Marketing 183 



wholesale, and the personal or retail. In the former, the 

 grower does not deal directly with the consumer. He 

 sells or consigns to a wholesale dealer, who parcels out 

 the fruit to various retail dealers or grocers ; these sell it 

 to the consumer. Sometimes there are three or four 

 salesmen between the grower and the consumer. This is 

 the only type of marketing that is practicable in large 

 commercial operations, especially when the fruit is grown 

 at a considerable distance from the market. A grower 

 has a personal market when he sells to the consumer or to 

 a retailer. It is used only when the amount of fruit is 

 comparatively small, and chiefly by growers who live 

 close to towns and small cities. It is essential that the 

 grower shall decide, before he enters the business, to 

 which type of market he will cater. His choice of loca- 

 tion, varieties and methods of culture will be determined 

 largely by the market sought. 



THE PERSONAL OR RETAIL MARKET 



For the small grower, a personal market in a near town 

 is preferable to a wholesale market in a distant city, be- 

 cause he runs less risk. It is a mistake for the small 

 grower to consign express shipments to middlemen in 

 distant cities; transportation charges and commissions 

 eat up the profits. There are thousands of towns with a 

 population of 500 to 5000 where the strawberry-eating 

 habit is comparatively undeveloped. The average town 

 of 500 to 1000 people will use fifteen to twenty-five twenty- 

 four quart cases a day during the berry season. The man 

 who grows berries for a town of 5000 will find that two 

 acres, intensively cultivated, are enough for a begin- 

 ning. This should provide 10,000 to 20,000 boxes and 



