1893 
171 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
THE QUAKER CITY’S MARKETS. 
[EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE.] 
Which would you prefer, 12 cents a pound for your 
dressed chickens, or 16 cents? Twenty cents a dozen 
for your eggs, or 25 cents ? Two dollars a barrel for 
your apples, or $3 ? There probably will be but one 
answer to these and similar questions. Then why do 
not farmers and others more frequently get out of 
their produce all there is in it ? Sometimes because 
of carelessness, often because of ignorance. They do 
not know the demands of the market to which they 
ship. The poultryman who ships brown eggs to a 
market which demands white ones, is the loser through 
ignorance. We have perhaps all read of the enter¬ 
prising but misinformed merchant who consigned a 
cargo of warming pans to the West Indies, but the 
natives, not knowing the object for which they were 
originally intended, and having no need for such use 
if they had known, used them for dippers in their 
sugar works, and immediately ordered more at a 
highly remunerative price. Thus the blunder proved 
a profitable venture. Such blunders are not usually 
so satisfactory in the matter of shipping produce. The 
shipper must know his market, and then must satisfy 
its demands. 
With a view to posting The R. N.-Y. readers upon 
some other than the New York markets, I recently 
visited those of Philadelphia with the special object of 
learning wherein their demands differed from those 
of this city. In many respects, they are the same, and 
there is much trading back and forth between the 
two cities. For instance, if there is a shortage of any 
product'in one city, and a surplus in the other, the fact 
is communicated by telegraph, and in a few hours the 
transfer is made to the advantage of both. 
The Poultry That Philadelphia Folks Want. 
But there are some points of difference. “ Which 
sells best in your market, live or dressed poultry ? ” I 
asked Mr. Boswell, of the firm of Hunter & Drennen, 
who make a specialty of this class of goods, eggs, but¬ 
ter, cheese, etc. 
“ Dressed poultry, always,” was the reply. 
“ How do you account for this, while in New York 
live poultry frequently sells for more than dressed, 
and is most in demand ? ” 
“ Because we have a small Hebrew population, and 
they are the largest purchasers of live poultry.” 
“ In what shape does your market require dressed 
poultry ? ” 
“ Simply bled, and dry picked. We don’t want it 
drawn. Our firm had considerable trouble with one 
shipper. We had been soliciting his shipments, and 
quoted him prices on the supposition that his poultry 
would be dry picked. When he sent it, it was scalded, 
and we couldn’t get as much for it by three or four 
cents a pound. Ptople here want their poultry dry 
picked, and it will pay shippers to remember this.” 
“ What size do you require for broilers ? ” 
“ They must not go much over three pounds to the 
pair. Some have sent in chickens weighing three or 
four pounds apiece, and expected to receive broiler 
prices. Such sizes are roasters, and sell for much 
lower prices than broilers.” 
“ Do you receive many broilers from New Jersey ?” 
“We haven’t yet. They are rather scarce. Here is 
a nice lot which has just come in from Baltimore 
You see they are all packed in nice, new, clean flat 
boxes, and each chick is neatly wrapped in parchment 
paper. It pays to dress nicely and to put them up in 
good shape for this market.” 
“ How do prices for dressed stock compare with 
those in New York?” 
“ They are usually somewhat higher.” 
Don't Mind the Egg Shell's Color. 
“ What eggs sell best here, brown or white ?” 
“ The color makes no difference. The eggs must be 
clean, fresh of course, and of uniform size to bring out¬ 
side prices. People here don’t think that the color of 
the shell makes any difference with'the quality of the 
egg-” 
“ What are the best packages in which to ship 
eggs ?” 
“ Cases holding about 32 dozen. Barrels are out of 
date.” 
“ What are the preferred packages for butter ?” 
“ Tubs and firkins holding 50 to 60 pounds. There 
is some demand for it in the smaller wood and tin 
pails and other packages, but the bulk of shippers re¬ 
quire the larger wood packages. There is some de¬ 
mand for print butter for special customers ; this 
brings higher prices, but the demand is limited.” 
•• What cheeses sell best?” 
“ Small sizes of the best quality. Swiss, full cream, 
sell for more than any others.” 
Beans, Fruit Packages, First Class Goods. 
“ What is the standard size for barrels for fruit in 
this market ?” 
“ There doesn’t seem to be any standard. They are 
of all sizes. Sometimes dishonest dealers buy apples 
in large barrels, and repack them in small, thus gain¬ 
ing several barrels at the expense of both producer 
and consumer. There should be some fixed standard 
to which all must conform.” 
“ How do packages for grapes and small fruits com¬ 
pare with those in use in New York ?” 
“ They are usually about the same.” 
I asked a dealer in beans as to the varieties most in 
demand. 
“The common kinds like Marrows, Mediums, and 
Peas. I have on hand a small lot of Yellow Eyes, a 
kind much liked by the Boston people, but I can’t get 
an offer for them here. No one seems to want them 
at any price.” 
“ Does it pay to hand pick beans for this market ?” 
“By all means. It is difficult to sell them other¬ 
wise. I received a lot a while ago which had not been 
hand picked, and I had to hand pick them before they 
could be sold at all.” 
“ In what are beans usually shipped?” 
“ Mostly in barrels.” 
Schlaich & Gil bough make a specialty of dried fruits, 
and have been for many years in the business. 
“ What are the best packages for evaporated 
apples ?” I inquired. 
“ Fifty-pound boxes are best liked by most dealers. 
They are convenient to handle, and suit the retailers. 
