The Washington times., 1901-11-17
FEEDING A CITY.
Gotham Levies on the whole Coun-
try for "a Food supply.

Strangers from the interior continually
| ask themselves the question, Where on
| earth does the food come from to feed
! this great city," One said the other day:
| Il reckon New York must levy on the
whole United States, because there amt
piece of land anywhere near the city
thatll sprout peas" After he had been
there week and visited New Jersey and
Long Island, Orange County. and Con-
| necticut, he thought we lived in the midst
of garden. We do. But we also levy
| on the whole United States, as he reck-
| oned and allowed. Il bet a hundred dol
lars this roast beef didn't come from any
OF your garden markets. he said raptur-
ously. chewing a juicy cube. That isn't
roast beef" corrected the host; lit is a
steak" STEAK? Tell that to the ma
rines. Why. man alive. In my State any
piece of beef more than an inch thick is
roast. l reckon this piece is nearly four
inches And we would not think of eat
ing one under an inch and a half" The
steak you are eeating was raised In Kan
sas.' Il just knew 1t; You can't fool me. !"
Where did YOU get that chicken he
asked, when a ssmothered nine-ouuce
broiler was brought onsthe table. Bet a
hundred he didn't come from around
here" 1t was explained that the broiler
came from Sidney Ohio. which boasts the
largest plant for raising broilers in the
world. One man raises 100000 year for
this market. where they fetch from 81 to
$l.25 per pair. The price staggered the
stranger "A dollar and Il quarter a
pair!' he shouted. Man alivei We get
the finest frying-size chickens in the
world, necks wrung half an hour before
breakfast, for 10 cents apiece. How many
hens that fellow got?" None" ''Rais-
ing 100000 broilers a year and no hens?
Come again" He has incubators that
hatch out over dozen broods a year"
Scott Yes! And there are great
many chicken farms in Virginia The
land down in the Old Dominion is become
so poor that it won't grow crops, so they
are going into the poultry business. Sa-
lem, Rivington. and Roverton have i'm
mense poultry farms. Maryland fried
chicken has fresh boom"
1t is not easy to convince hard-head-
ed countryman of anything but the
weather, and he never yields to that until
he sees the sun shine and feels the rain
on his head. he wants to know all about
the ducks, geese, and squads. and was
thus enlightened:
There are duck ranches on Long Island
Fi'NiS DO many as 1U,UUU OuCkllllSS are
raised annually for New York's NAV, and
Pennsylvania and Virginia are dotted
with ranches having capacities of from
5000 to 1900. all incubator hatched
There is an enormous duck ranch at Al
lentown, Pa, and one at Rivington, Va,
nearly as large as the ranch at Speonk,
l.. l. Geese came from all over, most of
the duck ranches supplying them Squads
raise themselves. for pigeons really re-
quire no attention. Many thousands are
sent here from the live bird shoots: not
squads at all, but passed off as such, shot
and all. We pay 40 cents apiece for
them. /" Forty cents for a squab?" Ger
tainiy; never less than 35." Scott!
reckon I've got thousand on my place,
and we never ate one in our lives. Are
they fitten to eat?' Finer than quail or
woodcock." Scott" Not the murdered
pigeon; the tender squab Just before 1t is
ready to fly" 'Scotti"-New York Press.