Farmers of Forty Centuries; Or, Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea, and JapanKing, F. H. (Franklin Hiram)
Science
Farmers of Forty Centuries; Or, Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea, and Japan
King, F. H. (Franklin Hiram)
Agriculture -- China; Agriculture -- Japan; Agriculture -- Korea
Shantung walnuts, per lb. 4.30
Duck eggs, dozen 8.34
Hen's eggs, dozen 7.30
Goat's meat, per lb. 6.45
Pork, per lb. 6.88
Hens, live weight, per lb. 6.45
Ducks, live weight, per lb. 5.59
Cockerels, live weight, per lb. 5.59--
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This long list, made up chiefly of fresh vegetables displayed for
sale on one market day, is by no means complete. The record is only
such as was made in passing down one side and across one end of the
market occupying nearly one city block. Nearly everything is sold by
weight and the problem of correct weights is effectively solved by
each purchaser carrying his own scales, which he unhesitatingly uses
in the presence of the dealer. These scales are made on the pattern
of the old time steelyards but from slender rods of wood or bamboo
provided with a scale and sliding poise, the suspensions all being
made with strings.
We stood by through the purchasing of two cockerels and the
dickering over their weight. A dozen live birds were under cover in
a large, open-work basket. The customer took out the birds one by
one, examining them by touch, finally selecting two, the price being
named. These the dealer tied together by their feet and weighed
them, announcing the result; whereupon the customer checked the
statement with his own scales. An animated dialogue followed,
punctuated with many gesticulations and with the customer tossing
the birds into the basket and turning to go away while the dealer
grew more earnest. The purchaser finally turned back, and again
balancing the roosters upon his scales, called a bystander to read
the weight, and then flung them in apparent disdain at the dealer,
who caught them and placed them in the customer's basket. The storm
subsided and the dealer accepted 92c, Mexican, for the two birds.
They were good sized roosters and must have dressed more than three
pounds each, yet for the two he paid less than 40 cents in our
currency.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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