167 

 OUR HOME MARKET. 



BY CHARLES H. MANN. 



An abundant harvest may not always be a sure indica- 

 tion of the prosperity of a farmer. His prosperity is as- 

 sured only when his abundant harvest finds a good market. 



The six cities of Essex county afford a market far be- 

 yond the ability of the farmers of this county to supply; 

 they will take all that can possibly be raised and more 

 too, and yet, as a rule, we find difficulty in marketing the 

 produce of our farmers at prices which makes farming a 

 profitable business. 



They pay a high price for what they buy — we get a low 

 price for what we sell— between us is the dealer who gets 

 rich in a few years by bridging this narrow chasm be- 

 tween producer and consumer, and compels the people on 

 both sides to pay a very high toll for a very short bridge. 



A friend of mine became interested, one day, in watch- 

 ing a dealer in a city buy and sell a barrel of spinach. He 

 bought it of a farmer for seventy-five cents. In a few 

 minutes he had sold three single pecks for twenty-five 

 cents each and got his money back again. He then filled 

 two bushel boxes from what remained which he soon sold 

 to a hotel steward for one dollar each, making a net 

 profit of two dollars on an investment of seventy-five 

 cents, within half an hour. This may be a little better 

 than the average, but such trades are being made eveiy 

 business day in the year. Two hundred and sixty-six and 

 two-thirds per cent, of profit is indeed a heavy toll for 

 crossing so short a bridge. 



In a few things farmers may find it profitable to deal 

 directly with families but to carry it to any great extent 

 would make them a race of peddlers. It takes too much 

 time to retail out the crops of a large farm and the system 

 is adapted only to a limited business. Hotel and restau- 



