26 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



When a peddler comes along, do not let him bring you po- 

 tatoes or other vegetable? in a peach basket. They have a nice 

 little trick of filling up a peach basket when they sell a peck of 

 potatoes. Peach baskets are generally made in New Jersey 

 and they usually hold (\ lO, 12 and 14 quarts. A good many 

 times if you ask a peildler for a peck of potatoes he will fill 

 up a six quart peach basket, or if you ask for two pecks, a 12 

 quart basket. Vou often sec these peddlers going around, 

 three men with a horse and wagon, and they cannot make a 

 day's pay unless they give short weight or measure. The only 

 way is to have a peck measure sealed by the sealer of weights 

 and measures in the house, and then when a man comes in 

 with a peck of potatoes you can ask him to put them in the 

 measure. The chances are that he will avoid selling to you 

 afterward, but at any rate, you are sure of getting full meas- 

 ure. There are many ways in which they try to fix up the 

 measures, — sometimes they will take out the bottom and bring 

 it up a little and nail it over again, sometimes they will take the 

 bottom out and cut the measure ofif and then put the bottom in 

 again, and again they will have a row of nails with a loose 

 bottom. Some of the magazines last year illustrated quite a 

 number of those things, and as far as I have seen the articles 

 they are all descriptive of things that were found in some of 

 the cities. 



In conclusion let me say that I know Mr. Buckley, your Com- 

 missioner of Agriculture, realizes the importance of securing to 

 the people of Maine their full quantity and that he will see that 

 proper weight and measure will be given in all cases, wdiich in 

 my opinion will do a great deal to reduce the present high cost 

 of living. 



