Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-09-15
BIG OUI:
SIDE PLUM MARKET
Farmers of Marshall County
Shipping Fruit to Both Des
Moines and Waterloo
APPLES WILL BE GREAT LUXURY
Housewife Who Can Furnish Her Ia
BILE With Apples Fortunate-oranses
Will be cheaper-Peaches Not Com
ing Fast-A Guess as to Potatoes
Friendly Chat With Kitchen Queen.

Tho it may seem strange the farmers
of Marshall county are furnishing to
the outside world this fall, many of
the plums that are being sought for
canning purposes by the thrifty
housewife. Plums are one of the very
staple fruits in demand at this season,
because Of the many good things that
can be made from them. Altho hun
dreds of bushels have been sold by
exceeds the demand, and shipments
are being made in large quantities
from this city to both Des Moines and
Waterloo.
1t appears that this year the plum
crop is extraordinarily large in Mar
shall county. Better than that the
plums are of an exceptional quality,
free from worms and finely ripened.
While this is true in Marshall. two
nearby counties, Polk and Blackhawk,
have a noticeable shortage, and there
is not nearly enough of the delicious
fruit to satisfy the demands. AS a re-
suit the local farmer and shipper are
both getting a good price for all they
lean send to satisfy the demands in
other quarters.
Apples Will be Luxury.
A little chat with the queen Of the
~ fob ,t 0f h. ;c,
always timely. One OF the first and
most important questions that will be
realized is the scarcity of apples, the
one staple winter fruit in this part of
the country. Apples are going to be
very scarce, and the housewife who
will be able to furnish her table, and
have an occasional one for the child
rem and few for her guests on
winter evening, will indeed be FORUM
ate. Apples are going in cold storage
now at the rate of $3.50 per barrel, so
it can be imagined what a big retail
price will have to be demanded later.
Apples will be worth great deal more
money than oranges, a direct reversal
of the ordinary situation.
Peaches Moving Slowly.
Peaches. which are also in great de-
mand at this season of the year, are
slowly. Michigan free stones,
which are not desirable for canning,
are in market, and the big yellow fell
lows, which are the ones to buy, are
just beginning to be received. Michi-
gan has good crop this year, but
1t will be able to satisfy the
demand. and permit the fruit to still
remain reasonable in price, is not yet
known. The Missouri crop is fail
ure, and the price for peaches now
depends entirely on the demand. 1t is
believed that if the price keeps down
within reasonable limits, Michigan
will have to show remarkable crop.
A Guess as to Potatoes.
Potatoes, the principal staple vege-
table, without which it would be hard
to get along, are a mere guess at the
present time. Grocers are paying 80
cents a bushel in trade now, but what
the price is likely to be no one can
foretell. Dealers got let down in po-
tatoes last spring, because of the big
crop last year, and at a time when
they usually bring $1.50 per bushel, the
highest price commanded was 40 cents
in trade. In fact grocers could not
move potatoes last spring, and had to
pay men to haul them from their Gel
lars to the city dump.
Bad Weather for Tomatoes.
The tomato crop is another problem.
Tomatoes have been plentiful, but the
cloudy weather of the past week Or
more has hindered the ripening of the
later varieties. Tomatoes were so
plentiful few weeks ago that they
were selling on the local market for
35 cents per bushel to the consumer.
Now they are commanding 20 cents per
peck. If the weather should warm up.
and favor ripening, as there are Still
many green tomatoes on the vines, the
who has not yet put up her
will still have good chance
to secure them at reasonable figure.
Onions Large Crop. Here.
Onions locally are a large crop, and
like the plums local shippers are sup
plying an outside market. Muscatlne,
which usually has enough onions to
supply a. big share Of the state, is
without an onion this year, compare
lively speaking. This is due to the
high water of the Mississippi, which
overlooked many of the large onion
beds, and resulted in the onions rotting
in the ground Onions are now holding
up we'll, at Is cents, and are too high
for grocers to put them in. They will
hold off until November, banking on
a more moderate price.
Cauliflower, for pickles, is found
scarce by the housewife. Consumers
are asking for cauliflower every day,
and it is very scarce. There is but little
in the local market. and dealers are
unable to get it, finding that for some
reason or another the vegetable is gen.
orally scarce this year.
Local Weather Record.
The extremes in temperature Thurs
aay were rs and 50, as against 80 and