The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1885-04-18

$500 AN OUNCE FOR FLOWER SEEDS
OATS AT IS A BUsHEL-CosTLY
SQUASH SEED.
N. Y. Sun.

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In many of the the offices around
and in the big Produce Exchange there
are numerous little shallow boxes piled
on window stills, tables, and desks.
The boxes are generally filled with corn
and wheat and other grain, samples of
the stocks held in the big elevators and
stores along the river fronts and in the
fleets of canal boats in the BROOKLYN
basins. A grain dealer was running
his hand through a sample of No. I
spring wheat when young man said:
"Good as gold"
eyes, but unlike some other farm
products, it is not worth its weight in
gold"
"Squashes, for instance ?"
"Perhaps you would like to know
something about high-priced farm pro-
ducts. There is new variety of oats.
called the Clydesdale. A measured
bushel weighs fifty-one pounds. While
they will not retain their full weight in
this country, they will double the mar
ket value of the product of an oat field.
The enterprising farmer pays S. BUSH
ell for his seed. There is the new Fife
spring wheat, which sells for s. bush
ell, and the new styles of field corn
known as Chester Mammoth and Cold
en- Dent sell for about the same.
SIN the matter of garden seeds, the
farmer must pay prices that make him
squeal. Last year Newark man
brought out what is known as Hender-
sons white plume celery. Unlike
common celery it does not need to be
banked up to whiten the leaves, and.
what is more, these leaves are SO much
like ostrich feathers as anything you
can imagine. During the American
Institute Fair the plants on exhibition
were frequently torn to pieces by guests
who used the leaves for buttonhole bou-
quets. The scotsman who is introduce
ing the plant paid $3.50 for small
truck load of the plants, and he now
sells the seed at $40 pound.
ga new French bean is selling at 90
cents quart. The new Eclipse beet
seed sells for $3.50 a pound, while the
seed of the new lettuce called the Oak
Leaf sells for 81 an ounce. Even new
variety of parsley is high priced, the
seed of the style called Emerald selling
for 81 pound.
"You sarcastically mentioned the
squash. That was because you didn't
know all about squashes. There was a
specimen of a new squash on exhibition
in this town last fall for several weeks
that weighted 223 pounds. Its flavor
was as excellent as its size was enor-
nous. The seeds obtained from this
big squash sell for 8 cents apiece, or So
an ounce.
"But when you want to find farm
products that are really worth their
weight in gold you must take the flower
seeds raised by the farmers wife.
This year there are great variety of
to name them. These seeds are always
sold by the packet, at from IS to so
cents packet. That sounds cheap,
but there are new styles in daisies, lady's
slippers, petunias, and pansies, the
seeds of which are worth in the market
by the ounce sum that will take your
breath away. The petunia grandiAora
is sample. 1t is an exceedingly beau
tiful flower. The packages Of seeds
contain 900 or 400 seed each, but the
seed is an impalpable powder almost, it
is SO fine. The package retails at IS
cents, but by the ounce the seed is
worth $500. An ounce will make s.,
600 packages. You can see what the
retail prices Of flower seeds and the re-
tailer's profits are from that statement.