MARKETS. 105 



the stores daily send a wagon to West Point to 

 accommodate their customers there, and I have 

 had occasional dealings with the West Point 

 market. This enlarges my opportunities some- 

 what, but beyond the village there was no cer- 

 tainty and regularity of demand. The hotels and 

 boarding-houses I have supplied with little save 

 fruit, and of this phase of my market I will speak 

 later. My gardener has made arrangements with 

 several neighboring families by which he sup- 

 plies them directly with the best and earliest 

 products at the best retail prices. These swell 

 the aggregate of receipts largely, but when you 

 estimate the time required in obtaining and 

 filling such small orders, and the interruptions 

 they cause in the routine of business, little is 

 gained. 



In addition to the regular customers who be- 

 come dependent on my factotum, Thomas, for 

 p>-' *>' *heir daily food, there was a still larger 



