THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
2o3 
]1>J1 
Market Briefs. 
PICKED UP HERE AND THERE. 
CELERY.—Great quantities are being 
shipped from California now to central and 
eastern points. That received in New York 
is large, but rather strong in flavor and 
a little Inclined to be tough. There are 
several firms in this city that handle noth¬ 
ing but celery, one disposing of ov’er 200 
carloads of the California product during 
the season. It comes here packed in square 
crates. Buyers wash it; trim off the dis¬ 
colored parts, and fix it in shape for re¬ 
tailing. 
handy meat.—T he Chicago packing¬ 
houses try to outdo each other in trying 
to get up their products in the most con¬ 
venient shape for the small dealer and 
consumer. The result is that many things 
which used to be considered luxuries are 
brought within reach of all in or near 
railroad towns at a reasonable price. I 
recently saw a lot of pork loins put up 
in crates holding 50 pounds or a little more, 
just about what a small butcher or pro- 
\ision dealer could dispose of quickly. 
Each piece was wrapped in waxed paper, 
and the whole package w'as attractive in 
appearance. It may be true that in some 
cases ‘‘appearances are deceitful," but 
good appearances that are not deceitful 
are certainly a great help in getting and 
holding trade. Some farmers send to this 
market pork that is so roughly dressed 
and dirty that no one will buy it at any¬ 
where near what it is worth. I recently 
saw a hog that looked as though it had 
been rolled around in the mud for a time 
after being dressed, and then wiped off 
with a rag. It is useless to put such 
meat into competition with neatly-dressed 
pork. If a man does not know how to 
.slaughter and prepare animals for mar¬ 
ket, it would pay him to hire a professional 
butcher, which may be found in nearly 
every town, to do the job. 
HIGH RETAIL PRICES.-A surprising 
difference is often noted between the whole¬ 
sale and retail prices of fruits and vege¬ 
tables. It seems strange to the one who 
buys in small quantities that he should 
have to pay at the rate of $8 to $10 per 
barrel for apples, while the same grade 
wholesales at $3 or less; or why the grocer 
should charge him 36 cents per dozen for 
eggs, when the highest wholesale price is 
25 cents. The buyer wonders where the 
extra 11 cents per dozen goes to, and is 
likely to think that the grocer is making 
too much protI.t. He forgets the big slice 
cut out of this profit by rent, clerk hire, 
horses and delivery wagons, and the waste 
that he has to contend with. Usually he 
has to. throw away or sell at a discount 
part of every package of green stuff that 
he gets, and those who buy the best have 
to pay for this loss. His clerks have to 
be sorting over fruits and vegetables, and, 
if Saturday night finds him with a lot of 
perishable stuff on hand, there must be 
a big cut made to get rid of it. Many 
who have the time buy at the larger mar¬ 
kets, where as a general thing they get 
better goods at lower prices. Quite a busi¬ 
ness is also done by hucksters with 
wagons, but there is some risk in buying 
of them, as they often load up at large 
stores with stuff that is just on the point 
of spoiling. To attract attention they go 
about the street yelling the somewhat in¬ 
definite offer of ‘‘10 cents for a whole 
lot.” 
EASTERN BEEF.—Now and then tve 
have Inquiries in regard to selling beef 
from nearby points, either live or dressed, 
in this city. Some have an idea that the 
packinghouses have monopolized the meat 
bu.siness to such an extent that the farmer 
with only one or tw’o animals to sell stands 
no chance here. Of course, the meat busi¬ 
ness is largely controlled by a few of the 
great packers, but there is eastern beef for 
sale here every week, and in most cases it 
brings what it is worth. As a rule it is a 
good plan, however, for a farmer to dis¬ 
pose of his beef to a local butcher if pos¬ 
sible; and, if the animal is a good one, it 
is better for the butcher to take it than to 
have western beef shipped to him. There 
is no doubt that, especially in large towns, 
there is a preference for western beef, and 
there is good reason for this. Usually 
western beef is superior. Not that as good 
cannot be produced in the East, but farm¬ 
ers here have gone out of the beef business. 
Dairy animals are kept, and what is 
turned into beef is largely scrub stock. One 
who w’atches the New York stockyards will 
see bony old cows, which have lost their 
teeth, and with so many rings on their 
horns that there is no longer a correct in¬ 
dex of age; also inferior oxen and bulls. 
All of this stock is so much below par that 
it does not compete with western beef at 
all. It is disposed of in one way or an¬ 
other, and part of it becomes the "hoof 
steak which the patrons of cheap restau¬ 
rants have to struggle with. Another fact 
is that few farmers know how to dress a 
beef properly. Before the packinghouses 
got this dowm to a science, it did not make 
so much difference; but every detail of 
slaughtering and packing has been studied; 
and it can scarcely be expected that a 
farmer who kills only two or three beeves 
or half a dozen hogs in a year can do a 
job equal to the professional butcher who 
does nothing else. It is not necessary to 
be a judge of meat to tell the difference 
between the packinghouse product and that 
shipped in by nearby farmers. The pack¬ 
inghouse meat is uniform. Pass by hun¬ 
dreds of quarters, and they all look alike. 
The flesh is not cut and hacked, as is often 
the case where the hide is removed by in¬ 
experienced hands. There is a demand for 
uniformity nowadays. When people get 
anything that is really good, they are likely 
to inquire for “the same as they had be¬ 
fore,” whether it be butter, groceries, 
meats or other provisions; and the butcher 
or grocer likes to have it for them. 
