154 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



you should take tlicm to Boston, and deliver tliera at the 

 market-house, and send back those crates for twenty-five cents." 

 They said they would do it, and they did it, to the entire satis- 

 faction of the farmers. The strawberry crates would come 

 back anywhere between twelve or twenty-four hours. The as- 

 paragus went down mostly in the morning, and the boxes would 

 come back the same night. They did the business promptly, 

 they did it well, and they handled the freight carefully. The 

 superintendent of the railroad told those baggage-men who were 

 put in charge of this freight, that any damage from bad 

 handling would be deducted from their wages and paid to the 

 freighters, and that prevented bad handling. Therefore, we got 

 all our products carried in good condition. 



Then the next thing was to get barrels of perishable stuff, like 

 pease and corn, which must go to market pretty quick after being 

 picked, carried to Boston on reasonable terms. They proposed 

 to carry these products for twenty-five cents a barrel on the 

 passenger trains, and they did that, and did it well. They have 

 carried pickles at the same rate. The pickles usually went on 

 the milk train, and on some days a great many barrels of pickles 

 were sent to market in that way. 



1 have no doubt, as I have said, that you can effect some such 

 arrangement as that with the lines on which you live. Believe 

 me, when I tell you, you cannot raise cabbages, and send them 

 into Boston market, for two reasons. The first is, that they ex- 

 haust your land too much, and you cannot afford to buy manure 

 so as to make it a profitable crop to raise and send to market. 

 That has been my experience. 



In regard to the other part of the question, I would say, that 

 the city of Boston does not furnish market facilities as it ought 

 to. The people of that city are the losers, as much as the far- 

 mers. They pay a great deal more for what they consume 

 than they ought to, and we don't get as much for growing it as 

 we should, if they would furnish a large space, with open sheds, 

 where farmers could stand until they sold their products. Now, 

 if my man goes to the market after a certain time in the morn- 

 ing, they drive him off the street. It is true, you can comply 

 with their rules by driving around a square, and coming back 

 to the same place, but that is rather an inconvenient way, and I 

 think the consumers there pay for that, to some extent. It is 



