1898 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
533 
Among the Marketmen 
WHAT I SEE AND HEAR. 
A Novel Delivery Wagon. —One firm of flour 
dealers in the city has delivery wagons built just in 
the shape of, although larger than, a flour barrel. 
Such a wagon driven through the streets naturally 
attracts considerable attention ; being decorated in 
large letters with the name of the firm, and the goods 
it sells, it serves as a continual advertisement for their 
trade. The same idea is often carried out by other 
firms, the thought being to get something striking, 
original and attractive. 
X X X 
Varying Weights of Chickens. —One dealer told 
me a few days ago that he had a lot of chickens on 
hand, weighing about two pounds each, and he was 
having hard work in getting rid of them. Just about 
the 4th of July, demand seems to change, and heavier 
sizes are required, buyers now wishing those weigh¬ 
ing about three pounds each. The desired weights 
may vary in different markets, but this is about the 
requirement in this market at the present time. The 
result of the change is that chickens of a lighter 
weight than that required, must sell for considerably 
lower prices. 
X t t 
Peaches on Top. —This week, one sees peaches 
everywhere. The larger part of them are the Elber- 
tas from Georgia, and a fine appearance they make, 
too. Nearly all the push-carts are selling them, and 
bananas and California fruits have taken a back seat 
for the present. The ruling price is 35 cents per 
basket, the baskets being those used in the regular 
carriers, holding, perhaps, about six 
quarts; one standkeeper, more enter¬ 
prising, or else a bigger liar than the 
rest, labeled his “Jersey Peaches.” These 
peaches are fine enough to sell under 
their true colors. They receive a hearty 
welcome. I saw one small lot in octa¬ 
gonal crates, the crates having a parti¬ 
tion like orange boxes, and holding, 
probably, about three pecks each. 
x t t 
Securing Ship m e n t s of Farm 
Products. —The bogus commission mer¬ 
chants of the city resort to various more 
or less ingenious, but generally tricky, 
means for securing shipments. They 
send out all sorts of specious circulars 
and letters. One of them represented 
that shippers should favor him with 
their consignments because his trade in¬ 
cluded all the first-class retail grocers in 
New York. Imagine the assurance of a 
man making such a claim. There are 
3,000,000 people in New York, thousands 
of retail grocers, thousands of commis¬ 
sion merchants ; yet this man made this 
preposterous claim. No reputable com¬ 
mission merchant would make such a 
claim, because he knows that, to any 
man of experience or knowledge of con¬ 
ditions, it is a lie on the face of it. An¬ 
other made the equally preposterous 
claim that he had the trade of all the first-class 
restaurants and hotels in New York. The latter are, 
also, numbered certainly by the many hundreds, if 
not by the thousands. Any one making such claims 
or claiming facilities so far superior to any one else 
for getting more than market prices, should be let 
severely alone. There are reputable firms who have a 
superior trade, but we don’t find them claiming the 
earth. 
X X X 
A Popular Shipping Basket.—At Fig-. 242 is 
shown a round basket which has come into quite gen¬ 
eral use, especially with 
southern shippers during 
the past few years, and 
which is certainly a model. 
The same style comes in 
two sizes, what is known 
as the half-barrel basket, 
and the third-barrel bas¬ 
ket, the capacity being in¬ 
dicated by these words, 
though some of the baskets 
look as though they had 
shrunk. The basket is very 
strongly built, and is cov¬ 
ered by a slatted cover, 
well fastened on. It is used by the southern shippers 
for string beans, peas, new potatoes, onions, squashes, 
as well as for apples, and some other fruits and 
vegetables. It presents an extremely neat appear¬ 
ance, is very convenient for handling, is well ven¬ 
tilated, and is of a size to handle well. Its use might 
well be extended, especially by northern growers, for 
fruits and vegetables. I have just seen some of this 
same style of baskets, the bottoms of which are square 
with the corners rounded off, thus making the baskets 
nearly square instead of round. The only advantage 
I can see for these is that they might be packed to¬ 
gether more closely in car or boat, thus saving space. 
These baskets vary considerably in size, height and 
capacity, but are alike in general style. 
X X X 
Retail Buyers Take a Hand. —I have spoken 
several times recently of the evil of shippers dividing 
up their shipments among different commission mer¬ 
chants, as it generally results in lower prices. It now 
seems that there is, also, objection to this from an un¬ 
expected quarter. We might think that retail buyers 
would not object to this practice, but some of the 
better class are doing so. Here is about the way one 
of them puts the case : “I made a purchase of a fine 
lot of southern peaches early in the morning, at $1.50 
per case. I took them to my store, and was selling 
them at a small, though fair margin of profit. In a 
little while, customers began to complain that a 
neighboring grocer was selling the very same brand 
of peaches at just the price per case that I had paid 
for mine. Of course, I could not sell for that price 
without losing all my labor and profit, and my only 
recourse was to get a reduction in price from the man 
of whom I bought. This he was forced to give, in 
order to hold my trade, for I could not afford to pay 
him higher prices than the same peaches could have 
been bought for elsewhere. The inside of the whole 
matter was that the shipper had divided his ship¬ 
ments, sending them to several different receivers, 
and received lower prices in consequence. The better 
class of receivers had sold these peaches at the open¬ 
ing of the market at $1.50 per case ; some of the snide 
concerns, however, seeing that they were likely to be 
left with peaches on their hands, sold the same brands 
for $1.25 per case, and my rival had bought of these. 
