142 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



When a basket is used, use one that will turn inside a barrel and 

 have it lined as mentioned above. Remember that apples should 

 be handled as little as possible, and as careful as if they were 

 eggs. They should therefore be packed as soon after picking as 

 possible. It is claimed by some that apples should be put into 

 bins or piles to sweat and shrink before packing, but the injury 

 caused by the extra handling more than outweighs that caused 

 by the sweating, and if they are pressed into the barrels as they 

 should be, they will not shrink enough to allow any of them to 

 "get away." 



Put up every package as if you meant it for your own use. 

 The proper method of filling and heading is well known and 

 needs no description here. Mark your name neatly on each 

 barrel. 



SELLING. 



Sell your apples when they are ready for market. I hold that 

 it is the business of the farmer and orchardist to produce crops, 

 and the greater singleness of purpose with which he devotes 

 himself to that business, the better it will be for him. Watch- 

 ing markets and distributing products to supply those markets is 

 a business in itself. There is always sufficient competition 

 among dealers to enable the producer to get what his crop is 

 worth if he lets it be known that he has something to sell. 



If possible, sell your fruit at home. Consigning fruit to com- 

 mission merchants is apt to be unsatisfactory to all concerned. 

 Many commission merchants are entirely responsible and trust- 

 worthy, and many are not. The large commercial houses have 

 their keen and vigilant "credit men" who are constantly on the 

 alert to detect any decline in the standing of their customers, but 

 the man in his orchard has very limited means of informing him- 

 self on these matters. If you have no more than a hundred barrels 

 you will have no difficulty in inducing buyers to visit and inspect 

 your crop, especially if you have been marketing previous crops 

 in the proper manner. 



We have found it a good plan when several buyers are after 

 the crop, to set a day convenient for all, on which we agree to 

 sell the crop without reserve. Then when the manner of pack- 

 ing, the terms of payment, etc., are fully understood by all, 

 we invite sealed bids for the crop, the highest bidder taking 

 it. 



If you have to send your apples to market by rail, insist on 

 having a clean car. Lay the barrels on the side lengthwise of the 

 car, covering the entire floor with the first layer, break joints 

 with the second layer, and so on until the car is full. When 

 that car is unloaded, if you were not already supplied, you would 

 be willing to buy some of those apples yourself. 



