1914. 
THE RUR-A-I* NEW-YOKKL.k 
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|l :: The New Public Markets :: || 
What A Housekeeper Found 
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W OMEN of all ages, kinds and de¬ 
scriptions, coming and going, some 
laden with paper bags or various kinds 
of shopping bags, from the black oil¬ 
cloth one to be had for 10 cents, to the 
pigskin leather suit case or Gladstone; 
others without packages but intent on 
getting some as soon as possible, is the 
sight that greets one as you go towards 
the market. And when you reach the 
market itself, what a busy scene it is! 
But the surprising part of it was to see 
so many men there of the better class, 
who went evidently to help their wives 
carry the bundles home, though some of 
them did not like it very well, as I could 
tell by their talk. Many mothers were 
there with babies in carriages and other 
children pulling at their skirts, and all 
had to do their share of carrying parcels 
home, for baby was almost out of sight 
from the packages piled around him by 
the time mother could tear herself away 
from all the bargains in fruits, vegetables 
and eggs “right from the farm.” There 
were also chickens—cold storage and 
freshly killed—so the man said who was 
selling them. When asked if they were 
direct from the farm he said yes, he had 
bought them from a farmer, but I must 
say his manner was not convincing and 
I think he had bought them in the regu¬ 
lar way from a commission merchant. 
The fricassee chickens were 16 cents per 
pound and broilers and roasters 20 cents 
per pound, being a few cents cheaper 
than at the regular stores. 
Prices. —There was a great difference 
in prices, some of the farmers charging 
as much for their goods as one had to 
pay at stores where orders are called for 
and delivered, and they had very inferior 
goods too. It is needless to say that most 
people looked further for their bargains, 
for women will not take the time to go 
to a market and carry things home unless 
the farmers make it worth their while. 
Peaches were from 60 and SO cents for 
nice large ones to $1 for very small ones, 
reversing the usual order of things, small 
baskets were sold in proportion. Speak¬ 
ing of small baskets, I never knew there 
were so many kinds of little baskets made 
as I saw there Saturday, so that it is 
rather difficult to give prices, as you 
really had to see them to get an idea of 
how much they held, as some were heaped 
and others were skimped. Onions were 
two cents per pound; apples five to seven 
pounds for 10 cents for little bits of in¬ 
ferior fruit, and 10 cents per quart for 
nice Greenings. Soup greens, a large 
bunch five cents; egg plants four to eight 
cents; tomatoes from five cents for one 
of the little grape baskets heaped to five 
cents for a quart basket full, the man 
offering the former selling a crate for 65 
cents, 10 cents being charged if the box 
was taken away. They were lovely, big 
round tomatoes without a spot, and the 
crowd was about three deep around them; 
the man and his helper were working just 
as fast as they could go. This was equal¬ 
ly true of the other good things—wher¬ 
ever the crowd was biggest you could 
rest assured the stuff was the best for 
the money. 
Cucumbers, small, were 10 cents per 
dozen: peppers, red and green 10 cents a 
dozen; corn 20 and 25 cents per dozen ; 
small cauliflowers eight cents; string 
beans eight cents per quart; potatoes 
seven pounds for 10 cents. Lima beaus 
five cents a quart basket; cabbage five 
cents for large and small heads, depend¬ 
ing on seller; beets and carrots two 
bunches (about five in bunch) each for 
five cents; grapes, small baskets, 10 cents, 
but there was quite a difference in the 
amount in each basket; cantaloupes, five 
to eight cents each; plums 25 to 40 cents 
a square basket; celery five cents per 
stalk for large and two stalks for five 
cents of the small; bacon 25 cents per 
Pound; legs of lamb, IS cents; ribs of 
beef IS; eggs 25 to 43 cents per dozen. 
