62 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



and of good keei)iiig quality ii' a stable merrhaudiziiig business is to be 

 developed by either. \'ai-iable grade, i>ac-ks, and keei»ing (piality increase 

 the hazard of fruit luerchandizing and the jobber and retailer must 

 necessarily add a margin large enongh to cover these risks, rniforinity 

 in grades and supplies stableize trade and the margins naturally ad- 

 just themselves on a lower level. This is a fundamental recpiirement 

 in fruit merchandizing often overlooked by the producer, difficult to 

 handle on account of the large nundier of growers involved, but one in 

 which i)rogress is l)eing constantly nmde. The producer must ntilize 

 every known agency under his control to produce a higher grade of 

 fruit, at a lower cost of production. To this end, he is also nmking 

 l)rogres:^, Avith the aid of the State and Federal Governments, 

 though there is no immediate prospect that the costs of production will 

 be reduced. Rather are they growing higher on account of the higher 

 costs of material and labor. 



THE POSITION OF THE JOBBER. 



The position of the jobber in the distributing system is widely mis- 

 understood. To the so-called middleman the high cost of distribution is 

 popnlarly ascribed and there is a wide spread agitation that he be 

 eliminated. This investigation shows that 8.2 per cent of the consumer's 

 dollar, or a mark-np of 14.2 per cent, represents his margin and that he 

 is not the leading factor in the cost of distribution. The jobber per- 

 forms a distinct function that must be performed by some one in as- 

 sendding the frnit in the towns and cities, in developing trade with 

 the countless retail dealers in the rural districts and cities, 

 and in blanketing the credit and other distributing risks for the pro- 

 ducer. His function is somewhat similar to the banker, who furnishes 

 the money through which trade can be conducted, except that his busi- 

 ness is not so highly organized, it is not under state and federal di- 

 rection and control, the abuses are not so easily corrected, and they are 

 therefore featured in the popular mind out of proportion to their true 

 relation to the business of the middleman as a whole, 



THE RETAIL COST OF DISTRIBUTION. 



This investigation brings out clearly that the mos,t important factor 

 in the cost of distribution, next to the cost of transportation, is the re- 

 tail distribution, which represents one-third of the consumer's dollar. 

 The amount of the consumer's dollar represented by the gross! retail 

 cost is four times the amount represented by the jobber's cost. It is 

 more than the proi)ortion absorbed by the cost of transportation and 

 the jobber's cost combined. It isi nearly equal to the amount returned 

 for the fruit on the trees which includes the cost of production and the 

 grower's profit, and the cost of picking, hauling and packing. 



There are several classes of retailers engaged in the fruit business; 

 the fancy fruit store, the high class grocery store, the the average groc- 

 ery store, the chain store, the fruit stand and tlie fruit vender. The 

 present retail system is largely the result of the demands of the con- 

 sumers which each class serves. A retailer's overhead charge includes, 



