74 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
March, 
Blinks from a Lantern.XVII. 
DIOGENES REDIVIVUS. 
MARKET DAYS. 
Farmers seldom stop to consid- 
cr the time consumed in mar¬ 
keting their products, or the 
bearing of ready sales upon their 
prosperity. There is a wide 
difference in this respect, be¬ 
tween the British and the American farmer. The 
former has his regular market days, occurring 
once a week or fortnight in the busy part of the 
year, in his own neighborhood, where he can sell 
any commodity he has on hand, at the average 
market price fixed by his own ciass and by the 
lively competition of purchasers. The latter has 
.no regular market day, and peddles his products 
generally at such prices as his own necessities 
compel him to take. The one makes large sales 
with little loss of time, and generally at a profit; 
the other makes small sales, with great loss of 
time, and often at a sacrifice, because he feels 
that he must sell what he has brought with him 
over a long rough road. 
The want of good market facilities is one of 
the great drawbacks to our husbandry, and is 
often the reason why farmers get discouraged 
and turn their attention to other employments. 
Let us turn the light of the lantern a little upon 
this subject. To illustrate the condition of farm 
sales in this country, take the case of Andrew 
Stokes, who owns a snug farm of two hundred 
acres in Pomptown. He carries on a sort of 
mixed husbandry, like most of his neighbors, and 
for the last twenty five years has spent Tuesday 
of each week in marketing the products of his 
farm. His trip is fourteen miles, and to be in sea¬ 
son for the morning sales, he has to leave home 
at'two or three o'clock in the morning. He has 
adopted the system of consuming the most of his 
vegetable products at home. He peddles veal, 
mutton, lamb, pigs, butter, cheese, eggs, apples, 
quinces, cranberries, and a little of every thing 
produced in his neighborhood. His sales in the 
course of a year, perhaps, amount to five hundred 
dollars—which have cost him his time and the 
use of his horse and wagon for fifty days in the 
year, worth at least one hundred and fifty dollars, 
or about a third of the amount of his sales. It 
will be seen that this is an enormous tax upon 
the farmer’s industry. 
Yet the case of Mr. Stokes is by no means an 
uncommon one, though the tax is more than an 
average, by reason of his greater distance from 
market. Most farmers pursue the same plan, sel¬ 
ling all through the year such articles as they 
have to dispose of in small quantities, at the near¬ 
est market town. Some spend two days in a 
week in this business, others perhaps not more 
than one day in two weeks. The sales are gen¬ 
erally made without any accurate knowledge of 
the market, and for the benefit of those who are 
experienced in trade, rather than for their own. 
The merchant knows that eggs are worth twenty 
five cents a dozen, but the farmer does not, and 
sells at twenty because he happens to be in debt 
to the merchant, and wants to square up. He 
sells liis grain, butter, and cheese a little under 
the market for the same reason. The man of 
trade, who keeps himself posted upon the markets, 
has the advantage over him at every point. 
The English system of market days has sever¬ 
al advantages over our hap hazard and miscella¬ 
neous sales scattered through all the days of the 
year. In the older northern States, the popu¬ 
lation is dense enough to sustain regular market 
days, and the effort should he made immediately 
to introduce them, and give them a fair trial. 
Every county with fifty thousand people or more 
might establish days of sale, at four different 
points, on successive Wednesdays of each month, 
bringing every farmer once a month within a 
few miles of a market frequented by thousands. 
The present system should be wholly abandoned, 
and the buying and selling of farm products, should 
be concentrated upon these days. 
A first advantage of this arrangement would 
be to bring every farmer within easy reach of a 
regular home market, where he could sell every 
thing that he produces. The sales of the farm 
would be transferred from the present peddling 
system, to a wholesale business transacted with 
dispatch. Instead of spending a whole day in 
disposing of ten dollars’ worth of truck to as many 
different purchasers, the sale would be made in 
a few minutes to a single individual, the money 
be pocketed, and he might be on his way home. 
Instead of any doubt hanging upon his mind 
that he would be able to sell advantageously 
what he produced, he would be stimulated by the 
ready sales to produce all he could. It would 
make farming much more of a cash business. 
Now, multitudes see very little cash, except at 
the end of the year. They carry their products 
to the country store or village, and barter them 
for such articles as they need, settling but once a 
year, if as often. 