This manner of doing business upsets trade com¬ 
pletely. It gives the small, third-rate dealer, a chance 
of shopping around among the unreliable receivers, 
and securing his supplies at a lower price ; but it also 
demoralizes the retail trade, and renders any stabil¬ 
ity of prices impossible. It would be much better for 
all first-class retailers, and it certainly would be for 
all shippers, if the latter would ship to a few reliable 
firms that would sustain a fair, uniform price, and 
thus avoid the trouble which now prevails.” f. h. v. 
A FIVE-TON GRASS CROP. 
HOW IT IS PRODUCED AND MADE. 
[editorial correspondence.] 
Clark’s Grass Culture, —“ What is this Clark 
system of grass culture ? ” 
Every now and then a new subscriber starts up to 
ask that question. Older readers remember the 
articles on grass that were printed two years ago. 
There was enough interest in the matter to warrant 
us in going over the crop once more, and so on July 1, 
I visited Mr. Geo. M. Clark's place at Iligganum, Conn., 
to have another look at the grass. On the way to the 
field, we stepped into the barn. 
“ There are 11 tons of well-dried hay which we have 
just hauled from two acres,” said Mr. Clark. 
There was no guessing at this weight, either, for a 
platform scales stood right by the hay mow, and every 
wisp of hay that came in from the field was weighed. 
It was good hay, too. Not dry and sunburned, full of 
weeds and foul stuff, but Timothy and Red-top with a 
little sprinkle of clover in it. Rich ? Why that hay 
smelled like tea—that fragrance that makes a good 
farmer look at his hay mow and wonder after all 
whether the silo can possibly beat it. This hay did 
not come from a young, newly-seeded meadow, either. 
It had been seeded six and seven years, and every one 
knows that this has not been the best grass season in 
New England. 
Out in the field back of the barn, the hay cut that 
morning lay nearly two feet thick over the field where 
the tedders had left it. Cutting grass that yields five 
tons of hay per acre is quite a different thing from 
handling the ton-per-acre crop. A good deal of first- 
class hay is hurt in the curing. 
Handling- the Grass. —On Mr. Clark’s field, about 
the following plan was carried out. The mower 
started at 7:30. One hand followed the mower, and 
with a fork, turned the swath away from the standing 
grass. After four rounds of the mower, the haytedder 
was started and kept running steadily until after 
dinner. I met a farmer last week who never saw a 
haytedder, and did not know what it is expected to 
do. It is a tool for shaking up or stirring the hay. It 
runs on two wheels like a horserake, and behind it 
are forks with short handles which are made to 
“ kick” or jerk out and up by means of gearing from 
the axle. These forks give a good imitation of the 
work we used to do in “ spreading hay ” behind the 
mower’s scythe. With five tons per acre, the work of 
the tedder is indispensable. You have no idea how 
close together the blades of grass must 
stand on an acre to yield five tons, and 
how deep they will cover it when they 
fall down. The grass must be shaken 
and stirred and broken by the tedder 
teeth, or the moisture will not get out of 
it in time. A ton of green Timothy grass 
must give up, at least, 1,000 pounds of 
water before it can be safely called hay. 
Getting in Hay.—The grass in the 
field had been teddered steadily for five 
hours and turned twice by hand. Then 
it was raked into windrows, and forked 
into iai-ge cocks to remain overnight. 
They were hauling in the previous day’s 
cutting. This had been handled as I 
have described. In the morning, the 
large cocks were opened after the dew 
was off, and the grass scattered over the 
ground. It was teddered four times, and 
hand-turned twice, then raked up and 
sent to the barn as sweet and fragrant 
as any one could wish. It was perfect 
hay weather at the time of my visit, but 
even in rainy weather, the hay would 
have been safe in the large, neatly-made 
cocks. Of course, it requires good tools 
and plenty of help to handle hay in this 
manner. The hay is good, though, when 
it does get under cover. What is the 
^TheNeVyork difference between hay and grass, any¬ 
way ? Water! What takes out the 
water ? The hot, drying wind. To let 
the grass lie spread out over the ground, is to keep 
the moisture in it or to let more in. To make hay 
quickly is to keep it away from the ground as much 
as possible after it is cut. This is done by shaking it 
up with the tedder, and putting it in high cocks while 
the dew is on. That makes hay and not roasted or 
broiled grass ! 
The Secret of It. —But it is all well enough to 
tell about handling the grass, but how is the grass 
itself produced ? Many farmers call two tons per acre 
a good yield, and do not believe it possible to raise 
over three tons per acre. They say that you cannot 
produce that amount of grass without growing stems 
six feet long. These farmers expect to increase the 
weight of the crop by increasing the length of the 
grass, without thinking that they can more easily 
double the weight by doubling the number of plants— 
in other words, by securing a thicker stand. I will 
say right here that this cannot be done by seeding 
with grain or by seeding to Timothy and clover only. 
The five-ton grass on Mr. Clark’s field does not stand 
remarkably high. I have seen taller grass where the 
crop would run only half as heavy. The grass is thick. 
Every inch of space seems filled. The spaces between 
the Timothy plants are filled with Red-top. The 
whole field is covered. The secret of this great hay 
crop is no secret. Perfect preparation of the soil, 
heavy seeding and heavy feeding. That is the story— 
and I want to take time to tell it all over in new 
words, for the old is ever new, and farmers every¬ 
where are interested in securing- the extra blade of 
grass from their hay fields. h. w. c. 
UNCLE SAM HE PAYS THE FREIGHT. Fig. 243. 
[WITH APOLOGIES TO JONES OF BINGHAMTON.] 
And right glad he may be to get rid of his responsibilities in so easy a way. 
weight off his mind. Just notice the self-satisfied expression on your Uncle’s face ? 
Herald artist has well caught the spirit of the occasion in the above. 
Fig. 242. 
