1897 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
537 
WHAT I SHE AND HEAR. 
“Those are the first huckleberries I have seen in 
that kind of a package, for a long time,” said a com¬ 
mission merchant, pointing to a pile of square, flat, 
tight boxes, holding, perhaps, 16 quarts each. These 
berries usually come in baskets. The boxes were so 
tight that there was no ventilation unless the covers 
were removed, but the berries in one box that had 
been opened, appeared to be in perfect condition. If 
the theory of some fruit men that too much ventila¬ 
tion is bad for the keeping qualities of small fruits is 
true, perhaps the majority of manufacturers and 
packers have been on the wrong track in seeking to 
secure so much ventilation. But it makes a big dif¬ 
ference what kind of air circulates through any prod¬ 
uct. Of some air that we encounter, the less the bet¬ 
ter. What say you ? 
t X X 
The apple exporters say that, from the reports so 
far received, the crop in New England is below an aver¬ 
age, especially winter fruit; that in New York there 
is less than an average crop along the lakes, and a 
fair crop in the Hudson River Valley. In Virginia, 
a fair crop, but very light in the Ohio River Valley. 
Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas and Iowa promise an 
average crop. Michigan and Nova Scotia are below 
the average. Canada promises a fair crop. Baldwins 
are reported light in all sections, and the larger part 
of the crop consists of Russets and green varieties. 
This is bad for the exporter, for the red varieties 
take best on the other side. It is expected that con¬ 
siderable quantities will be sent to the German mar¬ 
kets. Boston and New York are the principal export 
points for this country, though smaller quantities 
are sent from several other ports. 
t t X 
In one store, I noticed a lot of apricots from Vir¬ 
ginia. They were in good condition, though not very 
highly colored. I was told that they sell very slowly, 
because the Californias, which are finer looking, sup¬ 
ply the demand. Looks do go a long way toward 
selling a fruit. But the attractive shape in which all 
the California fruits are packed helps greatly to sell 
them. Then their uniformity helps to hold customers. 
They are all thoroughly assorted and perfectly graded, 
and it is seldom that any attempt is made to work in 
any inferior fruit. The man who buys a certain 
brand to-day feels pretty sure that he can buy the 
same brand to-morrow or next week, or next year, 
and get the same kind of fruit. This kind of 
work is what has enabled the Californians, in a few 
years, to increase the sales of their fruits in this mar¬ 
ket tenfold, right under the noses of our eastern 
fruit growers. 
X X t 
One of the beauties of the new tariff law is the labor 
and delay involved in computing the duties on green 
fruits, largely lemons and oranges. The law says 
that these must be weighed. The first cargo coming 
under the provisions of this law consumed three days 
in weighing, and required the services of something 
like 25 men at an expense of upwards of §200. The 
fruits cannot be sold until this work is completed, 
and there is consequent loss and delay to the dealers. 
In case of several cargoes arriving at about the same 
time, there is a probability of great loss by decay be¬ 
fore they can possibly be handled. Measuring the 
cargoes and thus computing the weights would be 
more expeditious, but is illegal. It is claimed that 
fruits vary so much in weight, according to condition 
and state of ripeness, that it would be impossible to 
estimate accurately. The present system is likely to 
occasion losses, besides being a continual source of 
annoyance to importers and dealers. The fruit, also, 
is likely to be damaged in the extra handling, espe¬ 
cially as some of the packages must be emptied to get 
their weight. 
X X t 
One of the long freight piers of the P. R.R. is en¬ 
tirely given up to the watermelon trade. Nearly all 
the melons cume over that road. The wide pier is 
several hundred feet long, substantially covered and 
inclosed. On either side, the immense floats carry¬ 
ing the cars are drawn up for unloading. These are 
consigned to many different firms. Sometimes the 
melons are sold outright by the car-load. Sometimes 
they must be peddled out in varying sized lots. 
Each dealer has a space allotted him, and here his 
melons are unloaded. In case of a glut, he must 
hustle for customers. In front of the pier, the street 
is filled with all sorts of conveyances, from the sleek 
horses, shiny harness and capacious, substantial 
wagon of the prosperous greengrocer, to the bony 
“plug,” dilapidated harness and rickety wagon of 
the wagon boy. The dickering going on in a variety 
of dialects is something wonderful, and any one 
venturing into the place for curiosity is pretty sure 
to be importuned on every side to buy melons. To 
look at the great piles on either side of the long pier 
with only a driveway between, it would seem that 
there were enough to supply the whole city, even of 
Greater New York. f. h. v. 
Ah AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST ABROAD. 