It pays the packers to face them up nicely, and to put 
in only nice, whole pieces. We can get enough more 
for apples from which all the scrapings of the sieves, 
small pieces, etc., have been sorted out, to pay well 
for the extra trouble ” 
“ Do higher grades of fruits sell best here ?” 
“ Yes. In Philadelphia a smaller proportion of the 
population is of the class that buy cheap products, 
hence there is less sale for the inferior grades.” 
“How are evaporated peaches and other fruits 
packed ?” 
“ Formerly mostly in 50-pound boxes. When the 
peach crop on the Delaware peninsula so nearly failed 
a few years ago, and prices were so much higher, 
growers began packing in 25-pound boxes, and many 
are still received in that size. Many of the California 
fruits are shipped in sacks, as these are cheaper, and 
the freight is less, as they weigh lgss than wooden 
packages. Of course they can be sold for less, and 
many dealers take them to save the half or three- 
quarters of a cent difference in price.” 
“ Do you get many peaches from the South ?” 
“ We get a good many from North Carolina, pretty 
nice fruit too.” 
“ Are any fruits sold at auction ?” 
“ Yes, there are several dealers who sell fresh fruits 
at auction in their season.” 
“ What commission do Philadelphia commission-men 
charge for selling produce ?” 
“ From five to ten per cent. We generally handle 
dried fruits for five per cent, while the usual charge 
for green fruit is 10 per cent.” 
From other parties I learned that hog-dressed veals, 
pork, lambs, etc., usually range a little lower in price 
than in New York ; that extra care in assorting and 
packing is usually well repaid ; that there is less sale 
for inferior and unusual products than with us ; that 
retail prices of provisions are lower; that business 
men have more time to talk to the inquisitive scribe, 
and that there are less rush, worry and fret, and 
apparently more solid comfort than among New York 
business men. _ f. h. v. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
The fourth annual exhibition of the New York Poultry and Pigeon 
AsBOOlatlon 1 b In full blast at Madison Square Garden as wo go to press. 
The number and quality of birds, eggs, dressed poultry, Incubators, 
brooders and other appliances have probably never been equaled. 
We’ll give an account of the more Important features next week. 
When buying a milk wagon, why not get a low-down one, and avoid 
lifting or swinging heavy milk cans Into a high platform wagon. It 
requires Just four times as much energy to lift a can of milk Into a 
wagon four feet high as into one only one foot high. In other words, 
you do as much work In loading one can of milk Into the high wagon 
as Is required to load four cans Into tho low one. Parsons Low-Down 
Wagon Co., Earlvllle, N. Y., make a specialty of these wagons, and no 
doubt will be glad to furnish any Information In regard to them. 
There seem to be some good points In favor of the Little Giant Jr. 
fence machine, briefly described In an advertisement In this Issue., 
If we understand It rightly, tho posts aro first set and the wires then 
stretched the full length of the fence desired. Each wtro has an 
Independent tension so that It assists at all times In the support of 
the whole fence. Pickets of any size can be used and the cable twist 
tightens all alike, even when they aro of varying sizes and shapes 
The Richmond Check Rower Co., Richmond, Ind., are the manufac¬ 
turers 
Pigeon-holing “ Costly rubbish.”— While the annual report 
of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue furnishes full returns of all 
the materials used In the production of whisky. It says not a word 
about those that enter into the manufacture of beer, though upwards 
of 30,000,000 barrels of It were consumed last year. All the necessary 
Information is stored up In the archives of the Internal Rev¬ 
enue Bureau, but It Is considered too expensive to publish It. Why 
require brewers to make monthly statements of the materials used In 
the production of their commodity, If the returns aro to be officially 
pigeon-holed? Have not those who pay taxes on tho enormous quan 
tity used, a right to know what they are getting for their money? In 
raising a large revenue from the beverage, does not the government 
assume the duty of protecting those who contribute to It? Upwards of 
'.1,000,000 bushels of Imported Canadian barley were used by beer brewers 
in 1890, while last year, under the Increased taxation, the Imports were 
only one-tenth of that amount; what was used Instead of this barley 
In the manufacture of beer? Was It American barley, rice, corn, or 
what? What has of late been used largely Instead of hops In tho 
business? For the collection of the beer making statistics the govern¬ 
ment pays enormous sums of money; why Isn’t the Information fur¬ 
nished to the public? Why consign such costly " rubbish ” to the 
oblivion of governmental archives ? 
Morgan Grape and Berry 
ALL. FARMERS AGREE ’T W AT 
Great Labor Saver. You cannot afford to work 
Vineyards or Berries without one. Send for special 
circular with testimonials. 
D. S. MORGAN <S CO., Brockport, N. Y. 
Potatoes Need Fertilizers, 
their experience has proven that commercial fertilizers grow a smoother and more salable crop. 
To meet the demand, we manufacture our 
SPECIAL POTATO MANURE,- 
with. Iron Posts and Wire. 
ELLIS & HELFENBERCER, 
Indianapolis, Ind. 
189 South Mississippi Street. 
which is especially adapted to the crop, and has proven its value wherever tried. 
THE STANDARD BRANDS: 
Tip-Top Raw Bone Super-Phosphate, 
Farmers’Choice Bone Phosphate, 
Normal Bone Phosphate, 
Improved Super-Phosphate, 
of the land for the next year. Write for circular, giving analyses and testimonials from parties who have used the goods. 
Address the manufacturers, 
1. p. THOMAS & SON COMPANY, 
No. 2 South Delaware Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 
Agents Wanted 
in Sections 
Unoccupied 
