DO SOUTHERN PRODUCTS DESTROY NORTHERN MARKETS? 351 



or worse than that, a fruit regarded as a cross which is of the stigma. In the flower they are not so prominent 

 only self-fertilized. as shown, however, being almost entirely hidden in the 

 Fig. 5 represents a flower of this kind, showing the tube with the style. The whole work is both interest- 

 position of these stamens alternating with the three lobes ing and important. Fred W. Card. 



DO SOUTHERN PRODUCTS DESTROY NORTHERN MARKETS ? 



«r|rpr/HE BOSTON Market Gardeners' Associa- 

 eiB ® tion at its meeting of February 21, dis- 

 cussed the question "Do southern pro- 

 ducts materially interfere with our native 

 products." The subject was opened with a paper 

 by the president, W. W. Rawson, an extract of 

 which paper is here given. 



"The sending of southern productions to our markets 

 has been practiced for about 15 years and is constantly 

 increasing. About the first article to arrive is spinage ; 

 it comes some time before ours, and the people use it 

 freely. When ours comes in, that is about gone. The 

 use of spinage has come to be extensive, and our crop 

 comes in with an advanced price over the other and 

 larger quantities can , be sold. But if the southern had 

 not preceded ours and stimulated the market we could 

 not sell as much, and therefore we derive a benefit rather 

 than otherwise. The same remarks apply to tomatoes. 

 We do not receive less now than formerly : for our first 

 bushel of tomatoes we always receive from |io to $15 ; 

 and the use of tomatoes has become so large great 

 quantities can be sold for $2 to $3 per bushel, while 

 the southern are bringing only from 50 to 75 cents. 

 The same is true of cucumbers ; but many will say thaf 

 the southern crop is a great injury to ours. It is well- 

 known to the buyers that fresh cucumbers are very 

 much better than stale ones, and they will always buy 

 the fresh ones if in the market. Many think that higher 

 prices would be obtained, but there is a limit to the 

 price that a large number of buyers will pay for a cu- 

 cumber or a peck of spinage, which a few years ago 

 they would not think of buying at all. This is easily 

 shown by the occurrence every year when, while cucum- 

 bers are bringing from 5 to 6 cents each, the quantity 

 gets short on account of a small set on the vines, and 

 the price goes up to g and 10 cents each. 



" Look at the prices our melons have brought the past 

 years, and look at the amount of southern ones sent into 

 the market. Does it affect them ? Not at all. It will 

 be acknowledged by all that our market has increased 

 very much in demand for all these vegetables, and the 

 number of dealers has more than doubled in the last 

 fifteen years, so that it takes a large quantity of pro- 

 duce to supply them, just for the stock which they are 

 obliged to have on hand. Would there have been so 

 many of them but for the southern produce ? No. 

 Then each one of them has parties in other cities that 

 they supply and have built up a large trade, which 

 could not have been but for the early southern produce. 

 Our produce supplies the later demands. 



"Then there is another thing that looks rather strong 

 to me. There comes from the south 2,000 bbls. of 

 spinage ; it is all sold for %2 to $2.25 per bbl. But let 

 our own teams bring into the market in one day 1,000 

 bbls. of spinage and what will it bring ? Not over per 

 bbl. Does this show that the southern productions 

 affect our market ? No, but rather that our way of sell- 

 ing is not correct. They sell to the highest bidder at 

 a good price ; we sell to the first bidder at about one-half 

 the price, and all bidding against ourselves. I think 

 that a new system should be adopted, whereby we can 

 sell our goods for more money at less expense. We 

 need larger markets, more room to sell our goods and 

 nearer and closer connections of these markets. 



"The constant supply of and production does not de- 

 crease the market, but rather increases it, and in no 

 place in this country is it plainer shown than in our 

 market at Boston, which is the best market in this or any 

 other country. The southern produce helps us to keep 

 the market supplied and thus increases the quantity 

 used. Not only does it increase the quantity by length- 

 ening the season, but by increasing the quantity used 

 at all times. 



' ' The price of strawberries has not diminished. When 

 our fresh berries come in they bring from 20 to 30 cents 

 per basket, and sometimes as high as 40 to 50 cents. 

 This shows that the prices are as good as ever, and the 

 demand much more. If no southern produce was raised 

 and sent into our market, much more would be grown 

 here, and at times it would be diffcult to sell it at all, 

 which is sometimes shown us by the large quantity of 

 green corn in our market, and with no sale for it." 



Mr. Sullivan, of Revere, considered southern products 

 a great benefit to the commission man and the retail 

 store-keepers, but to our local producers they are a great 

 detriment. We have striven to compete with southern 

 truck by the erection of greenhouses and hot-beds, and 

 have, in a measure, overcome the difficulty. Perhaps 

 this competition has been more strongly felt around New 

 York city than around Boston. It is a fact that the com- 

 petition with the south has driven many men from the 

 business of market gardening around Boston. Mr. Sul- 

 livan does not strive to have stuff early, as southern 

 competition leaves him no profit. He thinks that there 

 is more money in later productions. 



V. Frost, of Belmont, did not agree with the essayist, 

 and was surprised to hear him talk as he did. Mr, Frost 

 stated that he had been in the market gardening business 

 for forty years, and was able to judge of the question. 

 He admitted that during the civil war prices were much 

 higher than now, but he would go back before that event. 



