1898 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
127 
WHAT I SEE AND HEAR. 
Careless Shippers. —I have frequently seen pack¬ 
ages of various products consigned to commission 
merchants, without a mark on them to show whence 
they came, and often no mail advices were sent. It 
seems almost incredible that any shipper could he so 
careless, yet it is a common occurrence. One commis¬ 
sion firm devotes a corner in every issue of its price 
current to the description of products received with¬ 
out marks, hoping thus to learn the shippers. These 
consignments are credited on the books to “unknown”, 
each one being numbered, the date of receipt given, 
the route over which it was shipped, the place of ship¬ 
ment and the nature of the shipment. It is a stand¬ 
ing advertisement of the carelessness of shippers. 
X X X 
Early Morning Prices. —I have often written of 
the fact that the best trade on most products is early 
in the morning, and that the best prices are usually 
obtained then. Business in the New York commission 
district begins shortly after 12 o’clock, and in the 
fruit season, often earlier. The best trade is supplied 
before daylight. One commission firm, in its price 
current, calls special attention to this fact, and says 
that early morning prices on new fruits and vegeta¬ 
bles usually range from 10 to 15 per cent and, at times, 
25 to 40 per cent higher than prices ruling later in the 
day. The largest and best buyers are in attendance 
early, secure their supplies from the first receipts, and 
leave late arrivals for a floating and uncertain trade. 
Late receipts frequently have to be carried over, de¬ 
teriorate in quality, and eventually sell for lower 
prices. The ruling market hours vary in different 
markets and, probably, are later in the day in most 
cities than they are in New York. 
X X X 
Low Prices for Grapes. —In this column for Decem¬ 
ber 25, I spoke of a retailer selling Catawba grapes of 
good quality for 10 cents per five-pound basket, and 
wondered how much the grower received. The buyer 
of a basket had the curiosity to write him in relation 
to this matter. The grower said that he was not 
positive as to which one of two or three shipments 
this particular basket came from; one of these was 
sold for 10 cents per basket on the car at his place, 
and the others, shipped to New York and sold on com¬ 
mission, sold for 10 and 11 cents per basket. This 
would make it appear that some one must have lost 
money ; but this is not necessarily the case. These 
low prices are sometimes possible in this way : The 
retailer might have bought, say 500 baskets at 10 or 
11 cents per basket. He began to retail them for, 
possibly, 15 cents each. At that rate, 400 of them 
would return to him all that the whole number cost 
him. Supposing now that trade becomes slow, or 
ruling prices are lower, and in order to move off the 
rest of the grapes in a hurry, he puts the price at 10 
cents. He may not make anything on the last 100 
baskets, but he will make a fairly good profit on the 
sale of the whole lot. So he doesn’t lose anything, 
and numerous buyers are happy because they got 
cheap fruit. It is sometimes a question with retailers 
of putting a low price on a lot of fruit, and moving 
it quickly, or of losing all or a part of it by decay. 
XXX 
Apples for Export. —Good prices have been the rule 
for the past month, but recent prices have been lower. 
The British markets have been much depressed, be¬ 
cause of larger arrivals than had been expected, and 
of poor condition of some lots, especially Ben Davis. 
J. C. Houghton & Co.-, London, cabled the following 
prices, February 9 : Winesaps, $4.85 to $5.33 ; Ben 
Davis, $2.91 to $4.72 : Rome Beauties, $4.85 to $5.33 ; 
Golden Russets, $3.63 to $5.10; Newtown Pippins, 
$2.91 to $6.06. Total shipments from all ports for the 
week ending February 5, were less than 20,000 barrels 
which, under ordinary circumstances, would be con¬ 
sidered small. For the corresponding week in 1897, 
they were over 72,000 barrels. Mr. Chas. Forster, of 
New York, says that he is not soliciting any consign¬ 
ments for the German market, because of the uncer¬ 
tainty as to what the authorities may do. The embargo 
on apples has been removed, and fruit will be ad¬ 
mitted unless it be shown to be affected with disease. 
Some lots of California fruit excited most opposition. 
Mr. Forster says that there are three causes for the 
lower prices of apples : The German agitation, heavier 
shipments, and a larger stock of apples in the country 
than had been supposed. The season for greatest de¬ 
mand for apples in the English market will be over 
in about one month. Then the early rhubarb comes 
in in immense quantities, as well as a good many of 
the early vegetables, and these take the place of 
apples largely. The fact is evident that the extreme 
high prices for which apples have sold this season 
have restricted consumption. Apples have been lux¬ 
uries when they should be articles of every-day con¬ 
sumption. 
