CHAPTER X 

 MARKETING 



Most men find it more diflScult to sell strawberries to 

 advantage than to grow them. The business instinct is 

 not necessarily associated with the cultural instinct; in 

 fact, the two faculties seldom are present to an equal 

 degree in the same person. There have been marked 

 changes in selling methods since the beginning of com- 

 mercial strawberry-culture. Until about 1840, each 

 grower was obliged to peddle his fruit from house to house. 

 Now a large proportion of growers delegate the sale of 

 their fruit to business men employed for this purpose. 

 Before 1840, the radius of strawberry-culture from the 

 market was limited by the distance that could be covered 

 in a few hours with the market wagon. The remarkable 

 expansion of railroads between 1850 and 1870 made it 

 possible to grow strawberries at greater distance from 

 market. At that time, strawberries were shipped almost 

 wholly in express and ventilator cars, and 600 miles was 

 considered the limit of safety. By this time the com- 

 mission man had become a necessity. The first successful 

 use of refrigerator cars, in 1887, provided a means of 

 transportation that has made it possible for the grower 

 and consumer to live still farther apart, and has made 

 necessary other intermediaries between the two. 



There are two main types of markets ; the general or 



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