reduce its charge to
cents. The company. 1t was said at the
offices. had undertaken a campaign OF ad-
vertising by which it hoped to present It's
contentious as to the regulation OF milk,
prices to the consuming public
The wholesale meat market kept its prices
at the level at which it closed on Friday.
but there practically nobody to buy
at those prices. The retail men complained
loudly. Saturday, they said. was one of
the worst Saturdays for the meat trade
that ever passed in New York They could
not console themselves, as they had done
the week before, by saying that the trade
was light because of bad weather.
There was a heavy curtailment in the
supply of cattle for slaughter which was
shipped into the Chicago market The
shipment was reported 1900 animals.
For the last four Mondays the shipments
have been respectively 10000. 2500o, 10000
and 27OO0. This, it was charged, was be-
cause OF a concerted movement of the Beef
Trust to force higher prices by reduction
of the supply. Wholesale dealers in this
city denied that such deliberate plan was
in effect.
1.-THE meat industry IS a machine one
of them said. 1.-The farmer is at one end
and the consumer at the other. If either
doesn't like the market price he stops sell
ing or stops buying, the case may be-
Then the price comes automatically to the
level where the consumer or the farmer will
buy or sell Prices have broken a good
deal since they started. a week ago. and
naturally the farmers do not want to sell
just now.'
On the other hand, it is contended that
the men controlling the meat industry
can fix a buying price so low that the
farmers are actually driven away from the
selling yards
There were widely circulated reports that
the great meat houses had also heavily cur
tailed their shipments of meat TO this city
for the coming week in an endeavor to fit
conditions of supply to the great falling off
in demand. In the place of eighty cars
which is said to have been the regular
Monday supply Of one large firm only
tLirty-five reached the city. Some of the
retail butchers were positive in their asser-
tions in this respect
At the offices Of Swift & Co it was said
that that concern had not cut down its
not understood by the company's agents
here that any such course was to be pur-
sued.
There have been severe snowStorms in
the West" it was said, ''and a number of
our cars which should have arrived to-day
were held UP by the bad weather. The
market is steady to-day at the prices which
prevailed at last weeks closing. The de-
mand is very light. There will be a supply
which will be ample for the free movement
of the market
Another large wholesale dealer also pro-
tested Indignantly that no curtailment had
taken place.
There will be plenty of meat" he said.
I'VE take what the farmers offer US and
we kill and sell at once Unless the farm
ers stop selling we cannot stop buying We
can't shut down our plants and turn on
our men,
Considerable quantities of pork, it was
learned. were placed in cold storage again
Yesterday, as had been done on Saturday.
One dealer explained that. while surplus
supply OF pork could readily be placed in
storage, this was not often done with Beef,
as the carcasses were inconvenient to han
die. and the quality Of the meat parucu-
1arI,, Of the better cuts. deteriorated a good
deal
Eggs again fell cents dozen IN the
wholesale market, making a price 5 cents
below that at which they stood year ago
Butter remained firm. In the dairles about
the city prices remained at about the level
they reached on Saturday with many
slight reductions. Poultry Is still at the
highest figure that has been known IN
years The staple fowl" the theoretlcal
bird used as standard. was quoted at II
and IS cents pound, or cents higher
than at this time last year.