Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-06-10
THE MARKET HUNTER.
In Which the Matter of Intelligent Selling
Is Duly Emphasized.
By DON CAMERON SHAFER.

try where true hospitality to strangers
still exists. r...
Tits a fearsome place." answered
Gordon as he sampled the pie. There
is happiness there. but more Of sor.
row; there is pleasure, but more OF
work; there is joy, but more Of bitter
suffering: there are riches. but more
Of poverty, cruel, cruel poverty!"
"Oh," sighed the girl, as she leaned
against the vine-covered porch column
and stared down the hazy valley, 1--WE
Of the country know what 1t Is to be
poor!"
But not of the cruel, pinching
deadly ksnd," answered Gordon. Here
one can always have home, always
enough to eat, plenty Of fresh air, free
dom, birds, and flowers. woodland and
sparkling lakes, brooks and trees and
hills and--oh! ever ard ever so many
treasures denied us In the city,"
I'VE are land-poor, here in the
country" she explained. About al
we have is scenery and fresh air
money is always so scarce in the coun-
try" ~. ra fh
"You require so little money and
have so much to SELL" smiled Gordon
"we Of the city have nothing to sell
but the labor Of our hands. and the
product Of our minds" .1a '+ En
1--WE have much to SELL" she laughed
merrily, "but no buyers" at1
mo buyers!" cried the young man
In surprise. "Why, never before was
farm produce 80 high in the city. There
Is great demand for everything from
the farm at a fancy price. Fresh eggs
are worth sixty cents dozen, butter
is fo-ty-nine cents pound, and pota-
toes, apples and vegetables Of all
kinds were never higher. Only yester-
day I searched the markets for few
snow-apples such as used to enjoy
when I lived in the >untry. I found
only a few bruised. wormy, half
grown apples. full OF bad spots and
bruises, called snow-apples out OF
courtesy. for which they wanted two
dollars q bushel." 't. .it'1
1.-TWO dollars a bushel!" exclaimed
Susan, in a tone that implied disbe-
lief, although the young man was so
very serious. why, we have bushels
and bushels Of snow-apples every year
and we can't even give them away"
'What?" cried Gordon, his turn to
doubt.
1T Is a fact" nodded pretty Susan
very seriously. I'VE can never sell ear
ly apples. You see, the buyers don't get
around until late. If they come at all,
and then they only want the winter
apples, apples that will keep a Ions
time, the Spitzenbergs. the Northern
Spies, the Baldwins, the Russets and
the Greetings" .---....
"And all those beautiful apples-the
finest apples in the world-go to
waste?" questioned Fordon, in sur
prise. ~~'.E '1"@#
"Yes," she answered, signing, "be-
cause there is no one to buy them
We also have plenty of Red Astrach-
ans, Strawberry apples and Yellow
Transparerts which we never sell
And no end Of Seckel and Bartlett
pears and plums which no one ever
thinks Of buying"
"Whew!" calculated Gordon. "And
only a little over fifty miles away are
three large cities, totaling nearly half
million people, all begging and clam
oring for fruit, and paying fancy prices
for a very inferior article. Whew!"
But who will buy shem?" asked the
girl. mo one ever comes here from
the city to buy fruit. The local apple
buyers are offering only sixty cents
barrel for apples this fall, and 1t hard
ly pays to pick them for that when the
barrels cost fifteen cents apiece. The
nearest evaporator ard cider mill will
pay only twenty cents hundred fol
shaken apples. We know from expert
ence that the wholesale apple buyers
in the city will not give us any more
IMAM IllS lOI Jul dPpCo'
mo, they will give you just as little
as possible, and yell them for just a:
| much as they can get. But there art
literally thousands Of people who will
buy your apples II you can get In toucf
with them. Thousands Of barrels O
very inferior apples are being sold II
the city every day for more than two
dollars a barrel. Perfect fruit, wei
packed and graded. should bring mucf
more. The thing for you 70 do Is t.
get in touch with consumers, not will
greedy commission men,"
THAT is so much easier said thar
done when one lives so far away ant
knows not a soul in the CITY,"
There are many ways" answered
| Gordon thoughtfully. "The trouble
with you country people Is that yol
produce, and then sit down and pa
tiently wait for some one to come ant
buy your products at his own figure
and If the buyer fails to come you
fruit wastes and other products spoil
| II you nVeQ near eipueH " q Si1S ~
haul your products 70 market once o
twice a week you would find read!
sale for everything at fine price. ant
farming could be made to pay as goot
a profit as any other manufacturing
business. Why, do you know. they ar
selling buttermilk down in the city to
day at six cents a quart and five cent
a glass in the cafes! Because you liv'
some fifty miles from the nearest city
you think it quite impossible to mar
ket your produce"
But how could we find those cit!
markets." cried the girl.
| Gordon saw in a flash what reall!
allied these thrifty country folk, wha
was preventing them from making
financial success Of their plant for tn
production and manufacture Of food
stuff. They had no salesman. No on
knew what they haG to sell. The peo
pie who want farm produce and tn
people who raise 1t are separated by
wide, wide gulf, bridged only by a few
commission houses, whose toll leave
but q meager margin of profit for tn