Centre Hall reporter. [volume] (Centre Hall, Pa.) 1868-1871, 1871-01-13
Whnt he KNOWS Ahout Apples.

Horace Greeley says that apples
bhould have been and should be, from
last August 10 next May, as common as
bread or potatoes, and should have been
and be as freely a0sen In every house
hold and every hreside.
How nearly have We realized this
j viii not guess how many millions OF
bushels have n'ttad under the trees that
bore them, been eaten by animals 10 lib
tie or no profit, or turned into cider that
did not soil for as much as il cost. count
ing the apples of no value Living i'm
medhtely on a railroad that runs into
New York, wherefrom my place is 55
miles distant, / should be able TO do
better with apples than most growers ;
and yet / judge that half my Rpples
were OF no use to me. Many OF them
sold IN this city for Sl per barrel, includ-
ing the cask, which had cost ple 40 cents;
and when you have added the cost of
transportation, you can guess that ! had
no surplus, after paying men 81. 90 per
day for picking and barreling them. I
sold all 1 could TO vinegar makers at 50
cents per bushel for cider apples-the
casks being returned. But they could
not take all | wished to sell them, there
being SO many sellers pressing TO get rid
of their windfalls before they rotted on
their hands TINT even this market WAS
glutted That IL was much worse for
a dozen miles from a railroad and a
hundred from the nearest city, none can
donbt. ! have heard that, in parts of
Connecticut, cider was sold for 30 cents
per barrel TO whoever would furnish
casks, and that their size was hardly
considered. Manifestly, this left moth
ing for the apples,
Nor arc apples singular in this respect
/ would like 10 grow a thousand bushels
OF English (round) and French or
Swede Turnips per annum If could be
sure OF getting 81 per barrel for them
delivered at the railroad II the poor
OF New York city could buy such turnips
throughout their season by the half-peck
at the rate Of 81 per barrel, beliess they
would buy and eat more than they do.
But they are usually asked % cents per
half peck, which is nc the rate OF s. per
barrel and at this rate they hold them
too dear for everyday use So the tur-
nips are not grown, or the cattle are in
vited to clear them of before they rot
and become worthless and a nuisance.
Quite often, green youth undertakes
10 get rich by farming near some great
city. he has heard and believes that
cabbages bring from s. to IS and even
$40 per hundred, sqHashes from $40 10
S25 per hundred, watermellons from 500
10 $50, and so on. He has made his
calculations on this basis, and Sanguinely
expects 10 make money rapidly. But
his products, in the first place, fall short
of his estimates they are not ready for
market as soon as he expected they
would be; and, when at length they al e
ready, every one else seems to have
rushed in ahead of him. The market
is glutted T; no one seems 10 want his
truck F" at any figure he sells il for a
song. and quits farming, disgusted and
bankrupt May be, his stuff would have
sold much better next week or the week
after but he could not afford TO bring
il 10 market and take il back day after
day, on the chance that tho demand for
ii would improve by-and-by. / judge
that more young men have on this ae-
count turned their backs ON farming,
after brief trial, than on any other.
They might have born up against the
shortness Cf their crops, hopiag for bet
ter luck next time but the necessity Of
selling them for price that would not
have reimbursed their cost. had they
been ever SO luxuriant, utterly disheart-
ems and alienates them.