It would also bring the purchaser to the pro¬ 
ducer, instead of sending the producer to the pur¬ 
chaser. Or rather, it would institute a place of 
meeting for the two, where both parties would 
have the advantage of competition in sales and 
purchases. Neither could take advantage of 
the other's ignorance, for every man would know 
to what point the market prices would settle. 
The reports would be upon the ground, and every 
man could examine for himself. Instead of offer¬ 
ing his articles to a single purchaser, he would 
have, perhaps, a hundred inquiring for them, all 
being on the ground for the express purpose of 
buying. It would introduce into the country, 
something of the business activity and pressure 
witnessed in the large city markets. All coming 
together for the express purpose of trade, the 
sales would be made with dispatch. This infusion 
of enterprise into a class that are now so isolated 
upon the farm, would be of incalculable advan¬ 
tage. It would soon show itself in many ways 
in the improvement of agriculture. 
It would also lend to equalize the prices of farm 
products. Now, many of these products have no 
standard value, and one is surprised to find ten, 
fifteen, or twenty percent difference in the price 
of potatoes, apples, milk, butter, cheese, and oth¬ 
er articles in communities very siinilarly situated. 
These fairs, or market days, would soon attract 
attention, and would be thronged by purchasers 
from all parts of the country. The competition 
of these individuals would tend to equalize prices. 
The reports of the markets would be published, 
and farmers would know what price to insist 
upon, and when to hold over any description of 
articles, for a seconfl day. 
This system of sales, too, would have a ten¬ 
dency to provoke a healthful emulation among 
farmers, in regard to the quality of the articles 
offered for sale. They would see the advantage 
as they can not now, of presenting every thing in 
the best possible condition. There is a difference 
of fifty per cent made in two articles of butter. 
The one is little better than soap grease, and the 
other has a clean, waxy appearance, hard, yellow, 
and sweet as the flowers of the grasses from 
which it is manufactured. Farmers would soon 
be educated in these differences, by seeing them 
continually brought out, and affecting market 
values. In many ways these market fairs would 
operate to diffuse the most valuable information 
among our rural population, the knowledge that 
most immediately affects their business. 
It would also foster a division oflabor upon the 
farm. If there was a sale equally ready, and 
profitable for every thing, the farmer would pre¬ 
fer to simplify his business, and rely mainly upon 
one thing for his profits. Thus we should have 
dairy farms, stock farms, sheep farms, and in 
every respect a more perfect division of labor. 
By giving his attention mainly to a single branch 
of husbandry, the farmer would be likely to mas¬ 
ter its mysteries, and could hardly fail to make 
it more profitable. These are some of the more 
obvious reasons in favor of the English system of 
market days. 'The matter is already exciting at¬ 
tention in this country, and a few of these fairs 
have been held with a good measure of success. 
Home-made Corn Brooms Again- 
ANOTHER METHOD DESCRIBED. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist: 
When a boy, I learned to make corn brooms in 
a different manner from that described in the 
January Agriculturist (p. 3). I will give my 
method and your readers can choose the one best 
adapted to their wants : Put the lmt-ends of the 
brush in warm water to soak awhile. When 
sufficiently softened,tack one end of a strong twine 
to the broom handle, about three inches from its 
lower end. Fasten the other end of the string, 
whioh is about two feet long, to a small round 
stick upon which you step with both feet as shown 
in the annexed engraving. Lay on the brush, one 
stalk at a time, and give the handle a turn suffi¬ 
cient to hold each new stalk firmly. Continue 
putting on and winding, until three layers have 
been secured, pulling upward as the handle is 
turned to tighten the string. Now commence 
another row nearer the lower end of the handle, 
and proceed as before, finishing the third course 
or tier with the longest and finest brush. Wind 
the cord around snugly a few times after the brush 
is all on, and fasten the end with a carpet tack. 
To make a broad or fiat broom, more of the brush 
may be put upon two opposite sides than upon 
the other portions. Then tic the two ends of a 
string the right length, slip it. over the handle 
and to a suitable place upon the broom, and sew 
it as already described in your previous article! 
You now have ns neat a broom as you can buy, 
and stronger than most of those in market. With 
a little practice they can be made very quickly. 
When a boy I thought I was making money when 
manufacturing brooms at a dime apiece. Wire 
can be used instead of twine. 
Ripley Vo., Ind. iouv tti.uan t r. 
