Evening star., 1915-02-28
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT Is DOING

1lNMuU i IN VVlNu
I feeding methods in recent years, there
must be further improvement II the
dafrying business Is to be kept on q
! prontab1e basis and milk Is to be sold
az the reasonable prices demanded by
1 the american public.
Information collected in the Depart
ment of Agriculture shows that in a
number of sections of the country
farmers today are selling milk for
| less than 1t costs them to produce it.
Most of the dairymen are carrying on
| their business at a loss without know
| ing 1t. because of the fact that they
are not charging against the business
| per cent interest on their money in
nor are they charging against the
| business the value of their own labor.
| Prof. William J. Spfllman, chief Of the
| office OF farm management in the De-
partment of Agriculture. reports that
| 1t Is now costing farmers in the east
ern states, where both feed and labor
| are more expensive than in the west,
more than cents a quart to produce
| the milk which is being sold to the
| dealers for u cents a quart and less
| Prof. Spillman believes that the hope
of the dairying industry in all parts
of the United States, and especially in
| the east, where the business is not so
profitable as in the west. depends upon
| the cooperation of farmers in purchas-
ing high-class breeding stock. with a
| view of improving the standard of
| milch cows. and, secondly. in develop
| ing more efficient and economical meth
DDS of feeding. Another possible solu-
| tlon which will develop the dairyfng
| industry and at the same time not nee
| sssarfly increase the price of milk to
the consumer, in the opinion of Prof.
Spi1lman. will be the payment Of higher
| prices for milk to the farmers. Deal
| ers in many communities are paying
farmers, 1t is reported, much too small
a price for their product.
| 1t is useless. says Mr.. Spillman, for
| farmers to try to meet the situation by
| organizing cooperative enterprises to
| sell milk as done successfully In the
marketing of citrus fruits and various
agricultural crops. A cooperative SELL
ing organization Of dairymen can hard
| ly be expected to succeed, according to
! Mr.. Spillman, because the farmers with
a very perishable product cannot hope
! to compete successfully against the
| city milk dealers, who are usually
| highly organized. It Is believed, how
ever, that by the development of the
| highest standards of mich cows and
| the production of higher grades of milk
+! farmers will be able to convince deal
ers that their product is worth more,
and that they deserve larger part OF
/ the price for which milk Is sold by the
| dealers to the consumers in the city.
Il 4
| The latest use of moving pictures
adopted by any of the government
branches has been
Motion Pictures begun by the United
o.eA States bureau of
mines, which is
spreading "safety-first" information
among mine workers by means Of the
film and lantern slides. Practically all
of the departments have introduced mo-
tion pictures to show the governments
varied activities to the general public.
The bureau of mines films, however,
have been planned not for general en-
tertainment, but purely for instruction
to miners. who are more interested in
the first aid and safety-first work than
they are in reading government publi-
cations about the same subjects.
Foreigners. particularly, who are
ested in safety-first work as shown in
the movies" Many of these men are
more or less tlliterate and would not
have shown an interest in the govern
ments work to prevent mine accidents
even II publications furnished them
had been written in their own Ian
guages. The motion pictures show the
right way and the wrong way for a
miner to conduct himself in a mine and
the best methods of preventing acci-
dents. These pictures will be loaned or
shown at meetings of miners. mine
operators, mine inspectors. mining in
stitutes, associations or similar gath
erings of persons concerned in the pro-
ductfon, manufacture or utilization of
any of tho minerals of the United
States
Not only is the technical work of the
men in the mine shown. but in several
been worked. One of the most interest
ing of these is called IAN American in
the Making a brief description Of
which was given by a mines official as
follows:
IAN European peasant is shown re-
ceiving passage money to go to
America; on arrival is met by his
brother and taken to Gary. Ind: is
guided Guided. to sn.nS z n &C, G. ,; A instead of
untitled for skilled labor, is given en-
ployment as a laborer. and his first
lesson Is one of safety: he is shown
goggles to protect the eyes from flying
chips a safety hook, a hand protector
with safety spring wrist band, guard
for gauge glass, a locking switch and
universal danger sign. Transferred to
Lorain. Ohio, he learns OF other safety
appliances: for example, guards on
drill press. guard on planer. guard on
circular saw. chip guard on shaper for
protection Of eyes, guards on emery
wheel, guard over belt and pulleys and
guards over feed gears and lathe. He
returns to Gary and goes to work at
open hearth furnaces and converter
Teacher in night school becomes in
terested in workman: they are mar
ried, and six years later happy family
is shown, with son in attendance at
model school and playing on the COM
pany's playground"
X y
In passing the joint resolution au-
thorizing the Secretary of Commerce
to postpone the sale of
Trade in fur sealskins now in the
Fur Seals. ass.,asI possession c OF the gov
made 1t unnecessary for officials of the
United States Department Of Com
merce to sacrifice the 1884 skins which
were brought this year from the Pri-
bilof Islands. The decentralization of
the fur trade caused by the European
war would have made 1t necessary to
sell these skins at a price much less
than they are worth, and would have
given purchasers an undue advantage
over fur dealers who have obtained
sealskins at their true value before
the war.
The auction sale of the sealskins
which were brought from Alaska by