Published by 
The Rural Publishing Co. 
333 W. 30th Street 
New York 
The Rural New-Yorker 
The Business Farmer’s Paper 
-— 
Weekly, One Dollar Per Year 
Postpaid 
Single Copies, Five Cents 
A'ol. LXXVH. XEAV YORK. .lAXl ARY IP. IPt.S. Xo. ttf).'.. 
A Vegetable Growers’ Market 
How Rhode Island Gardeners Organized 
IlADIf’AL Move.—I t rt'(|uire(l unusual courage 
fur the vegetahle growers of I'rovideuce, It. I,, 
to abandon the stand ■\%hich they had ocouided for 
half a century, and to go a mile away from the 
hu.sine.ss section of the city to establisli a marlu't 
]dace. That tiiey Avere farsiglited as Avell as coura¬ 
geous is eA'idenced by the fact that they now have 
the most prospei’ons and successful independent mar¬ 
ket ill the TTiited States. Of course there had to he 
a powerful incentive heliind the project. It is re¬ 
vealed in tlie exjilauation given by Harold Thomson, 
a former president of their Association. 
J’.niDENSOME liEOELATloXS.— “We had to 
go.” said Mr. Thomson, ‘“or give up our independence 
of action. Tlie AA'holesale market of former years 
Avas located on the streets around the river front. 
We Avere Avithin hailing distance of the commission 
houses, and in constant competition Avith them. 
Moreover, in addition to [taylug liberal fees to the 
city for the space occupied, we were under the 
strictest I’ogulation. Some of the.so regulations Avere 
very bnrden.some, and Avorked to the adA’antage of 
the commission houses. Eor a long time it A\ as cus¬ 
tomary for our teams to remain until It! o'clock 
noon, but the conge.stiou of the street became .so 
great that we Avere orderial to vacate at 10 o'clock. 
That meant that Avhether Ave had a full Avagon or 
an empty one, Ave Avtre ol»liged to pull out at a cer¬ 
tain hour. It is true that this rule Avas not ahvays 
enforced to the letter, but iieA’ertheless, it serA'ed 
the pur])oso of our competitors AA’ell, for many of 
them made a regular practice of AA’aiting until al¬ 
most 10 o’clock before doing any I)u.Aing. Then the 
market gardeners Avere compelled to dispose of their 
produce at Avhatever price might he offered, or to 
carry it home Avith them. This meant, of course, 
that they Avere getting the short end of the deal. 
The commission men AA'ould buy on their oavu terms. 
EXl'ESSIl E CIIARHE.^. —“IVe tried to get better 
concessions from the city, but Avithout avail. This 
AA-eiit on for some time, but several of us Avere dis- 
.satisfied enough to do more than verbally protest 
AVe Avere paying anyAvhere from $110 to $T25 a year 
for the small amount of space Avhich each AA’agon 
occui)ied. We figured out that this meant practi<*- 
all.v a dA)llar a sipiare foot. It seemed too much for 
Avlmt Ave Avere getting. This Avas the situation Avhich 
gave birth to the idea of establishing a market of 
cmr OAvn.” 
ITiOEIIECTE.S OF FAILUllE.—It isn't neces.sary 
to dwell (ui the ditliculties Avhlch tiie promoters of 
tlie plan had to overcome. Fortunately the market 
gardeners as a Avhole Avere united in favor of the 
movement. AVhen a meeting to di.scu.ss the matter 
Avas called, the hall AA'as filled, those present includ¬ 
ing several scores of Italians jiml Portuguese, sonu' of 
Avhoni could not speak any. English, but all of 
Avhom AA'ere Avilliiig to sub.scribo on the spot, .lust 
hoAv far the promoters of the plan really intended 
to go is a question. It may be that the.v expected 
tlie cit.v to reA'er.se its opjiressive polic.v to some ex¬ 
tent, Avhen it found it Avas likely to lose a large 
amount of revenue gathered in from the produce 
groAvers. IIoAvever. tlie city fathers shoAvial no signs 
of yielding, and the commission men laughed the 
market gardeiu'rs to scorn. The.v didn't belicA'e 
that it Avas possible to have a Avbolesale market 
anyAvhere but in the Avholesale disrricf. 
