GATHERING AND MARKETING FRUITS. 289 



in the middle and eastern states, likewise the southern berry and 

 truck grower, and not the least, by any means, the citrus and decid- 

 uous fruit ranchers of the Pacific slope — and where the most won- 

 derful strides of progress have been made the past decade — and we 

 realize how possible it is for Minnesota to attain to the same envi- 

 able position in the fruit world which she claims with reference to 

 bread and butter products. 



Realising this, large growers and associations should keep in 

 close touch with the commission merchant or jobber, who is 

 thoroughly acquainted with supply and demand, and work in har- 

 mony throughout the year. Selling the goods to best advantage 

 depends very largely upon the art of picking and packing and 

 shipping at the right time. 



Mr. Geo. J. Kellogg (Wis.) : — I wish to ask a question in 

 regard to berries. You give me a lo ct. quotation on strawberries 

 this morning, and we immediately pick and ship them in twenty- 

 four hours, but when they reach you they are down to eight cents. 

 How do you account for that? 



Mr. Bryant : — ^There are a great many conditions which cause 

 a strong advance or decline in the market, which the grower who 

 is at or near the market understands, but the grower who is at a 

 distance does not fully realize those conditions. Supply and de- 

 mand, of course, are the chief reasons of the strong changes in the 

 market. Very often a large arrival of poor fruit causes a strong 

 decline ; in fact it is pushed on the market to sell for what it will 

 bring. There is one thing true in reference to strong declines 

 or advances, a decline seldom comes from an over-supply of fancy 

 fruit. A decline generally comes from an over-supply of poor 

 fruit, which must be sold immediately upon arrival on the market. 



Mr. Sahler: — I would like to have a little bit of light on the 

 kind of package preferred by the commission men as between the 

 bushel basket and barrel for apples. Fruit growers near the large 

 cities that have large platform wagons and move their fruit to 

 the market in baskets, get it there in good condition, but we who 

 live at a distance have to ship our fruit by express or freight, and 

 when it comes to the market it is somewhat damaged and bruised. 

 What is the best package in which to ship our fruit 

 so that it will arrive on the market in good shape ? 



Mr. Bryant : — For apples I would recommend the standard 

 three bushel barrel. It has been stated by Mr. Wright and by 

 Mr. Smith that the three bushel barrel helps the commission man 

 to make a sale of three bushels at a time, while the smaller package 

 limits him to a bushel or a bushel and a half. That is the strongest 

 recommendation. And then another is that the fruit will carry better 

 than if shipped in crates or baskets. The barrel is the universal 

 package for apples except on the coast, and it will no doubt be 

 adopted there. 



Mr. Sahler : — I would like to ask the commission men whether 



