PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL MEETING 143 



Mr. Morrill: When purobasers ouce buy peaches from Mr. Hale's coni- 

 pauy and see they are No. 1, Ihey ha\-e an idea of ^vhat that company 

 considi rs No. 1. If they can receive them again and again, they know 

 there will be no deception, and then they adopt it. They understand 

 that standard. They go on the market and deal on that basis, and can 

 do it with perfect safety, so that a dilTerence between a standard of size 

 that this company may adopt and that which somr- other company 

 may adopt would not afifect either company. They stand on their own 

 merits. If their standard is higher than that of some other company, 

 their sales and prices will be better. That is true with individuals, and 

 the only advantage a company has is that they have enough fruit of 

 any stated variety to meet the requirements of the buyer, while very few 

 individuals have enough. The buyers today are looking for carloads 

 where ten years ago they were looking for cart-loads. That is the advan- 

 tage in this. Is not that so, Mr. Hale? 



Mr. Hale : That is the fact. 



]\Ir. Morrill: That is about the way business is managed in the cities 

 in the purchase of fruit. 



Mr. Hale: I wish to make one statement in regard to the cost of 

 our output this year, what it cost us. We bought our baskets quite 

 early in the season. If we had waited we might have saved something. 

 We had them stored in our packing-house, placed there at our dis- 

 posal. We bought them before the price of baskets went dowm so low 

 as it was afterward. We might have saved two or three dollars per 

 thonsnnd. (Consequently, in some of those lines, we might have done 

 better if we had not been quite so eager to purchase early. 



Mr. Morrill: Like everybody else, you will learn by experience. 



Mr. Hale: Well, we were not dissatisfied at all. 



