Footnotes to Long Island History
Farm Fish Crops Big in 03
December 13, 1951
by
Thomas R. Bayles
Tremendous
quantities of farm produce and fish were shipped from Long Island over the Long
Island Rail Road around the turn of the century, as is shown by the following
article from the Port Jefferson Times for February 27, 1904. The rail road gets
very little of this business in these days.
"During
the past year there were shipped by the Long Island Rail Road from points on
the two eastern forks of the island, 250,000 tons of fresh fish included cod,
bluefish, weakfish, sturgeon, bass and flounders. There were carried over the
same railroad lines 30,000 barrels of crabs from Center and East Moriches,
Brookhaven and Eastport and thousands of boxes of scallops some of which have
lately been bringing $4.00 per gallon. There are 40 or 50 steamers of the
American Fisheries company which catch menhaden by the millions and try them
out at Promised Land, Easthampton and Barren island on Jamaica bay.
"Important
as the fishing industry is, the agriculture interests on Long Island are far
greater. During the Cauliflower season last fall there were shipped over the
long Island rail road over 285,000 barrels of cauliflower from eastern towns.
There were also shipped from the north fork of the island 300 carloads of 600
bushels each of potatoes. From the same section thousands of barrels and other
packages of onions, cucumbers, asparagus cabbage and other produce were shipped
to the New York markets.
"The
steamers of the Montauk line last fall took from Orient Point 34,000 barrels of
potatoes, 6,000 barrels of cucumbers and large quantities of other produce.
Large shipments of potatoes and other vegetables were also made by the boat line
from Greenport and Shelter Island.
"George
W.
Hallock of Orient also ships across the sound in his steamer to the
Boston market over 300,000 barrels of produce, about a quarter of which
is
produced of his own farms at Orient.
"The
cranberry crop from Riverhead, Calverton and Manorville amounts to thousands of
boxes annually and is raised on what would be otherwise almost worthless bog
meadows. This is an important crop from eastern Long Island.
"It is
estimated that nearly a million bushels of potatoes are shipped by the railroad
every year from the fertile farms of Easthampton and Southampton. Last fall
thousands of bushels of lima beans were shipped from Deer Park to Riverhead on
the mainline. From the pickle houses at Farmingdale, Central Park, Hicksville,
Syosset, Cold Spring Harbor, Huntington and Northport are shipped every year
thousands of barrels of pickles of various kinds. A large quantity of tomato
catsup is made in a factory in Hunting ton.
"From
the highly cultivated farms and market gardens of Queens, Nassau and western
Suffolk counties are carried immense quantities of vegetables of all kinds to
the Brooklyn and Manhattan markets by market wagons. From August until the
Christmas holidays an average of 250 market wagons a day roll into Wallabout
market loaded with an average of 50 barrels each of vegetables of all kinds. On
some days as many as 500 wagons may be seen in the market. About 30 to 40
wagons daily go over the College Point ferry to the Harlem market and about 50
wagons daily to the same markets over the Astoria ferry.
"Long
Island cordwood is a prominent article in the city kindling wood yards and it
chestnut ties are sought after by the railroads and its oak and black walnut by
furniture manufacturers."