182 Wisconsin State Horticultural Society. 



a taste; the children cry for them; every little mouth eagerly 

 sucks the grateful juice and gains health thereby, and prices 

 again go to three boxes for a quarter. 



Then conies in Wisconsin with her tribute to the general 

 wealth of fruit, and Wisconsin strawberries are very apt to 

 see the price go again to ten and even fifteen cents a box. 



Why, again? 



There is a beauty of color, a refreshing aroma, a grateful 

 acid, or some other cause that makes them sought. Perhaps 

 it is like the case of the athlete, who gets his second wind. 

 The people get their second taste of this noblest of small 

 fruits. 



The same may be said to be the true state of the small 

 fruit trade in Chicago. One fruit follows another, raspber- 

 ries, currants, gooseberries, cherries, huckleberries, black- 

 ries — until late autumn finds the blackberry of the north 

 going out, and the cranberry of Wisconsin in its full crim- 

 son beauty, and anti-malarial acidity, coming in by barrels 

 full and in car loads. 



WHAT MAKES FRUIT SELL. 



First, quality; second, evenness; third, the name of the 

 grower and packer of the fruit. There is still another im- 

 portant means of profit. Fruit must not only be of good 

 quality but the package must be attractive, and in such 

 packages as are generally recognized by the trade. Straw- 

 berries, firm raspberries and blackberries should always be 

 in full quart boxes. The softer raspberries only in pint 

 boxes. The man who tries to sneak in a steal upon the 

 buyer, by using small boxes always cheats himself in the 

 end. No men are better judges of quality, variety or quan- 

 tity than dealers who buy to sell again. They may, it is 

 true, be occasionally cheated in barrel fruits, at least until 

 opened. The commission merchant, however, is always 

 obliged to give rebate, else he could not hold his trade. He 

 gets even on the next consignment from the same party. 

 This class, however, never believe in the honesty of the 

 commission man, and after cheating him once they try some 

 other one, until at last they run through to the end of their 



