The Fort Dodge Messenger: March 19, 1904

Fresh Vegetables on Local Market

New Products From Farm and Garden Tell of Advent of Spring.

Strawberries Now in Season

While There Are Many Vegetables and Fruits to be Purchased.

There are quite a number of fruits and vegetables of spring in the market this week to tempt the pocketbook for the Sunday dinner.

Strawberries are quite plentiful this week and are of a good quality, selling at 30 cents per quart ($7.18 in today’s money – per quart). The egg plant has also made its appearance a close follower of grape-fruit, cauliflower, tomatoes, aetc. (sic)

Some fresh ground horseradish, just out of the frozen ground is also on hand, a welcome and strong reminder that spring is here.

Eggs and butter are still about the same price, the former bringing 15 cents per dozen ($3.59) and the latter twenty cents per pound ($4.79).

Fruits are about the same as last week. Oranges, bananas and apples are on the market and some fine specimens of all three varieties are exhibited at the stores about town.

The new potato is daily expected from the south, along with new cabbages and other vegetables which are the usual arrivals of this time of year.

In meats, there are all kinds of fresh fish and plenty of fine fowls of all kinds on the market. Some particularly fine ducks appear at the various meat markets of the city this week.

The oyster is getting in his last work of the season, selling for forty cents per quart ($9.58).

After the plain fare of the winter season, the fresh crisp things of spring are going like hot cakes before the onslaught of the afternoon marketers, but the supply is good, and Fort Dodge will have an opportunity to die (sic – should be dine) high SSunday (sic).

(Editor’s note: I am not familiar with the price of oysters today, but the other prices kind of shock me. The equivalent of $7.18 per quart for strawberries, $3.59 for eggs and $4.79 for butter seems high. Especially the strawberries.)

Tags: 1904