138 • BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



article. As a rule, it is supposed, that,vthe nearer the pro- 

 ducer lives to the market, the greater are his advantages. 

 Certainly it should be so ; but, unfortunately, this does not 

 appear to be the fact in this section. 



Upon inquiry among the Boston butter-merchants, I was 

 told that one reason why the Western product was so much in 

 favor, particularly during warm weather, was that it reached 

 them in better condition, with no greater cost for freight. 

 Surprised at this, I have visited the Boston markets on the 

 days for receiving butter during the past summer, and per- 

 sonally examined the receipts from different localities. Ex- 

 cepting only small consignments specially packed with ice, 

 I found that the butter from the Far West, and notably from 

 Iowa, arrived in the best condition, as if fresh from the 

 maker's hands. Next in condition was that from Northern 

 New York. Vermont butter, as a whole, was unsatisfactory, 

 although some was in fair condition. But that made in our 

 own State, even so near as Worcester County, and more par- 

 ticularly shipments from west of the Connecticut River, 

 arrived in a soft and damaged condition, decidedly lowering 

 its grade and value. The reason for this difference is in the 

 better facilities given by the railways to shippers over long 

 routes. Upon further investigation, I learned that the differ- 

 ence in freight-rates with these extra accommodations is so 

 slight, that the advantages are all in favor of the Western 

 shippers. Here are some examples: The great transporta- 

 tion companies of Chicago own refrigerator-cars in Targe 

 numbers, and send them to every section of the West to 

 gather perishable freight, and bring it to that city. There it 

 is classified, quickly transferred, each kind to its special car, 

 and sent Eastward. The companies furnish the ice and all 

 necessary attendance. A very large business of this kind 

 is by the Star Union Line, which comes East by the Pan 

 Handle Route, around New- York City by water, and on to 

 Boston, partly by the Boston and Albany Road and by the 

 National Despatch Line, which reaches Boston through Cana- 

 da, by the Grand Trunk and Central Vermont Routes. An- 

 other combination includes the New- York Central, and from 

 the Hudson uses both the Albany Road and Tunnel Line. 

 By the Southern route around New York, butter from Illinois, 

 Wisconsin, and Iowa, is carried twelve hundred or fifteen 



