Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-07-06
TINE T0CHEER!
GROCER 5 BILL
SHOWS DECLINE
Home Garden Products Are
Handing Body Blows to
High Living Cost
COMPARISONS REVEAL
MANY DECREASES

Heartening declines in the prices OF
food stuffs are shown by a general
comparison of local lists for today and
those of three months ago.
While there are many steps to be
taken yet before the quotations would
compare favorably with those of
year or two ago. yet tabulated list
shows that it is cheaper to live in
Ottumwa now than it was during the
early part of the spring.
GARDENS DOING iT
1t is the general consensus of opin.
ion that home gardens" are doing 1t.
There are mary Ottumwans who have
never until this year known what it
means to have plot Of ground cul-
tivated with vegetables and fruit for
their own use
marke: the prices are bound To drop
and some Of them will drop with
thud
FLOUR is LOWER
In accordance with the drop Of
$3.50 barrel in the Chicago price Of
flour from the high point reached in
May. Ottumwa retailers are offering
it cheaper by the sack today.
II now sells for $500 TO 81 a sack.
In May it ranged from 81. to $4.76,
Bread and butter are the basis ,pf
most families meals. and in keeping
with The drop on flour butter is
cheaper. 81
Today the creamery product sells
for 40 to As cents. In May It ran as
high as AZ. Country butter is 80 to
35 cents. Three months ago il was
10 cents higher on each grade.
POULTRY BUSY
Although many people are raising
chickens for the first time this year.
the price of their product is but
slightly lower than usual. Good, fresh
eggs run from 80 to 80 cents. In May
they were SO.
Dressed chickens, selling for 81
cents three months ago, are 25 cents
now.
{ Other meats are about the same an |
fish shows drop OF IL and cents On
the pound.
FRUITS CROWD Markets
There have been plenty of fruits
on the Ottumwa markets this spring
and the prices have been In keeping
with those Of former years. AZ the
home grown varieties begin to come
on the lists weaken.
Strawberries have dropped and 4
cents quart, pineapples are only half
as expensive as they were three
ago. Lemons and oranges arc
10 cents cheaper dozen, but grape
fruit. which stood alone last spring in
its failure TO register a price increase.
is higher. Most OF the local stores
are selling bananas at slightly higher
prices than they commanded In the
spring.
PLENTY OF GREEN GOODS
The fresh. green vegetables which
are beginning to come in heavily on
the local dealers are forcing the lists
downward on almost all classes.
Cabbage cost 20 cents in May; now
II is TO- Tomatoes were 90 cents:
now they are 1914 cents. Beets, which
were selling at dime bunch are
now three for dime and head lettuce
which cost 10 cents in May has cut
that figure in two.
Potatoes have dropped 10 and Is
cents on the peck with larger proper
tionate decteases when purchased by
the bushel
WAITING FOR NEW CROPS
Peas and beans are holding up well
and are but very little lower than they
have been during the past few weeks
They are selling at Is and nv cents
a pound.
The reason for this is that the home
products\ have not begun to come in
In any great quantities yet When
they do local dealers predict big
slump.