652 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
September 30 
THE AUCTION SALE OF FRUITS. 
THE BELLING ADVANTAGES OF CALIFORNIA PRODUCTS. 
On page 545 F. H. V. tells of “Bidding on Bananas.” 
lie says: “ There are difficulties in the way of the 
complete success of the auction business when applied 
to Eastern products, difficulties which the Californians 
have partially or completely overcome, and they are 
in consequence reaping the reward.” Now we East¬ 
erners would like to have some explanation as to what 
these difficulties are. How do the Californians get 
over the trouble and how should we act? I shipped 
grapes to Mr. Goodsell both last year and this. Last 
year his ptices ranged above those of the commission 
merchants to whom we shipped, but this year they 
went slightly under. I have been selling water-melons 
at auction, in a town of 5,000 inhabitants, for four 
years with good results. By this system I save time 
and trouble and am sure of selling for something, even 
when there is a glut and other people haul their loads 
home, being unable to sell at any price. A. H. i\ 
Henderson. N. C. 
In the first place, let me say that some, yes, many, 
Eastern and Southern growers of fruits and other 
products have overcome many of these difficulties ; for 
they are not insurmountable. Instead of taking any 
particular product as an example, let us look at the 
matter in a general way. Of course, the chief products 
shipped here by the Californians are fruits, but what 
is true of these is also true of any other product. To 
insure successful selling and satisfactory returns, the 
product, whatever it is, must be well grown. This 
is the starting point. It is the foundation stone of the 
whole business, for unless a good article be produced, 
no amount of after manipulation can make it good. 
Some of the Eastern growers have contended that the 
same methods of handling, assorting and packing fol¬ 
lowed in California cannot be followed with our East¬ 
ern fruits, because the latter are not good enough to 
warrant the extra expense. On this point I have 
nothing to say. 
Take it for granted, however, that the produce is 
well grown ready for market. The first point is the 
proper assorting. This is the great point where 
Eastern growers fail. If there is one thing upon 
which The R. N.-Y. has insisted year after year, more 
than another, it is this, that greater care be used in 
assorting ; that only the best be sent to market. Lack 
of observance of this is one of the greatest causes of 
loss with any system of marketing, and notably so 
with the auction system. Buyers are not deceived. A 
single example : I saw some fine King appleB sold at 
auction at prices that looked like almost giving them 
away. The sample barrels were opened for inspec¬ 
tion, am; they were apparently beauties. After the 
sale I examined them more closely. The heads were 
filled with large, perfect apples, but in the middles, 
the apples were poor, wormy, small and altogether 
such as no one but a second or third-rate dealer would 
use. Five barrels such as they were would have made 
probably three of good, first-class apples, and the 
three would have sold for more money than was 
obtained for the five. Freight, cartage, etc., would 
have been less on three, and two barrels might have 
been kept at home for hog feed or for evaporating. 
Another difficulty is the lack of cooperation among 
Eastern growers. No man who puts up a first-class 
product would wish to cooperate with one packing 
his produce like the one described. Every man wants 
to go it on his own hook. Transportation and hand¬ 
ling are less expensive with large lots. Buyers are also 
attracted by the large quantities for sale, and thus 
better prices are obtained. So long as every producer 
insists on sending in his little lot by itself, he cannot 
improve upon these advantages. The California prod¬ 
ucts are controlled by companies who oversee every 
detail, and while every man uses his own brand, and 
each man’s fruit is sold on its own merits, each is uni¬ 
formly assorted and packed, and is handled by these 
companies as though it were their property. Ship¬ 
ments are made in train loads. 
Then the matter of uniform packages is important. 
One man sends in apples in barrels of full legal size, 
while another sends his in pony barrels. The same is 
true of nearly all products. They are short in weight 
and measure, and a crate, or box, or barrel, or quart 
really has no meaning when used as a standard of 
measure. The cupidity of the man who thinks he can 
sell eight pounds of grapes for 10, or of the one who 
uses a small-sized berry basket thinking to deceive the 
purchaser stands in the way of a great step forward 
in this direction. The California packages are uni¬ 
form in size. The contents are uniformly assorted 
and packed. The man who buys a lot to-day, knows 
that similar brands to-morrow will assure him similar 
goods. As one dealer put it: “ When I buy California 
fruit, 1 know what I am getting; when I buy Eastern 
fruit, I don’t know.” 
