PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 371 



The proposition was thought important, and the club voted 

 there should be a committee, and the chair appointed as follows: 



Messrs. N. C. Meeker, S. Edwards Todd, Dr. J. V. C. Smith, 

 Wm S. Carpenter, and P. T. Quinn. 



Selling Vegetables by Weight. 



This being the subject appointed for discussion, Mr. P. T. Q:.in 

 spoke as follows : 



It has always been, and is now, an unsettled point with the 

 farmer, to know how much to give or take for a bushel. The 

 consumer can seldom make any calculations on the length of time 

 a barrel or a bushel of a certain kind of vegetable will last, using 

 the same quantity daily. The size of the bushel is usually regu- 

 lated by the scarcity or abundance of the article to be bought or 

 sold. Take, for instance, potatoes, one of the staples, and form- 

 ing a portion of the daily food of all families. When potatoes 

 are scarce, and bringing high prices in market, the producer 

 measures a bushel to suit himself. Master of the situation, he 

 philosophically arrives at the conviction that a man should he 

 well paid for his produce. At such times the measure is care- 

 lessly filled and very slightly rounded, and the purchaser certainly 

 gets no more than the law allows. On the other hand, if pota- 

 toes are abundant and cheap, the tables are turned — the producer 

 has lost the vantage ground he so lately held. Under these cir- 

 cumstances the farmer has not only to till the measure carefully, 

 but heap on above the rim of the bushel as much as there is below 

 it, besides occasionally throwing in a peck to make " good mea- 

 sure." This same by-play goes on between the producer and the 

 " middle men," and of course a more adroitly played game has 

 to take place between the latter and the consumer, to enable the 

 "middle-men" to make an honest living, and thus matters " hold 

 out." Who that has bought vegetables for family use, has not at 

 different times been surprised at the relative differences in quan- 

 tity of different pecks or barrels of potatoes. 



How much more simple it would be to place one or a dozen of 

 heads of cabbages on a scale, and sell for so much per pound, 

 than the present method, which is tedious to both buyer and seller. 

 As a general thing, cabbages are not uniform in size or weight. 

 Very large heads are often very light, and except the purchaser 

 is an expert in the business, he is taken in by appearances. Each 

 head has to be the subject of a separate bargain, and, of course, 