__ w. w. H. 
VERMONT SUGAR MAKERS MEET. 
The eighth annual meeting of the Ver¬ 
mont Maple Sugar Makers’ Association 
was held at Morrisville, Vt., February 5-6. 
President V. I. Spear, in his annual ad¬ 
dress, spoke encouragingly of the future 
prospects for Vermont sugar makers. 
Prices may not be as high as during 1899 
and the early part of 1900, and it is best 
for the sugar interests of the State that 
extreme high prices for maple goods should 
not prevail, because high prices restrict 
consumption of the common grades, and 
the general market becomes overstocked, 
with a demoralization of prices, which is 
just what has happened during the past 
few months. The Maple Sugar Makers’ 
Market at Randolph is an organization in 
the interests of both producers and con¬ 
sumers, furnishing an outlet for such pro¬ 
ducers as do not have a good market for 
their maple goods, and a reliable place 
where consumers can procure strictly pure 
maple sugar and syrup at prices corre¬ 
sponding with the quality ordered. Adul¬ 
terations are extensively practiced outside 
the State, but the trouble cannot be reme¬ 
died until we get a National pure-food law 
which will include maple syrup with other 
food products. 
The forest worm which threatened de¬ 
struction to the maple forests of the State 
has cea.sed its depredations. While it did 
much damage in nearly all parts of- the 
State, it is hoped that the injury will not 
seriously affect the maple-sugar industry. 
Geo. 11. Soule, of Fairfield, the largest 
sugar maker in the State, read a paper on 
the comparative profit of sugar or syrup 
for the producer. Mr. Soule thinks that 
syrup is the best form for the market, and 
gallon tin cans the best package, but 
smaller packages are becoming popular. 
Mr. Spear, manager of the Randolph Mar¬ 
ket, said that patrons of the Market should 
.send in syrup in bulk in five or 10-gallon 
cans, or good alcohol barrels. All syrup 
received is graded, reheated and put up in 
packages to suit customers. Sugar is also 
put up in any size of cake or palls ordered. 
A. W. Fulton, commercial editor of the 
New England Homestead, had an excellent 
paper on The Market Demand for Maple 
Goods. Maple goods should be put on the 
market as soon as made, and the sale 
pushed as fast as possible without de¬ 
moralizing the market. Gallon tin cans for 
syrup, one-pound brick cakes and 10-pound 
tin pails are most popular in the general 
market. In maple sugar and syrup as in 
other commodities extremely high prices 
curtail consumption. Consumers want to 
be assured that the maple goods are gen¬ 
uine. Unfortunately for themselves many 
consumers look with suspicion upon the 
light shades of sugar and. syrup. While 
imitations may be fairly satisfactory to 
them they hate impositions, and will meet 
producers half way in the attempt to drive 
spurious goods out of market. The Ver¬ 
mont Maple Sugar Makers’ Association in 
the future, as in the past, must stand first 
of all for integrity and purity of the pro¬ 
duct. Make the guarantee label a force 
which will travel beyond the confines of 
New England. 
The ofideers of the Association for the 
coming year are: President, V. I. Spear, 
Randolph; secretary, A. J. Croft, Enosburg 
Falls; treasurer. Alpha Messer, Rochester. 
The officers of the Randolph Sugar Market 
for the coming year are: President, Alpha 
Messer, Rochester; treasurer and manager, 
V. I. Spear, Randolph; clerk, E. L. Bass, 
Randolph. _ a. m. 
Beardless Barley.— Your correspond¬ 
ents writing of beardless barley fail to 
mention a very important feature, a crop 
for seeding to clover. With me that is 
one of its best points. In 1898 I sowed 10 
bushels, and thrashed 300. In the same 
field were oats and all seeded with clover. 
The clover in the barley was so large that 
the reaper took considerable in cutting the 
barley, while in the oats, though about 
three weeks later, the clover was scarcely 
visible. In 1899 I seeded 25 acres of the 
barley to clover, which at harvest was 12 
to 18 inches high, and very thick and rank. 
In 1900 I sowed a strip to harley about six 
rods wide across the field, then a strip of 
oats, the remainder to barley. When the 
barley was cut the clover was very thick 
and fully 15 inches high. The oats were 
harvested about three weeks later, and 
but little clover was in sight. The yield 
in the three years has been from 40 to 45 
bushels per acre. t. 
Wauconda, Ill. 
Blueberry Culture.—I had a small plot 
of about one-quarter acre of high-bush 
blueberries on the farm when I purchased 
it, that was well supplied with the bushes 
but badly overgrown with other brush. 
These I cut out and for eight years have 
kept cleared, and every Fall have applied 
either old rotted manure or wood ashes. 
This treatment I have found increased size 
of fruit and an immense increase in quan¬ 
tity. The soil is heavy gravel or hard- 
pan, and very rocky, so is unfit for any 
other crops. I do not think transplanting 
or artificial cultivation would be profitable. 
Fifty years ago I lived near Portland, Me., 
and have bought many bushels of the low- 
bush berries at from two to five cents per 
quart. Berries have sold here from eight 
to 15 cents per quart to private customers. 
Bellows Falls, Vt. m. m. w. 
BRADLEY'S 
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a 
f 
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t'l’ 
Ikii 
ill 
Always grow splendid 
crops of even-sized potatoes, 
which are free from rot, scab, 
or other imperfections. 
They may be used with or 
without stable manure with 
perfect success 
-4m 