X X X 
Wool Sales. —The sixth wool auction was held 
Wednesday—postponed from last week on account of 
the severe storm then prevailing. A large proportion 
of the wool offered was of domestic growth. Upwards 
of 700,000 pounds were sold, mostly scoured ; this is 
a smaller amount than was sold at the previous 
auctions. Prices obtained were, also, lower than at 
previous sales. It was said by an old wool broker that 
recent prices have been too high for manufacturers 
and dealers, and that a reaction toward lower prices 
was bound to come. Prices of manufactured goods 
must go up before higher prices for wool are practic¬ 
able. The Winter now almost past, has been one of 
the most unfavorable for the sale of woolen goods, for 
many years and, perhaps, lower prices may have re¬ 
sulted partly from this cause. 
X X X 
Pacific Coast Markets. —Last week, I gave some 
comparisons between the New York and Pittsburgh 
markets. Here are some wholesale prices for country 
products ruling in Seattle, Wash., about the first of 
the present month, which may be interesting to com¬ 
pare with prices here at the same time : Ranch butter 
was quoted at 15 to 17 cents; fancy dairy in squares, 
20 to 22 ; Washington creamery, two-pound prints, 25 
to 27; Iowa, in tubs, 25. Native Washington cheese 
was quoted at 10 to 13 cents, and Eastern at 12% to 
13. Strictly fresh ranch eggs were held at 22 to 24 
cents, while Eastern storage were selling for 14 to 17 
cents. Dressed chickens were quoted at 13% cents per 
pound, while live ones sold for 12 to 12%. Dressed 
turkeys brought 15 to 16 cents per pound, dressed 
ducks 11 to 12% cents, while live ducks were quoted 
at $3 to $3.50 per dozen. In vegetables, potatoes are 
quoted by the ton ; native sold for $12 to $13, Early 
Rose, $10 to $11, Yakima, $14. Silverskin onions sold 
for $2.75 to $3 per 100 pounds. Cabbage sold for one 
cent per pound, sweet potatoes, 1% to two cents per 
pound ; Hubbard squash, two cents per pound; rad¬ 
ishes, 10 cents per dozen bunches. Hothouse products 
seem to sell pretty well, lettuce bringing 45 cents per 
dozen, tomatoes, 25 cents per pound, and cucumbers, 
$1.50 per dozen. Fancy apples were quoted at $1 
(probably per bushel), choice apples at 50 to 75 cents, 
and common apples at 20 to 50 cents. Here is a com¬ 
ment that always seems to be true of all markets: 
“ Good apples always command a good price. There 
is strong demand for fancy stock.” Cranberries were 
$9 per barrel. Hay was quoted at $18 for Eastern, 
Washington Timothy, Alfalfa and Puget Sound, $12. 
Grains are quoted by the ton : Oats, $21 to $22 ; wheat, 
$22 to $23 ; barley, $21 to $22 ; corn, $21.50 ; rye, $23 to 
$24. It will be seen that many of these prices are 
higher than those ruling in our eastern markets at 
about the same time. f. h. v. 
THE SAN JOSE SCALE QUESTION. 
WIIAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT ? 
The Chairman of the Executive Committee Speaks. 
A National Convention was called by the Ohio Hor- 
ticultui’al Society, which met last March at Washing¬ 
ton, D. C., to deal with the general subject of insect 
pests and plant diseases. This meeting was attended 
by many prominent fruit growers and specialists 
embracing the entire country, yet for some reason, 
the agricultural papers failed to take much notice of 
its proceedings, and such other papers as did take 
note of the proceedings grossly misrepresented the 
character and spirit of the convention. However, the 
convention met, performed its duties, and placed in 
the hands of an executive committee, the work of 
pushing before Congress the legislation it indorsed. 
This committee completed and had introduced during 
the special session of Congress, the bill known as 
Senate Bill No. 96. 
From a misunderstanding of the purposes of the 
members who composed this convention, and the 
necessities of the case, that is the serious danger 
threatening the fruit and nursery interests from the 
San Jos6 scale in particular and from other pests in a 
lesser degree, the nurserymen took a decided stand 
against this measure. However, at their convention 
at St. Louis in .June last, this whole matter was thor¬ 
oughly discussed, with the result that the nurserymen 
prepared a bill in conjunction with a member of the 
legislative committee of the Washington convention, 
which embodied practically the same features as the 
Washington bill. It was then arranged that the legis¬ 
lative committee of the nurserymen and the executive 
committee of the Washington convention should meet 
in Washington when Congress assembled for the 
regular session, and there agree upon a measure which 
all interests could unite in pressing before Congress. 
These committees assembled in joint session on 
January 18, and worked together in perfect harmony 
for several days. This meeting resulted in the prepara¬ 
tion of what is now known as House Bill No. 6,894 
(Senate Bill No. 3,333 being the same), and this 
measure was introduced promptly into both branches 
of Congress. Hearings were had before the Agricul¬ 
tural Committees of both the House and Senate, also 
before a sub-committee, with the result that this bill 
was reported favorably, and is now on the calendar 
for legislative action. This measure has been indorsed, 
at least in principle, by practically every State horti¬ 
cultural society that has met during the past season, 
by The American Nurserymen’s Association, by the 
Eastern Nurserymen’s Association, and by that excel¬ 
lent body of fruit growers, The Western New York 
Horticultural Society. 
