Daily Kennebec journal., 1901-11-23
TURKEYS SCARCE.
The Native Bird Costs Big
Money This Year.
Western Turkeys Are Plenty and
Cheap in Price.
wha. Augustus Market Men Otter Tor sunday
and Thanksgiving.

Native turkeys are scarce ana hish III
Augusta markets. and the price rs up
in the skies. Good Maine turkeys orihg
"A cents a pound at retail ana they re
hard to get at that price. fernaps IL
is because the raisers OF turkeys nave
been holding back the product TOT
fancy prices. One farmer brouSht INTO
town. yesterday, 20 good-siIed young
birds and he wanted 20 cents pouhu
for them. He probably got rid of them
all right. The dealers feel as II they
ought to make at least cents pouno
on turkeys, especially as there is out
one day in the year when they can get
rid of them in any amount
THE people don't buy turkey every
Jav in the year" said dealer TO the
Journal. yesterday. and We nave 10
take lots of chances in order to come
out ahead THANKSGIVING is the ohiS
time when any business OF account Is
done with them. Christmas don't
amount to much as 4 turkey-selilng
time.
Pork is hard tc get We are not
cutting half what We ought 10 at thiS
time Of wear AS a consequence pork
ribs and lard are higher Beef remains
about the same. and in fact there is
little change in the meat market. BUT
Toy is firm and unchanged and SO is
cheese.
Eggs are still scarce and high. We
have to pay 81 cents dozen Tor fresh
domestic eggs. and we don get nan
what we want. They will be high TIL
after Christmas and then the price Will
drop very rapidly.
"A man over in Chelsea is now De-
ginning to raise chickens by incuoa-
ton. In a couple Of months he'll nave
spring chickens on the market. Last
wear he sold one pair OF spring chick-
ems that weighed about lla pounds each
for s.. That's a pretty good price TO
nav for three pounds of spring chicken.
isn't it?
"AU or nearly all kinds Of rolled
oats have gone up in price. IN many
instances the increase reaching ~ per
cent. This is caused by the shortage
in the grain market. Onions are up IN
the air, and so is squash. beans are
lower Potatoes are fairly sustained.
higher if anything. but sweets are a
little easier"
Generally speaking, the advanced
the past months are not going TO in
crease greatly the cost of living TO the
small housekeeper. Although the an
nouncements of advancing prices Tor
beef breadstuffs apples. beans. celery.
sweet and white potatoes. and many
other foods are made almost daily. the
cost of meal or series OF meals
made from those very viands is little
hotnra
crorers ana butchers always act as
sort of balance wheel. and within Cer-
tain limits they take up both advances
and declines in prices 50 that the GUS
tomber, but for the market reports.
would hardly know Of any fiuctuation
The retailers are used TO large profits
one month and small the next. averag-
ing up well at the years end. but the
customer does not pay much attention
10 demand and supply. cost of produc-
tion. or the other factors that affect
the market. He is used 70 paying Ger
.ain prices for certain articles. and
holds back is there is any change.
Should the figure go up. he feels he is
being robbed: if il goes down, he thinks
something must be wrong with the
goods.
This is pre-eIninently the day Of 5
cent and 1O-cent packages. cans and
bottles. By sticking to such goods land
they include nearly everything on the
market except fresh products). small
falnily's housekeeping bills need not
he apprrcia bly, higher. as in these cases
The retail prices do not vary at all.
Taking her and more expensive lines.
This months prices for household ne
ccssities show a marked increase in
those articles affected by the poor
crops Of the summer.
The difference in the prices of staples
AZ the present time as compared with
those Of two years ago. is not so very
great Some articles are higher. but
others are lower. Beans. green peas,
tomatoes apples and canned corned
beef are higher. white flour. coffee.
cheese, pears and pineapp1es are lower
in price These quota tons only cover
a few Of the thousands Of items on
frSt-claSs grocers list. but they show
how it is possible to make purchases
from among products that have de-
clined in price.
Much has been, made of the recent
advances in the price of meats. Com
parisons Of figures are here not per-
fectly trustworthy. because the element
of quality cannot enter into the calcu-
lation. as il should. A butcher who has
keIt his prices level. in spite of ad-
vanced quotations at the stockyardS.
may really be selling slightly lower
grade of meat which will keep his
profits as large as ever. but which he
would probably be reluctant to confess.
Poultry is rapidly becoming cheaper
than meat in many places on account
of the unexpected glut of the market.