Fishkill Fizzle

No one could point to any organized sabotage, though the unfounded rumor that the herd had the dreaded Bang's disease looked suspiciously like a dirty Republican trick. But the strong gust of wind that blew the tent down, making it necessary to hold the auction in a crowded, drafty barn, was definitely an act of God. Even so, for a registered herd, the bids were suspiciously low. Jersey cows went at $100, and the owner stomped off in a huff when $10 was bid for a young bull. Squire Henry Morgenthau Jr.'s whole herd of 100 purebred dairy cattle at his Fishkill, N.Y. farm brought a total of $15,598--only half again as much as he had paid for the sire 25 years ago.

Obviously there had been a conspiracy. Hudson Valley dairy farmers were irked at their neighbor's retirement from dairying at a time when profits are sagging and feed is short--and the Secretary of Agriculture has been pleading for more milk production.

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