MARKETS

Public markets and fairs are closely allied as links which help to connect our modern civilization with the early history of the hmm an race. Their origin is found in the first concerted attempts at commerce, and their initial history ante dates the oldest records. Furthermore, the e ential principles of the earliest markets—and also, probably, many of the details of their operation—were not unlike those of the great modern markets of Continental Europe. The employment of the terms ‘‘market’’ and ‘‘fair’’ overlap’ at many points and in general usage. In the forms most intimately a ociated with the field covered by this volume they are best differentiated by applying the word ‘‘market’’ to a public selling-place continuously open during all, or a considerable portion of, the year and devoted chiefly to the sale of provisions. The term ‘‘fair’’ (setting aside the modern American use of the word to signify a combined exhibition and group of amusement enterprises rather than a place of exchange or sale) may then be specialized to signify a public selling-place open only for a limited time, either for a single offering (as the ‘‘goose,’’ ‘‘cattle,’’ and other fairs of the United Kingdom) or for all cla es of commodities—clothing, jewelry, and many other articles in addition to provisions—as the periodic fairs which constituted so important a feature of life during the Middle Ages, and the famous modern fairs at Leipsic, Irbit, Irkutsk, Nizhni Novgorod, and elsewhere, at which European and Asiatic merchants and traders come together to traffic in a long list of articles, their booths and other appurtenances at the Ru ian fairs often, in normal times, covering several square miles.;: The recognition of the desirability of a common interchange of goods seems to ——— a: - _ be instinctive among all a races. When the Aztec - - country was disclosed to: European eyes by Cortez’ victorious invaders, Sid it was found that the; ae a P<5 greater part of the trade tre. between city and country i - or fi and the bulk of the retail ae 4 a busine of large commuom” Se nities were transacted in vaneeneeealy Sy, “he aus markets and fairs. And Coen bay” - ‘Stanley came upon fairs ' of periodic or continuous - “;:. -— = operation in penetrated, ray | the natives journeying to from considerable.. °.. 3 distances to exchange: ‘: = 4 The public market was, -— ‘| in former generations 4. | a noteworthy feature —— = he of American life, but 3 — Sa oe changes in social and commercial conditions bade in — | fair to banish it, in its: a a ee es *—| original significance, mto —— ( the limbo of things gone by. There became fewer and fewer communities in which the free open mar- Porters of the Halles Cent rales, Paris—the one in the foreground ket-places were patron carrying baskets of fruits ized by the general public—and, finally, none with covered markets to which the general producer had aece , the stalls of those still in operation being occupied by tenants much in the same way as are ordinary stores. The wholesale or commi ion merchant, together with the retailer, had absorbed the market’s place in public service, Revently, however, the market where producer and consumer can meet has been revived and has a umed importance in many parts of the country. The finest markets in the world are those grouped in the Halles Cent rales of Paris—ten large halls, covering a total of 365,000 square feet and divided according to the character of the supplies. About one-third of the space is devoted to wholesale and the remainder to retail purposes. Lining the thoroughfares between the halls--some of the spaces open and some covered -are stands for fruits, vegetables, flowers, ete., and underneath are cold-storage cellars for the use of producers on payment of a small fee. The annual sales reach large figures—an average of 100 million pounds of meat, 50 million pounds of poultry, 70 million pounds of fish, 50 million pounds of butter and cheese—and other articles in proportion. The Halles Cent rales retain the first feature of the market or fair in that the producer and consumer are brought in direct contact. There are a great many permanent tenants, fitulaires de places fixes, as in English and American markets, but in Paris they have no exclusive po e ion—ample space is reserved for all occasional or periodie vendors—any producer who desires may oceupy space and sell his goods by conforming with the regulations and paying the very moderate fees. If he cannot spare the time to come into the city, he ean ship his goods to any of the official salesmen, to be disposed of at auction, the only charge being a small commi ion on the sales. ‘These salesmen are appointed by a municipal official and their methods are rigorously inspected and controlled. Numerous smaller markets in other parts of the city supplement the service of the Halles Cent rales. The famous old Butter Market at Cork, Ireland, is another institution worthy of mention as one of the best regulated of its kind. All the butter exposed for sale is tested, in bulk and without any name attached, and branded First Quality, Second Quality, etc., by a market committee whose members also belong to the Common Council. No favoritism can be shown, as the committee are ignorant of the ownership of the butter they inspect. Merchants residing in any part of Great Britain can forward their orders for so many packages of certain qualities to local brokers, who buy on the market, charging the purchasers a commi ion of about fiftv cents for each one hundred and twelve pounds—the fee being regulated by the same committee. On the following day, the prices of all qualities are published in all the morning papers of Great Britain, the grocer beg thus informed of the correct price of the quality he buys. a MARMALADE, a semi-liquid preserve, typically of thick-rind, acid or bitter fruits such as bitter oranges and grapefruit, made by boiling the pulp or juice with portions of the rinds. The most popular is that of oranges—the Seville, or bitter, orange being emploved for a majority of the best products. In domestic preserving, the desired hitter flavor may be obtained by blending grapefruit or lemons with ordinary sweet oranges. The title ‘‘i marmalade”’ is also used for various jams rendered tart by the addition of Jemon juice, as “apple marmalade’’—and, occasionally, without any reason or justification, for an ordinary sweet jam. Such misuse of words confuses the mind and robs language of accuracy and intelligibility of deseription. In the commercial manufacture of orange marmalade, the fruit is first prepared by removing the eyes, washing in large tubs, and halving and pulping by machinery. After the separation of the rind and pulp, the latter is placed in machines which expre the juice, and the rind goes to the cutting machines, where revolving knives slice it into thin rings and drop it into vats of cold water, which, as filled, are boiled _ by means of the steam coils in the bottom of each vat. Peel and juice next go together into huge copper pans, half full of thick sirup of white sugar and corn-sirup, and are boiled until the desired consistence has heen reached. This proce requires both care and experience, for if the fruit is overboiled, the sirup may crystallize, and if under-cooked, the product will mold. The first reeord of the use of marmalade is found during the reign of Henry VII, the original ‘‘marmalade’’ having been made from the quinee, the Portuguese name for which is marmelo.