TIIE SITE BOUGHT.—“By that time,” to quote 
Mr. Thomson again, ‘“the market gardeners of I’mci- 
dence Avere ready to ‘go the limit'.” A committee 
Avas foruuMl, and began to look for a site. They 
found it in a lot of land containing 4E> acres. OAvned 
by ex-Governor I)yer, Avho Avas Avilling to make the 
most satisfactory terms of sale. This plot Avas fully 
a mile from the old market place, and half a mile 
from the City Hall. It’s a poor pun but it seemed 
like flying in the face of 1‘roA'idence to set up a 
market in such a location. The commission men 
and other bu.yers AA'ere prompt and emphatic in sa.A'- 
ing that the.v aa'ouUI never go out there to deal Avith 
the market gardeners, and that the latter AA'ould I»e 
glad to come back to their ohl stands in a feAv Aveeks. 
HOW IT AVORKED OT’T.— That Avas four years 
ago. A feAA' members of the association lost their 
courage early in the struggle and capitulated. One 
of the most influential of the produce groAA'ers, Iioaa'- 
ever, drA)A'e his team to the new market as soon as it 
AA'as established, and said he AA'ould go there eA'ery 
day, if he had to take his Avagons home loaded a.s 
heavily as Avheu they started out. That steadied 
the others. avIio x’allied around him. Finding that 
they had to make a virtue of -necessity, the commis¬ 
sion men and even the pushcart men .soon began 
AA't'nding their Avays to the iicav market place, and 
have continued daily trips CA'er since. The land 
Avhich Avas purchased co.st the Association All 
of this sum has not been paid yet. but in rbe course 
of a fcAv years the I'rovidence A'egetable Cruwers’ 
Association Avill be in full control of the best 
equipped and most successfully conducted open air 
AA'holesale market in this country, if not in the AA'orld. 
The Avhole plot is laid oft’ in .square blocks, there 
being a road eA'ery 24 feet and Avalks intersecting 
them every 42 feet. This means that the m;irk<ft 
place is cut up into .squares, each of Avliich is large 
enough to accommodate four wagmis or trucks 
standing tail to tail. Each Avagou has practically a 
corner lot, as one end can bo reached from a road 
and one side from a Avalk. This is the nio.st conveni¬ 
ent ai-raugement that ci>iild bo contrived. Aloreovm-, 
it gives every man an e([ual advantage. One position 
is just as good as another, although if there is any 
choice, it can be made, as the areas are assigned in 
the order apidied for. 
CHARiJES ARE LESS.—The expense is much 
less than it used to be in the duAvutoAvu market. 
Kach man p.ays .$40 a year for a stand, it having 
been found that this .amount Avill cover all ex|)en.ses. 
AIoreoAcr, the majority of the Avagons are emptied 
.and on their Avay home before eleven o'clock. The 
buyers come i»repared to' purchase Avhat tliey need 
immediatel.A', and do not AA'ait until the last moment. 
They cannot afford to, liecause they must be back 
at their oavu trading place as early as possible. In 
order that the tinancial affairs may be carried on 
legall.A', a cori»oration has been formed, ami trustees 
appointed. The Avhole plan has heeii tested long 
enough to prove its Avorkabilit.A'. “AVhat Avould you 
thing of going back doAvntoAvu?” Avas the (pie.stion 
jait to a charter member. “The thing isn't to l)e 
OA'en considered.’’ Avas the reply. ‘“AA'e Inu'e est.ab- 
lished our independence, have lost nothing by so aIo- 
ing. and have aAvakened a s[)irit of co-operation s\ich 
as can seldom be found .among any body of market 
gardeners. There is nothing like fighting a period 
of adversity to get men to stick together.” 
OTHER ACTIA'ITIES.—As a result of their united 
stand the Providence A'egetable GroAvers' Associa¬ 
tion has been able to carry on other progressiA-e 
actiA'ities.. The3' have formed a - close connection 
The Tug of War. Which End of the Pig Will Win? Fig. 21 