AN AYRSHIRE LIVE STOCK MARKET. 
Among the interesting sights which we have seen 
while in Great Britain, is a weekday auction sale 
market of live stock at Kilmarnock, Scotland, in the 
Ayrshire district. An acquaintance at the Highland 
Show had suggested a visit, and so we met him there, 
and he showed us about. At different important 
points in Scotland, as well as in England and Ireland, 
each week is held an auction sale of live stock. This 
sale varies in character, according to the region and 
conditions. In Ayrshire, the principal animals sold 
are Ayrshire milch cows. At Kilmarnock, they sell 
from 100 to 150 cows each week, in addition to butch¬ 
ers’ stock. At Ayr, they have a still larger sale usually. 
For about seven years, an auction company or firm 
has held weekly sales in Kilmarnock. There is a 
yard with pens for keeping stock for inspection, and 
there are, also, two separate buildings for conduct¬ 
ing sales. Cne is used for dairy cattle, and the other 
for butchers’ stock. Each building is about 40 feet 
square. There is a ring, a series of seats arranged in 
amphitheatre style, and at one end, within the ring, 
the box for auctioneer and clerk. On each side of 
this box, is a door raised and lowered by hanging 
weights, and without each door is a small fenced 
enclosure. 
A number of cows were in one enclosure, and as 
wanted, one at a time, or even more, was driven into 
the ring from it, to be inspected by the buyers. Each 
cow had a numbered slip pasted on the rump, the 
number corresponding with the office and clerk’s 
record. As soon as the animal appeared, she was 
kept constantly moving about in the ring by a lad 
with a switch, while she was inspected by the buyers 
present. “ How much am I offered for the calving 
quey, time up and all right?’’cries the auctioneer. 
He looks over his audience, and in a slower manner, 
proceeds at his business much as a Yankee auctioneer 
would, excepting in descriptive expression. A “ quey ” 
is a heifer in calf, and “ time up and all right ”, means 
that she is due to calve within 21 days, and that she is 
well and sound. If it is stated in a sale that an ani¬ 
mal is in calf and all right, it is equivalent to a guar¬ 
antee, and that she will calve within 21 days from the 
time due. If she does not, the buyer can secure a 
shilling (24 cents) judgment per day, after that date, 
from the seller, until she does have a calf. This is a 
rule of the market. 
The cattle are consigned to the auctioneer, to whom 
the consignor must look for his pay after the sale. 
It is an understood rule, that no animal shall be taken 
from the yard until paid for, and a buyer must pre¬ 
sent his pass at the gate, showing that he has paid 
for his stock, and is entitled to take it away before 
he can leave with it. If an auctioneer allows a man 
to go with some stock, as may happen with old buy¬ 
ers at the yard, he takes all the responsibility, as the 
consignor looks for his pay for the sale at an early 
date. For remuneration, the auctioneer receives 
eight cents for every §5 worth of sale. When we 
went into the auction building, they were right in 
the midst of the dairy cattle sale, and the room was 
comfortably filled. Buyers stood about the edge of 
the ring, and from time to time, some one would step 
out and examine an animal. When the hammer fell, 
the door opposite to the one through which the beast 
came, was raised, and she was driven out into the 
other inclosure, and a new animal brought in. 
I watched the sale with much interest. The cows 
were all Ayrshires of high grade or purebred, and as 
they came in, I noted their apparent quality and the 
prices obtained. This, I was told, was a poor day 
with inferior stock ; yet here are some of the sales : 
A good-looking aged cow, with a fine type of udder, 
sold for §73 12. Another very good one brought 
§66 50. A good-looking two-year-old, somewhat small, 
but of good dairy type, sold at §48.12. A poor-look¬ 
ing cow, due to calve, sold at §39. One heifer, of 
small size, but of good dairy type, with a large, full 
udder, was returned unsold, as the highest bid of 
§35.62 was not satisfactory to the seller. Parties have 
the privilege of refusing to sell, if the bid is not 
satisfactory. The best sale of which I learned, was 
§80 or so, for a cow of good quality. 
These sales are patronized by dealers, farmers, 
dairymen and butchers. They have all had an oppor¬ 
tunity to inspect the stock in the pens. The dealers 
often buy in the spring, place cows on pasture during 
the summer, and then sell them when fresh at private 
sale, or auction them again in the fall. Most of these 
cows are sold to go to milk dairies in the large cities, 
as Glasgow, Edinburgh, etc. I was much impressed 
with the character of the animals sold and with the 
method of doing the business. The stock, as a rule, 
was of desirable quality. It was an exhibition of 
what Ayrshires were on their native heath. The 
value of the method lies in the opportunity for the 
breeders and dealers of a community to pass stock 
through a clearing house, and so secure a ready mar¬ 
ket, or to have a chance to select from a goodly num¬ 
ber of animals the ones which suit their purpose. 