The lowest of the above mentioned prices 
on vegetables are just about half the reg¬ 
ular store prices, and on fruit about two- 
thirds the regular price. If country 
housekeepers had to go just once to one 
of these markets to buy, they would real¬ 
ize how fortunate they are to be able 
to go out into their own garden and pick 
fresh vegetables in abundance, and they 
can have chickens and fresh eggs when¬ 
ever they want to, while the city house¬ 
keeper who is at all practical (outside 
of really wealthy people) can only af¬ 
ford to have chicken on state occasions; 
for four or five pounds of chickens do not 
go as far as the same quantity of beef, 
lamb or pork. 
The Country Woman’s Chance.— 
Now it certainly seems to me that here 
is a chance for the women near these 
markets to make some money, for no mat¬ 
ter how much or how little of any one 
product you may have you can sell it. 
If a great many more chickens were raised 
and the price lowered so that they would 
be the cheapest meat it would be good 
for both parties. Everbody is fond of ap¬ 
ple jelly, spiced or plain, and this year 
when apples are so plentiful even though 
sugar is a little high it seems as though 
there ought to be good money in it. Home¬ 
made pies, cakes, doughnuts or crullers, 
plum pudding, conserves, pickles, relishes. 
—also I think cottage cheese could all 
be disposed of provided they w r ere packed 
and handled in a sanitary way. Assuredly 
it will not be the woman’s fault if the 
markets are not a success, for on Satur¬ 
day there were women there of all classes, 
except possibly the very wealthy, al¬ 
though quite a good many expensive autos 
were there with large baskets of fruit and 
vegetables in the back. It is up to the 
farmers who live near enough to reach 
these markets to capture more than a 35- 
cent dollar by offering good goods at mod¬ 
erate prices. MRS. T. 
The Wild Flower Collector. 
ISTING PLANTS.—The country girl 
who has decided to engage in the busi¬ 
ness of wild flower collecting must first 
make out a list of all the available plants 
in her locality. This list is the basis 
of all her future operations, for if she 
have rare and valuable species her list 
will “take” at once with the dealer. 
Every dealer has his price, which varies 
but little from any other dealer’s price. 
Send for his price list and if you have 
plants plentiful enough you can underbid 
the other collectors and thus get the lion’s 
share of the orders. The list that you 
send in to the dealer must give price per 
10, 100, 1.000, and tell when the plants 
are ripe and ready to dig. Right here 
you will see that you must be very well 
acquainted with the habits of every flow¬ 
er on your list, otherwise you cannot 
furnish this information and must put in 
a whole year studying these things be¬ 
fore you are ready for work. Of course 
if you are working for a near-by nursery¬ 
man it will be different, for he knows the 
blooming season of the plants in that lo¬ 
cality. The dealer has to be well in¬ 
formed about the blooming time in differ¬ 
ent localities, too. If he is late get¬ 
ting his collectors lined up for work on 
a certain item he will be short on that 
particular species when he comes to fill¬ 
ing the orders. 
Collecting And Storing. —You can 
see what it means to be forehanded in 
this business—that is, to dig the plants 
at the proper time and store them away 
ready for the order that is likely to come. 
There is nothing that gives a collector 
greater satisfaction than to receive an 
order for, say 2,000 Spring beauties, after 
they are all “out of sight,” and be able 
to write the dealer that he has that num¬ 
ber stored in his cellar. One of the first 
aids to this business is a cool moist 
cellar; in fact it is positively necessary. 
As fast as you gather the plants place 
them carefully in the cellar till you have 
enough to fill an order. When starting 
out to work provide yourself with a bas¬ 
ket that will accommodate the length of 
the plants, if they are to be sent in 
bloom ; otherwise cut off the stems imme¬ 
diately and drop the roots in the basket. 
Condition of Stock.—O f late custom¬ 
ers are demanding that all stock be ma¬ 
tured before digging. This is all right. 
