414 F each-Growing 



In this connection the shipper as well as the grower should 

 consult the ripening dates given for different varieties on 

 pages 354 to 373. With the exception of the fruit grow^n in 

 Florida, California, West Virginia, and to a limited extent in 

 one or two other states, the great bulk of the fruit shipped 

 consists of the Elberta variety, though the diagram covers 

 both the earlier and later sorts which are marketed in rel- 

 atively small quantities from some of the peach-producing 

 sections in most states. Therefore, the ripening dates given 

 for the Elberta peach indicate fairly accurately the period of 

 maximum shipment from many different sections throughout 

 the country, and are indicative of the trend of greatest market 

 supply. This, however, varies somewhat from season to 

 season, as does the crop in the different competing districts. 



In general, a shipper should aim to supply the markets 

 nearest to his place of production, thus reducing time in 

 transit, and transportation charges, as w^ell as the demands on 

 the railroads. A striking disregard of this practice, resulting 

 in little or no advantage to any one except perhaps the rail- 

 road in the freight receipts, Tvas observed a few years ago 

 when a car of Elberta peaches which had been shipped some 

 distance was being unloaded on a local siding, while in the 

 same freight yard on another siding a car was being loaded 

 with local-grown fruit of the same variety to be shipped to a 

 distant state. Reasonable economy in both transportation 

 and handling would seem to have dictated that the fruit grown 

 in the locality should have been used to supply local demands. 



While the bulk of the commercial crop is sold either "on 

 the track" at the shipping station or is shipped on con- 

 signment to a commission merchant who handles it as the 

 shipper's agent, the fruit received in eastern markets from 

 California is usually sold at auction. 



