FROM FARM TO MARKET. 359 



I myself have experienced the disadvant- 

 ages of sending produce to Covent Garden, 

 and on my pointing out to a large salesman 

 that my gooseberries realised a sum much 

 lower than other gooseberries of inferior 

 quality, I was coolly informed that as a small 

 grower I could hardly expect to have my fruit 

 sold until after the large grower's fruit had 

 been cleared ! There is another evil too 

 against which the small grower has to contend, 

 and that is the vested interest of the salesman. 

 He is himself often a buyer of large fields of 

 standing crops of vegetables and fruit, and it is 

 natural enough that his own wares should take 

 precedence in the market. Then again, who 

 is to know that JNIr. Isaacs," market salesman," 

 is the proprietor of JNIessrs. Union Jack & Co., 

 "greengrocers," of the market approach — the 

 firm which bought your stuff from Mr. Isaacs ? 



In Holland, most of the market gardeners 

 and the stock-keepers, tired of the low prices 

 meted out to them by the dealers, have formed 

 their own co-operative markets with their 

 salaried salesmen. Why can we not do the 

 same in England ? And in doing so, why can 

 we not go one better and have municipal 

 markets with salaried auctioneers, for stock 