The packing is much simpler and more 
speedily done, the postage is less and 
there is a better chance of growing if 
the shipment is for long distance. Many 
people say they never lose a plant when 
dug at blooming time and transplanted 
in their wild gardens. There is no doubt 
of that, but suppose the plants must 
make a long journey in the fierce heat of 
Summer; even though well packed they 
have not the chance they would have were 
they matured and dormant. This neces¬ 
sarily means that you mark the beds of 
each kind of flower—a most tedious oper¬ 
ation sometimes—or keep them in culti¬ 
vated beds. The latter is by all means 
the best, not only for you but for the 
plants. You would say I was first cou¬ 
sin to Ananias if I were to tell you how 
wonderfully the wild flowers thrive un¬ 
der good cultivation. Anne McCall, in 
July Woman’s Home Companion, tells 
her childish experience in cultivating the 
common blue violet. You will strike a 
responsive chord in the heart of every 
flower by giving it kind treatment, i.e., 
protecting it from the “wild beasts” of 
the plant world and giving it good rich 
victuals. 
Packing For Shipment. —When pack¬ 
ing for shipment use a stout pasteboard 
box well lined with wax paper, with damp 
moss scattered over the bottom. Pack 
the roots in carefully and compactly, cov¬ 
er with more moss, fold the ends of the 
wax paper over smoothly, put on the 
label giving name and numbei\ Then put 
on lid and tie securely, and lastly wrap 
in strong paper and tie again. This is 
the safest way. Write name and address 
on a piece of white paper and paste in 
position. Put your nam; and address in 
upper left corner. Keep a bottle of library 
paste on hand. The dealer will supply 
you with wooden labels and tags. Send 
by parcel post, and be sure to fill all the 
requirements. If you are shipping plants 
in bloom or plants with tops on, divide 
them into bunches of 10 (if not too large) 
mass the roots well, wrap tightly in wax 
paper, then in tough brown paper and 
tie securely just above the roots, leaving 
the tops exposed. A small bundle can be 
rolled in pasteboard with both ends open, 
but long enough to protect the plants. 
All growing plants must be so packed 
that the tops have air and the roots 
are kept moist. This is the reason for 
tieing tightly above the roots. You must 
prevent the moisture escaping from the 
moss. When shipping growing ferns they 
are to be treated the same way, literally 
planting them in a shallow box as tightly 
as they can be packed and crating the 
upper part of box to allow free circula¬ 
tion of air. For long distance shipment 
soak the moss overnight, wring out rather 
tightly and use liberally, making sure that 
every root is in a veritable nest of moss. 
Then be just as careful about the wrap¬ 
ping; use double sheets o* wax paper, and 
see to it that every bundle is so wrapped 
and tied as to be really airtight. These 
bundles can be placed in pasteboard boxes, 
well lined with wax paper, and crushed 
newspaper can be tucked in here and 
there to hold the tops firmly and prevent 
injury to leaves and flowers. When ship¬ 
ping dormant ferns cut off the tops, pack 
the roots in a strong wooden box, or 
barrel, well lined with newspaper. Scat¬ 
ter some damp moss over the bottom, 
pack the roots in very closely, with a 
little damp moss over them, put in label 
with name and number, cover well with 
newspaper and nail on cover. With very 
small brush, paint on name and address. 
You can do this with a pointed piece of 
cork and ink. 
Business Details. —The dealer al¬ 
ways returns the “carriage fare,” so 
when you send in the bill let the postage 
or freight be included. If sending by ex¬ 
press it is just as well to have them 
billed “collect.” When you receive the 
check the bill will come with it for re¬ 
ceipting. Write the words, “Received 
payment.” on it. and return it to him for 
filing. When writing to a dealer always 
remember that time is money in every of¬ 
fice, and make your letters as brief and 
to the point as possible. If he has any 
special pet way of doing things do them 
his way. This is one way of pleasing 
him. Then some day, when sending you 
an order, he will take time to say: “We 
like to do business with you.” 
IDA M. JACKSON. 
“Does your dog love you, little boy?” 
“Well, I guess he loves me. mister. He ! 
knows I’d lick him if he didn’t.”—Judge. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
It. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
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The Rural New-Yorker, 
333 W. 30th St., N. Y. City. 
ME 