Then there is the subject of free packages, which it 
is hardly safe for me to mention. Packages must go 
with the contents. Progressive growers recognize 
this. Of course I am not speaking of those who sell 
their products in local or village markets, but of those 
who ship their products to the great metropolitan 
and city markets, where immense quantities are 
handled and products are shipped long distances. 
Our Southern friends have ceased to expect their 
packages returned. The West is in line, and the 
more conservative Eastern producer must also fall in. 
To sum it up, then, we must have good products, 
well assorted and packed in uniform gift packages, 
marked with a brand which should become a guar¬ 
antee of the contents. Only the best should be mar¬ 
keted. Producers should cooperate to secure lower 
freight rates, superior advantages in handling and 
selling, and to attract the buyers. These conditions 
are coming in some lines of produce, and attention to 
the points noted will render it possible for the advan¬ 
tages of the auction system to be widely extended. 
f. n. y. 
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SOME DIFFERENCES IN PEACHES. 
1. What relation as to quality Is there between yellow flesh and 
white flesh varieties of peaches? 2. What relation as to quality 
between free and clingstones? 3. How about the hardiness of the 
two kinds of trees? 4. Which are usually the more productive? 5. 
Which are more susceptible to attacks from the “yellows?" 
I have never been a commercial fruit grower^and 
the locality where I live is not favorable for peach 
growing. The cold is severe in winter and there is 
liability to late spring frosts, the former frequently 
injuring, and sometimes destroying the trees, and the 
latter killing the fruit about the time of blooming. 
Hence my opinions are largely formed from observa¬ 
tion and from individual preferences, especiallly as to 
quality. 1. I regard the better varieties of white 
fleshed peaches superior in quality to any of the yellow- 
fleshed kinds. 2. As a rule, to my taste, the freestone 
peaches are better and higher flavored than the cling¬ 
stones ; the latter, on account of firmness, however, 
keep longer after they have been gathered and can be 
shipped with less injury. 3. I think there is very 
little difference in the hardiness of the white and 
yellow-fleshed varieties ; or between free and cling¬ 
stones. If there is any difference, according to my 
observation, it would be in favor of the white-fleshed. 
4. If there is any difference in productiveness between 
white and yellow-fleshed peaches, my impression is 
that it would be in favor of the latter. 5. As to 
yellows, I cannot answer, never having had any trees 
affected and not knowing of any in this section ; and 
where I have seen trees which were attacked I have 
not noticed whether they were of the white or yellow 
sorts. GEO. W. CAMPBELL. 
1. Taken as a whole, there is generally little differ¬ 
ence between the white and the yellow-fleshed peaches; 
but it seems to be generally conceded, among con¬ 
noisseurs, that none of the yellow varieties equal in 
quality certain of the pale-fleshed sorts. 2. The clings 
are, I think, invariably firmer in texture, and there¬ 
fore keep and handle better than the freestones ; 
otherwise I am not aware of any essential difference 
so far as quality is concerned. It is understood that 
in California they have in use a machine with which 
the pits are removed automatically and rapidly, and 
that, with its use, the clings have become popular, 
especially for drying. 3. I am not aware of any 
noticeable difference between the two classes so far as 
hardiness is concerned. 4. So ifar as my experience 
and observation go, if there is any difference so far as 
productiveness is concerned, it is in favor of the free¬ 
stone varieties. 5. So far as I have observed, both 
classes are alike liable to infection by the disease 
known as yellows. T. t. lyon. 
DISHORNING THE D0RSETS. 
DO THEIR HORNS HURT THEIR 8 A I. E ? 
Is It not a fact that the horns on early lambs with Dorset blood In 
them hurt the sale ? Could not they be killed with caustic potash 
as calves’ horns are ? Would It be worth while ? Has It ever been 
tried ? 
We have not found that the horns on Dorset lambs 
injured their sale. Of the lambs shipped to New York 
from the University farm, the Dorsets have brought 
the highest prices. No complaint whatever has been 
received from the commission-men regarding the 
horns, although we have frequently asked if there was 
anything we could do to improve the quality and ap¬ 
pearance of our early lambs. Probably the growth of 
the horns could be prevented by applying caustics very 
early in the life of the lamb, but it would require a 
more liberal application of caustic potash to prevent 
the growth than is required with calves, as the horns 
of Dorset lambs are as large at birth as with most 
calves when six weeks or two months old. I do not 
know that caustic potash has been used to prevent the 
growth of horns on early lambs, and do not believe 
that it would pay to use it, certainly not unless the 
horns are objectionable. We intend to make a trial 
of caustic potash during the coming winter on the 
horns of ewe lambs that we raise, and will gladly re¬ 
port our success or failure. geo. c. watson. 
