Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1909-08-07
A FARMERS TALK TO FARMERS
Geographical View of this Great Country of Ous-lts
Market Reports-Ihe Commercial Classification of
Stock-The Difference in Prices of Beef Lard, fish
Potatoes Frogs etc.

(written Specially for The Bulletin).
This is a big country We all know
1t and most of us say it. But mighty
few of us, l fancy, really appreciate
its size and the hemisphere breadth
of it's differences in climate, produc-
tons, etc. We understand that our
fellow citizens up in Alaska are rails
ing reindeer, grizzly bears and ice
bergs at the same time that our fell
low citizens in Florida are picking
oranges and kuInquats. We know that
Texas onion growers are packing tnelr
seasons crop for market, about the
time in the spring when New Eng
land farmers are wondering If they
ha,ln't better get cut some manure
before the ground thaws.
BY the way, here's little question
IN geography for the school boys-and
their fathers, too: Where is the east
and-west center of the United States?
That is, If Quoddy Head, Me-. is in
longitude 81 west from Greenwich, and
Attoo. the westernmost Aleutian ISL
and belonging to us, is 1877 degrees
west from Greenwich, which is ac-
cording to my latest maps, the United
States will stretch eastward and west
is 60 degrees. And so degrees west
from Quoddy Head is 1877 degrees.
Look over your map and see where
127 degrees west longitude from Green
witch comes on the latitude of San
Francisco, say. And here's another
little item, which you may take my
word for or look up for yourselves:
The continent of Asia, which we think
of as half the world away to our west,
actually stretches about II degrees
east of this same island of Attoo,
which is just as much a part of the
United States as Fishers Island or
Key West.
Very few of US farmers are likely
ever to camp on Attoo, or to fish for
whales over the east-and -west center
of the United States. Neither of these
possessions is very valuable or inter-
esting. But we don't as rule, appre-
ciate fully the tremendous differences
which exist in farming and marketing
conditions in the continental main
body of our land While we are ready
to assume that there must be some
unlikeness between farming in differ
emit states and selling in different
markets. / doubt if any of us really
comprehend how utterly unlike the
whole system is in west and east in
north and south. OF late I've had a
chance to see a lot of farm papers
published in all parts of the country
in Texas and Missouri and Minnesota
and Washington and Iowa and Coll
orado and various other states. Some
of the correspondence and many Of
the advertisements in these papers are
practically unintelligible to me. /
have general idea of what a Ulster"
IS and what a header" is. but what
is a "drag-o-way" And what do you
do with a "3-horse gouger"? Some
farmers must know, or such tools
wouldn't be advertised for them to
buy.
One of the most amusing fields to
me, however, has been that opened by
the market reports. with their quota
tions of prices on rural products. Take
cereals, for instance: I observe that
all grains and feeds are sold in Salt
Lake by the hundred weight, and that
on June 4th of this year, oats in that
market brought So; corn $2.15; timothy
hay $3.50; each quotation being by
prices for the great west, Ell? In the
same city they sell vegetables by the
pound, and quote new potatoes at
cents. wax beans at IS cents; toma-
toes at rs cents-and asparagus at
cents. That would be at the rate of
$3.50 a busEel for new potatoes and
ten cents for a two-pound bunch of
par uS- Idll oCiA d OuoilEl VI
the very newest of new potatoes for
over $3.50 in my market, while l can't
raise enough asparagus at 35 cents
the two pound bunch to supply clam
oring customers.
Some western fish quotations may
be interesting to readers along shore.
In Minneapolis for example, they
quote "crappies, large, IL and ~ cents;
medium, cents; small, cents" The
same market sells red-horse" at 80
and 8 cents Skipping back to Salt
Lake, the fish men there quote found
ers. halibut and brook trout all at
the same price of Is cents per pounI.
while shad is only IL IL cents, and
catfish and Goldfish both cost II cents.
! wonder if they ever heard of porgies
and whether they'd want about a. dol
lar a pound for theml Tn st. Louis.
under the heading of Fresh Fish"
they quote: dressed cat. with collar
bones off 10 cents. collar bones on
cents; gross. cents. Just below
read: Buffalo, large gross cents,
me lium gross 2 - cents. And then
comes soft shells 4 cents; swapping
turtles cents. They also sell crap
pies" at to 10 cents and spoon
bills" at IL cents.
Some of the oldest quotations are
those on live stock. Minneapolis
of CD OF