374 
Vhe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 10, 1917 
Boston Produce Markets 
BXrYERS HESITATE. 
The month came in like a lamb in more 
ways than one. After the jirice boom in 
the i)roduce markets of last month, fol¬ 
lowed a swift downward turn, and, along 
the early days of this month, a time of 
quiet and hesitation. At top prices every¬ 
body seemed to be scrambling after the 
goods, to make sure of a supply before 
they went still higher. But after the 
turn, average buyers hesitated, waiting to 
see how low the market would go, and ex¬ 
pecting to buy at the bottom. “They 
won’t buy,” was the general complaint of 
dealers not only in such specialties as po¬ 
tatoes. onions and cabbages, but even in 
quieter lines like apples, butter, poultry 
and eggs,* and this reluctant feeling is 
still held responsible for much of the 
slowness in movement of produce. “The 
time to buy is when nobody wants to do 
it,’’ commented a shrewd North Market 
street i)roduce broker. “Now and then a 
man has neiwe enough to do that very 
thing on a large scale. For instance, one 
large buyer used to come into the poul¬ 
try market along Christmas or Thanks¬ 
giving whenever there was a slump, and 
buy .oO to 2()0 tons at less than cost, and 
he made money. Some were buying heav¬ 
ily on the slump of last week, when 
onions were ofi’ ,$4 to .$,5 from the top and 
potatoes $1 a bushel from the high point. 
The wise ones were not rushing to buy at 
the top and not waiting for the bottom.” 
“The rea.son for the slump,” asserted a 
large CliTiton street dealer, “was that the 
high, prices checked buying in almost every¬ 
thing. People bought less or used sub¬ 
stitutes. But they wouldn’t keep that up 
long. Lower prices started them buying 
again, and now prices should tend to 
move up .again in lines where there is a 
real shortage.” 
barrel fruit sells around to .$.”>.25, 
while the boxes range from 7.5c to .$1..50. 
See this barrel that came by the B.angor 
boat. The fruit was soft when packed 
and stayed packed a long time, and it’s 
rotten and mushy around the edges. T 
wish I could get ,$2 for it, but I would 
take most any offei.” Russets. St.-irks. 
Rome, Ben Davis range not far either 
side of t)ne lot of very large, bright 
Rus.sets. however, was held at ,$.5. Cran¬ 
berries are still draggy at .$-4 to .$•>. and 
nobody seems to have any hope for them. 
nUTTER MARKET WEAK. 
While butter has sagged off in price 
a little, there is no apparent pressure 
to sell and the tone of the market does 
not seem weak. Sa’d Chas. Stone Si 
Co.: “The market has declined a < ent 
from recent price, in sympathy with the 
drop of three or four cents in New Yt>rk 
market. It did not go so high and did 
not lose as much. .Some little fresh but¬ 
ter is coming from the West, and it is 
needed. Storage stock in Boston is only 
55,000 packages, and would be all gone 
in four or five weeks at the rate it is 
now being withdrawn. Some predict 
a tight pinch around Faster. But there 
is no speculative demand. Most .sales 
go right into consumption, which is the 
best thing for the market. Train .ser¬ 
vice has been poor and has kept back 
western sui)plies. Cheese has been the 
firm feature of the dairy market, selling 
at 26c, although only a little space can 
be had for export. 'The cabled Liverpool 
price of ,“140 offers a good margin for 
profit if the cheese can be sent over.” 
EGGS DECLINE SHARPLY. 
After the first sharp decline of the 
sea.son. the egg market has been unset¬ 
tled. Talk of large .shipments on the 
way and of increasing nearby produc¬ 
tion has made buyers cautiou.s. Hennery 
eggs keep fairly well cleai-ed up and 
price has held close to 40c, but receivers 
of western eggs have had to cut that 
price by 2 to 5c to effect clearance. All 
leading grades are off about 10c from 
recent price levels. 
SLOW TRADE IN POULTRY. 
Dealers quote prices mostly unchanged, 
but all complain of difficulty in selling 
out. and unless demand and weather con¬ 
ditions improve, lower prices would seem 
in order. S. L. Burr & Co. comment as 
follows: “Poultry .sells slowly, both live 
and dre.ssed. Consumptive demand is be¬ 
ing checked by high prices, lave fowls 
.‘ire 21 to 22c and dressed 2.” to 26c. 
Nearly all chickens are coming dressed 
at 28 to .”,Oc foi‘ large and 2.”, to 26c 
for medium. The.se are late hatched 
birds and soft meated. Early hatched 
birds would be staggv and bring about 
20c.” 
LIVESTOCK IN ^rODER.^.TE DEMAND. 
Easier prices for most lines of fresh 
meat have been reflected in a lower av¬ 
erage of prices at Brighton on live stock. 
Calves are off about one cent per i»ound, 
and even the best sell at 11^/^ to 12c. with 
jioorer lots at 10 to 11c. Fair to choice 
dressed veal is 15 to 10c in lioston. 
Light receipts of lambs hold at 10 to 
12c and sheep at S to 10c. Hogs sell 
around 18c. but grade averages rather 
poor. Country dressed hogs are 16c in 
Boston. Choice steers and oxen bring 
0 to lOc, and lower grades 6 to 8c. Com¬ 
mon cows are 4 to .5c. showing quite a 
decline for the time being. Milch cows 
sell slowly at the wide range of .$40 to 
.$125, but the high priced ones are the 
first sold as a rule. Fairly heavy milk¬ 
ers are offered around .$75. 
HAY SUPPLIES SEEM LIBERAL. 