This bill has run the gauntlet of much criticism, 
and has been made the subject of much discussion in 
committees of fruit growers, entomologists and be¬ 
fore committees of Congress ; and while its provisions 
may not suit entirely the views of many persons, it is 
thought that, under it, we will be able to secure, per¬ 
haps, the best possible treatment of this subject which 
can be accomplished at the present time. Whatever 
legislation of this sort we may adopt, its execution 
must be left largely to the Secretary of Agriculture, 
who will, doubtless, act through the trained heads of 
the scientific divisions of the Department. The bill 
under consideration provides for exactly this sort of 
thing, and if passed by Congress, we will certainly be 
enabled to check, in a large measure, the dissemina¬ 
tion on nursery stock of such serious pests as the San 
Jos6 scale in interstate commerce. We trust that it 
may operate to prevent the introduction of well- 
known pests from some other countries. 
With the general statement given above, I wish to 
notice some particular statements that have appeared 
in the agricultural papers recently, a number of these 
having appeared in The R. N.-Y. 
In The R. N.-Y., of January 8, a symposium in re¬ 
gard to what buyers are to do to protect themselves 
against the San Jos6 scale, is given. This subject is 
treated by a number of people, several of whom are 
entomologists. I first wish to notice Prof. Smith’s 
statements, and would like to state that, personally, 
1 have the highest regard for Prof. Smith, and do not 
believe that we disagree as to the scientific statement 
of facts, but that, in so far as his treatment of the 
subject relates to the economic side of the case, I differ 
with him entirely. In order to bring out our differ¬ 
ences of view, it will be necessary for me to go back 
a few years and point out some matters relating to 
the history of the spread of the San Jos6 scale in New 
Jersey. It is now well known that New Jersey was 
the first of the Atlantic-coast States to become in¬ 
fested, and that this occurred through the introduc¬ 
tion of scale-infested stock from California about 1887. 
When this scale was discovered in the East in 1893, 
Prof. Smith at once took up the investigation of the 
subject in New Jersey, and at the Brooklyn meeting 
of the Association of Economic Entomologists in 1894, 
made the following statement: “ I feel positive that 
no spread has yet been made in New Jersey, except 
by means of nursery stock. 1 feel safe in saying that 
no further infested stock will be sent out from our 
nurseries. I am reasonably sure that all the growers 
that I have seen will adopt any measure suggested by 
me; and will get rid of the scales—in fact, I will make 
it my business to follow them up until they do it— 
and, finally, I see no reason why it cannot with us be 
completely stamped out.” [Insect Life, Vol. VII., 
No. 2, page 165.] wm. b. alwood. 
Chairman Ex. Committee Washington Convention. 
(Concluded next week.) 
BUSINESS BITS. 
Nelson J. Tuttle, who conducts large livery stables in Hart¬ 
ford, Conn., recommends Quinn’s Ointment as a remedy for re¬ 
moving curbs, splints, spavins, wiudpuffs, bunches, etc. He has 
used it 25 years. W. B. Eddy & Co., Whitehall, N. Y., will send trial 
box for 50 cents. 
We are very much pleased with the combination lock-pin clevis 
which came from the Cormauy Manufacturing Company, 225 
Dearborn Street, Chicago, Ill. It does away with the annoyances 
experienced with the old-fashioned clevises, the pins of which are 
either constantly coming out or rusting fast, so that they cannot 
be removed when it is necessary to do so. Any one who uses 
clevises on whitHetrees will appreciate the new clevis. 
On Sunday morning, October 17, the large warehouse of the 
Roderick Lean Manufacturing Co., Mansfield, O., was entirely 
destroyed by fire, entailing a very serious loss. This firm are the 
manufacturers of the celebrated Lean All-Steel harrows, and at 
the time of the fire, the warehouse was completely filled with fin¬ 
ished harrows and parts of harrows. While their buildings were 
still burning, the company were making arrangements to rebuild 
and to place themselves in position to take care of their increas¬ 
ing orders and the whole season’s trade. Those who have placed 
their orders for Lean harrows will not be disappointed; all 
will receive them in time for Spring use. 
Spraying does pay; of that there is no longer a shadow of 
doubt. Results at the New York Agricultural Experiment Sta¬ 
tion, at Geneva, N. Y., where pear trees sprayed produced 86.55 
from each tree, while the trees not sprayed yielded 45 cents to a 
tree, illustrate the comparative profit of spraying. But the profits 
of spraying depend on the intelligence with which it is done. 
Almost any good force pump will furnish the spray if the nozzle 
is all right, but the most important function of a practical spray 
pump is to keep the mixture properly stirred. The Garfield and 
Empire King spray pumps, made by the Field Force Pump Co., 
Lockport, N. Y., have patented automatic agitators in addition 
to the good features of a first-class spray pump. They will 
gladly mail a book on spraying, describing their goods, to any 
one asking for it. 
