Baskets. — ^Many years ago baskets of all sorts, sizes,
and kinds, among which were the bvshd (full measure), the
lound handle, the flat and the square baskets, were sold in



DAIBT AND HOUSEHOLD TBOBVCFFB. 413

our markets, usually in the spring of the year, by out thrifty
&rmers, being the productions of their winter's labor ; and
if they were •not so handsomely turned, they were strongly
made^. *' not for a day," but until you were satisfied that your
money was not laid out in trash. These remarks will lead
xne to notice the

Bushel baskets. — ^Large quantities of apples, pears,
peaches, potatoes, etc., are sold by the basket, and often
represented as a hnsJid basket. This bushel basket is a mere
figure of speech, which signifies that if filled with peaches,
pears, or plums, they will actually measure about %a^ a
bushel — ^if apples or potatoes, about three pecks, or five bas-
kets out of three. If the fair-dealing producer should ask
a reasonable price for an honest bushel basket of apples, say
one doUar, and another dealer close by, with a bushel basket
of three pecks, asks eighty-seyen and a half cents, the latter
will sell his produce much sooner than the other, because
the price for his bmhd basket of three pecks is lower, when, in
reality, the honest bushd basket is the cheapest.
