Detroit market then seemed
rather small not having its outlets for shipping, and everything we had
to sell was cheap. We also bought cheap; we got good tea for fifty cents
a pound, sugar was from six to ten cents per pound, and clothing much
cheaper than it was when we came to Michigan.
We could buy brown sheeting for from six to eight cents per yard. Very
different from what it was, when everything we bought was so dear, and
when we had so little to buy with. One day father and I went to Detroit
with a large load of oats. We drove on to the market and offered them for
sale; eighteen cents a bushel was the highest offer we could get for them
and father sold them for that price. We fattened some pork, took it to
Detroit and sold it for twenty shillings per hundred. In days back,
father had often paid one shilling a pound for pork and brought it home
on his arm, in a basket over two miles. Now we were able to sell more
than we had to buy. The balance of trade was in our favor and, of course,
we were making some money; laying up some for a rainy day, or against the
time of need.
I told father, as we had a good team, it would be handy if I got me a
buggy.
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