922 THE FRUIT INDUSTRY IN NEW YORK STATE 



an outlet through the consumer; they supply fruit to the retail 

 storekeeper, the wagon peddler, steamers, trains, and to dealers 

 in nearby cities. All of the buyers speculate occasionally, but 

 the great bulk of their buying is to supply a present need. 



EXPENSE 



There are few points connected with the marketing of fruit 

 that equal in importance the matter of expense. It is, therefore, 

 well to remember that the public sale system of selling fruit en- 

 ables the grower to get prompt returns from the auction companies 

 at a low selling expense, and to obtain for fruit, prices which are 

 produced only by active, competitive bidding. 



RELIEF OF A GLUTTED MARKET 



A public sale can relieve a glutted market as no other medium 

 can. Just as soon as the market sags, the representatives of the 

 peddlers and the pushcart men at the public sale buy heavily. 

 With all the pushcarts and peddlers' wagons featuring a com- 

 modity, many handling nothing else for the time being, vast quan- 

 tities of fruit can be disposed of in case of a glut. The result is 

 that consumption is greatly increased, the glut relieved, price* 

 rebound, and the market becomes normal. 



The public sale system has a particular advantage over private 

 selling, in that, once the glut is relieved, the stimulated rate of 

 consumption sends prices upward at once. It is quickly apparent 

 that a number of buyers want a certain kind of fruit. No buyer 

 can hide the fact. He must bid briskly and high if he is to get 

 the fruit that his customers want. 



THE AUCTION SYSTEM EQUALLY POTENT IN BRINGING BETTER 

 PRICES TO THE GROWER WHEN THE CROP IS SHORT 



Apples are a short crop this year. An illustration of how an 

 auction sale of New York State apples benefits the grower is the 

 auction sale of barreled apples held in the orchards of certain 

 growers at Red Hook, Gardiner, and Syracuse, on September 

 1, 2, and 8 of this year, by the company of which the writer is 

 president, under the auspices of the New York State Department 

 of Foods and Markets. Notwithstanding a new system was being 



