MARKETING THE CROP 169 



he deserved all the blame that could possibly be laid 

 upon him. At any rate he has sometimes done his 

 best to earn all the condemnation that could be offered 

 him. Large growers, however, are apt to fare 

 better at the hands of the commission man than 

 small ones. At the present time the tendency is to 

 regard the commission man as a necessary evil, and 

 the fruit grower deals with him if he cannot do 

 better,* 



A better way of selling whenever it can be adopted 

 is that of turning the peaches over to buyers who 

 pay cash at the railroad station. Such buyers ap- 

 pear in considerable numbers at harvest time in the 

 large fruit districts. Unless they prove to be a 

 crowd of sharpers, or there is some other defect in 

 the marketing organization, they offer the best op- 

 portunity for disposing of the crop. Of course, the 

 grower need not jump at the conclusion that it is 

 always better to sell for cash in hand at railway 

 stations. These men who buy in this way have to 

 take some chances, and necessarily they must leave 

 a margin between the price which they pay on the 

 ground and that which the fruit may be expected to 

 bring in the city markets. Very often the shrewd 

 fruit grower can make good money for himself by 

 passing over the cash bidder at the railway station 

 and consigning his fruit to some commission man in 

 the city. He must be his own judge on this point, 

 and must remember that some risks have to be run. 

 He cannot win in every instance. There is some 

 gambling in the peach business, and the man who 

 gambles must be prepared to lose occasionally. 



* For a full discussion of commission dealing and of selling 

 methods in general, see Waugh's "Fruit Harvesting, Storing, 

 Marketing." 



