Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1873-03-06
Minor Produet. of the Farm.

70 y great deal has been written and said
about the agricultural and farming inter-
ests of East Tennessee on large scale and
the productions of our river bottoms pro-
claimed, while the fertility of the uplands
and ridges have also been stated, but COM
paratively little has been said about the
minor products of the farm, which gener-
ally come under the female department of
the farmers household.
- We include in this list, poultry, butter,
eggs, cheese, milk, dried fruit, &C., as SUI
pernumerary to the regular products, grain,
fruit, stock and other articles of profit.
These minor articles were few years ago
to the country people what small change
is to merchant-useful for the purpose OF
procuring articles of luxury, sugar, coffee,
&c.-but not taken into account In the
general household expenditures.
We saw few years ago these articles
were reckoned of secondary Importance,
but now they are becoming better appre-
ciated. There are now not less than half
dozen men in every county in East Tell
nessee who make it a special business for
several months in the year to scour the
country for the purpose of buying up every
thing of the kind for city consumption or
shipment, at renumerative prices to the
producer and profit to the middle men
whose efforts are appreciated by the con-
sumers, who, in the end, have to foot the
bills.
This is especially true of the products of
the dairy and poultry yard, sources of in
come hitherto despised, but now assuming
| respectable if not colossal proportions, and
growing from year to year. Knoxville is
| now the centre of considerable proper
ton of this trade and it is within
| bounds to say that the transactions in
| these articles in Knoxville average from
| 1000 to $500 per day. In addition to
| the dealers in this city there are traders at
| every depot and in almost every town and
neigiborhood in the different counties of
East Tennessee. Butter is gathered at all
these points and shipped to Knoxville and
| a few of the towns along the line of rail-
| road where it is packed for shipment, in
large quantities. The same is true OF eggs
and not less than from five hundred to
| eighteen hundred dozen have been ship
| ped from this point daily for several weeks
past. The heaviest dealers are: Messrs.
| Allison & McClung and w. Is. Williams
& Co., with several others on a smaller
| scale, while other commission houses also
| do considerable business in this line.
| Within the past few months several fine
| diaries have been started at different points
| in this section and in years time the
| importance of these minor article will be
| increased fifty per cent. above what they
now are, and where from $50, 900 to $50 GOO
are now brought into the country from the
| sale of articles that would otherwise he in
manner FILTERED away, without bringing
| in any commensurate return for even the
| small outlay necessary to prepare these
articles for market.
| We might extend this article indefinite
| ly by enumerating the trade in feathers,
wax, furs and scores of other articles, but
our readers will see that by the outstanding
| of small articles large results are attained
| and the truth of the Scoth proverb many
a little makes a mickle" clearly shown.