USE AND ABUSE OF HOME MARKET BY FRUIT GROWERS. 285 



THE USE AND ABUSE OF THE HOME MARKET BY 

 FRUIT GROWERS. 



R. A. WRIGHT, EXCELSIOR. 



That the home market is abused by the average fruit grower 

 is a recognized fact. They load the market with inferior fruit, 

 put up in all kinds of packages, with but little thought for the con- 

 sumer, but expecting them to pay the price for the best fruit 

 carefully packed. 



The majority of the growers seem to think if they get the 

 fruit into the hands of the merchant or commission man that is 

 all that is required of them ; the condition of the fruit does not 

 seem to enter into their calculations. Take the small fruit for 

 instance. How much of it is put on the market over-ripe, soft 

 and in half filled boxes, with the poorest always in the bottom! 

 This habit of packing fruit, filling the box with inferior quality, 

 having a thin layer of good fruit on the top, has become so general 

 that the purchaser no longer feels secure in buying fruit because 

 it looks good on top. To satisfy himself he must examine the 

 whole package by taking the top layer off , tipping out the fruit, 

 pawing .it over and tumbling it about. Of course this process in- 

 jures the fruit greatly, whether it be berries or apples, and this in 

 time reduces the price of the package, and the grower is the loser. 



A great many people wonder why the commission man sells 

 some cases for twenty-five or fifty cents less than he does others 

 from the same shipment, and the reason in most cases is that 

 some of the fruit in these cases has been handled and pawed over 

 so much that it has deterioriated in looks and quality ; consequently 

 the value has decreased. 



Then again so many people gather their fruit and send it to 

 market without knowing when or in what shape it reaches their 

 customers. I will cite a few instances that have come under my 

 observation during the past two seasons. One party said to me 

 "I am not one bit satisfied with my returns from the commission 

 man." By a little questioning I found they had shipped 400 cases 

 of berries without ever going to the market to observe the conditions 

 of market or fruit. They had shipped on a train that did not 

 deliver the fruit to the market till 9:30 A. M. Yet they laid the 

 whole blame to the commission man. 



Another party brings in a fine case of gooseberries and remarks, 

 "You ought to get a good price for that," and we do. The next 

 day a kick is registered by the purchaser — four quarts of moldy 