Cornell University. 
Dorset lambs to be marketed when six weeks or two 
months old, would not be hurt by their horns. If to 
be marketed at nearly yearling age, the horns would 
be some inconvenience in feeding, but would not, I 
think, hurt the sale at all. I have heard of the horns 
being killed, and have no doubt they might easily be 
with concentrated lye as calves’ horns are. Con¬ 
centrated lye in the cheap form sold for washing and 
soap-making purposes is superior to anything else for 
dishorning. I shall try dishorning lambs next lamb¬ 
ing season and report. j. k. wing. 
As to horns on Dorset lambs being an objection, I 
think that they are at the present time, but when the 
excellent quality of the mutton becomes better known 
the prejudice will be overcome and the existence of 
horns will be an advantage. I have had no experi¬ 
ence with dishorning with caustic potash, so cannot 
answer; but I have had lambs that lost a horn by 
accident, and know that it soon grows again. I would 
not want to remove the horns for the reason above 
indicated. When ram lambs are intended for the 
butcher, however, they should be castrated early, 
which will materially reduce the size of the horns, 
and remove the great objection on account of waste, 
and still preserve the identity of the breed. 
W. E. KINNEY. 
All About the Wheat Midge. 
E. C. L,, Orleans County, N. Y .—Will wheat be fit for 
seed that was a ffected by the midge or weevil this year? 
Will the pests be as likely to injure bearded as beard¬ 
less wheat ? Is there any variety exempt from them ? 
What are their habits, etc.? 
Ans.— The wl eat midge or red weevil—Diplosis 
tritici—is closely allied to the destructive Hessian fly. 
In its adult form the midge is a minute bright orange 
colored fly about one-third the size of a mosquito. 
The pests may be seen around the forming heads of 
wheat about the middle of June, being usually most 
numerous on dark, sultry days. They are then de¬ 
positing their eggs in the crevices between the chaff 
of the wheat heads. These eggs are of a pale reddish 
yellow color, about one-liundredth of an inch in 
length and one-sixth as thick. In about a week the 
minute footless larva) hatch from these eggs and make 
their way to the soft kernels, and by means of minute 
Y-shaped jaws they scratch the surface of the kernels 
and suck the milky juice which exudes, thus produc¬ 
ing the well-known shrunken or shriveled kernels. 
In three or four weeks they become full-grown and 
are then about one-tenth of an inch long and of a red¬ 
dish yellow or orange color. They now descend the 
stalks and go into the ground where they construct 
cocoons in which they spend the winter. The cocoon 
is not larger than a mustard or turnip seed. Dr. Fitch 
states that most of the larvie leave the heads during 
or after a rain, sometimes riding down the stalk in a 
drop of water. In fact, it seems necessary that they 
must have moisture to thrive. When placed on a dry 
surface they shrivel up and remain so for months, re¬ 
covering when placed in damp places. Usually many 
of them have not left the heads when the grain is cut, 
and they thus go into the thrasher to come out in the 
chaff and screenings. They do no further damage to 
the grain after it is cut, for it is then too dry and hard. 
They shrivel up and remain in the stored, unthrashed 
grain or in the screenings until spring. The insect 
sometimes appears in the field late in the summer and 
autumn in the volunteer wheat. Thus is briefly told 
the life history of the midge so far as known. Like 
many of our worst insect pestB, the midge is of Euro¬ 
pean origin. It first attracted notice in England in 
1740, but our exact knowledge of it began in 1795, 
when it was given its name. It was probably intro¬ 
duced on this continent in unthrashed wheat brought 
into Quebec. In 1820, it was seen in Vermont where 
it became abundant in 1828. In 1835-3G, it was exceed¬ 
ingly destructive in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, 
and eastern New York. In 1854 more damage was 
done by it than ever before or since. In New Yc rk 
State the loss was estimated at $15,000,000, and in 
Indiana and Ohio it was nearly as great : $2,500,000 
was the estimated loss in Canada in 185G. In central 
New York in 1857-58, wheat growing was so much in¬ 
terfered with by it that the price of land fell from 
$70 to $40 per acre. Not much was heard of the pest 
again in this State until 1884, when it did serious 
damage in Wayne and Seneca counties. Since then 