About the only hope of the Boston hay 
market seems to lie in the occasional 
freight embargoes which jiermit dealers 
to work off the surplus stock. But late¬ 
ly so much hay has been coming or been 
reported ready to ship that dealers are 
wondering whether the market will hold 
through the season. Said a very large 
receiver: “Hay is about the only cheap 
thing. The market .seems to be filling up 
despite the embargoes. IVe are begin¬ 
ning to get shipments from west of Buf¬ 
falo, Michigan and Indiana hay. also 
Canadian hay. We see no indication of 
higher prices on this crop, but rather 
lower prices if the next crop should 
Iiromise well. We have farmers here 
every week from Northern New England 
and New York State, and we tell them 
that the time to sell is now. Often they 
can net more to sell loose hay in their 
local market, but they should sell some¬ 
how. A great deal of hay will have to 
be carried over at best.” g. b. f. 
I looked at various pear trees to-day 
(Feb. 10) but could not find one live bml. 
Centre Co., Pa. f. w. 
Oeneral farming is what the farmers 
are engaged in here, but the crops, save 
the hay crop, were rather .short. Potatoes 
almost a failure. Hay was a heav.v croii. 
and saved in good condition, but dull sale 
at .$0 to $10 per ton, the buyer to do the 
baling, on account of car shortage for 
.shipping. Wheat, $1.60 per bu.; oat.s. 
55c; rye, 8,5c: clover seed. $S..50 to ,$9; 
Timothy seed, .$2..50 to .$3; ear corn, .$1..88 
to $1.35 per cwt.; separated cream. 39o 
per lb., delivered ; hogs on foot, 11c to 12o 
per lb.: hogs, dressed, 14e per lb.; cattle 
(fat), 7c to Sc; good milch cows sell at 
sales on nine-months’ time, $50 to $100. 
Horses at same sales and terras from $40 
for plugs, to $200 for good 1,400-lb. to 
1.600-lb. animals. Sheep, .$8 to $12 per 
head ; stock cattle scarce. Buying prices: 
Flour. .$9.80 to $10 per bbl.; bran, shorts, 
mill feed, chopped corn meal, all close to 
$2 per cwt., according tpiantity to be pur¬ 
chased. eggs, ,32c per doz.; butter. 32c 
I»er lb. R. c. 
Allen Co., Ind. 
POTATO HOLDERS CONFIDENT. 
The erratic action of the potato mar¬ 
ket of late does not seem to have upset 
the confidence of those who hold them. 
It was a matter of common remai’k when 
potatoes were at their recent lowest that 
while they might be quoted so-and-so. it 
was hard to find many offered at an.v- 
where near the price, suggesting that 
many holders simply stuck by their guns 
and waited. When the retail price went 
above $1 a peck the effect on demand was 
surprising. A potatoless diet became 
quite a fad even among well-to-do people 
and there was much talk of rice, corn 
meal and other substitutes. “They will 
eat such things while the novelty lasts,” 
said Ileald & Co., “but not for long. A 
good many were scared out of the market 
by high price.s. but they are coming back, . 
.lust now there are few buyers, few offer¬ 
ings and no close price. Some talk of 
$2..50 by the carload, but they don’t get 
the potatoes, and $.3 is nearer the real 
price. We look for further recovery of 
the market and think the season will go 
out short.’’ According to R. IM. Mc- 
Latchy & Co., “offerings are light and 
orders hard to fill at quoted prices. West¬ 
ern and New Y’'ork people have been buy¬ 
ing heavily for cash. Higher prices should 
rule befoi-e long.” “Prices moved very 
high.” commented E. M. Ely, “and con¬ 
sumers dropped off, causing prices to de¬ 
cline fully $1. The supply is not exces¬ 
sive and the market should recover grad¬ 
ually. Quality is generally excellent. 
Car shortage continues to cause trouble.” 
The market may be quoted around $.3 in 
bulk at the yards, but conditions are un¬ 
settled. 
VEGETABLE TRADE QUIET. 
Onions liavo been the main actors, and 
the rest of the list has seemed like on¬ 
lookers. When onions reached their ex- . 
treme prices, heav.v shipments were attract¬ 
ed from country storehouses and the 
A’alues tumbled one-third. Certain dealers 
who had refu.Skd actual offers of $12 per 
bag found themselves facing an $8 to $10 
market. They naturall.v hesitated to sell, 
while buyers seemed in no hurry to take 
hold. Then the onion trade became as 
quiet as the rest of the market, while the 
holders are trying to figure out whether 
the public wants onions badly enough to 
pay big prices for the small remnant of 
the crop. The damage to the Southern 
crop has, of course, strengthened the posi¬ 
tion of holders. Beets, carrots and par¬ 
snips continue to sell around .$2 per box. 
('abbage holds at $8 to .$9 per barrel and 
turnips at $3 per bag. Hothouse stuff 
has been higher ever since the Southern 
freeze, and is about the brightest spot in 
the market, with lettuce at $1.25 to .$1..50 
per box, choice cucumbers .$10, radishes 
$1.75, parsley $3. Hothouse tomatoes 
are 50c per lb.; white mushrooms, 40c. 
APPLES DULL, BUT VALUES FIRM. 
Ivcss boomed than many other lines of 
produce, apples suffered correspondingly 
less in the slump. In fact most dealers 
kept their prices for fancy fruit, which 
has been vei’y scarce, and for other 
grades, too, unless accumulation of stock 
forced concessions. “It’s a dull market,” 
said Hall & Cole, “prices hold steady so 
far, but they won’t buy. We look for im¬ 
provement as soon as the general scare 
about high prices is over. We have 
watched fancy Baldwins creep up fi’om 
,$4 to $5 or $5..50, and we think the scar¬ 
city justifies this level. See this barrel 
with bright, clear red color. There are 
only a few like that this year, and we can 
get $5.50, This box of brilliant red Bald- 
Avins is worth $2.25. But most of the 
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