Such sales build up the stock interests of a community 
or region, and draw in buyers from a distance, who 
know where they can get the right sort of stock. 
Kilmarnock has maintained these weekly sales now 
for seven years, and they are an event in the town. 
Just before Christmas, I am told that they have very 
fine exhibitions of stock, and good prices often rule. 
Think of weekly auction sales of 200 to 300 live stock 
in a comparatively small town, and of the benefit it 
must be to the farmers of the community I They 
may put their stock into the sale ring, and if the 
price is not satisfactory, it is their option to with¬ 
draw it at no sacrifice, and no loss is incurred; or 
they may sell to great advantage. Here in Hereford, 
England, I am told they sell at auction in the neigh¬ 
borhood of 2,000 cattle every Wednesday, and the 
people with pardonable pride boast of their market 
as one of the best in England. 
The hills and valleys of Ayrshire, are covered with 
herds of one kind of cattle—Ayrshires. More uni¬ 
formly bred, more useful-looking dairy cows cannot 
be found grazing on any fields. They are fair to look 
upon, and this auction ring was an Ayrshire show. 
Certainly, it would be well if we could have a few 
such rings of cattle for sale in America, under similar 
conditions. I am told that such sales have been 
tried to some extent in Canada and, possibly, this has 
been the case in a limited degree in some localities in 
the States, but I feel sure not on such a basis as these 
British sales. It certainly offers a good field for in¬ 
vestigation on the part of some enterprising local 
auctioneer firm doing business in a good live stock 
region. c. 8 . plumb. 
Hereford, England. 
Some of the daily papers recently described a re¬ 
markable plant from Venezuela which produced, 
instead of a seed, a living insect attached to the 
flower stem. Such a combination of animal and 
vegetable life is, of course, impossible, though this 
South American wonder is described with much ex¬ 
actness. It is suggested as possible that the insect 
is entrapped while probing the nectary of the flower 
for honey, and its appearance after the petals of the 
flower have dropped, might easily lead unscientific 
observers to the impression that the dead insect was 
developed there, like a seed. There is an innocent¬ 
looking little vine in Brazil, known as the Cruel plant, 
which entraps flies in just such a manner ; a series of 
little notches in the lower part of the corolla hold 
the proboscis of the visiting insect which, unable to 
escape, must perish miserably. The flower is not 
fertilized by the captured insect, unlike our wild 
Lady’s slipper, which entraps a bee in the fold of its 
slipper, and then compels it to seek a different exit, 
brushing off the pollen as he goes ; neither does it eat 
flies for its dinner, like the gentle-appearing Venus’s 
Fly-trap, so we must infer that the Cruel plant is of a 
murderous disposition, and commits its crimes from 
sheer wantonness. 
BUSINESS BITS 
If you are looking for information on how to build a -silo, the 
Williams Mfg. Company, Kalamazoo, Mich., will be glad to send 
you the information if you send them your name and address. 
The Duplex automatic woven wire fence machine is said to 
weave 100 different styles of fence, 24 of which are illustrated and 
described in the catalogue issued by Kitselman Brothers, Box 106, 
Ridgeville, Ind. If interested in fence building, you will do well 
to send for this catalogue. 
Tub Hero ensilage cutter made by the Appleton Mfg. Company, 
Batavia, Ill., is equipped with the Universal carrier, which is one 
of the strongest features of the combination. The carrier is 
mounted on a swivel, and is easily attached to the cutter and by 
a simple shift can be turned to the right or left at any desired 
angle. All these changes can be made without stopping the 
cutter or involving any loss of time, a fact that will be appre¬ 
ciated by all experienced men. An extra advantage possessed by 
this cutter is in distributing the product in all cases where the 
silos are filled from the top. 
When the managers of the great Columbian Exposition at Chi 
cago wanted to cut up corn to fill the immense silo in use during 
the fair, they contracted for the Smalley cutters. They didn’t 
want to take any chances. They wanted a cutter that would hash 
up the ensilage fast, and without any delays for repairs. They 
got just what they wanted. You can get the same in any size in 
hand or horse power. Mr. Geo. D. Harder, Cobleskill, N. Y., is 
the eastern agent for the Smalley machinery. He is the successor 
of Minard Harder, his father, and is a chip of the old block for 
business promptness and integrity. He will be glad to send cata 
logue for the asking. 
