96 PEACH OULTUKE. 



the consignees ; the rest is sold to ot'ner parties at whole- 

 sale, and reshipped to Boston, Providence, Albany, Mont- 

 real, and elsewhere.* 



Most of the consignees are upright, honest men, who 

 do a fair and legitimate business, on business principles ; 

 but a few of them are swindlers and sharpers, whose sole 

 object is to make money for the time, and who have no 

 reputation to lose, and who do not aim to gain one. 

 These are unscrupulous in their statements, importunate 

 in their solicitations for consignments, and wholly unre- 

 liable in making returns. They often advertise in relig- 

 ious papers, obtain some credulous, or good natured man, 

 to certify to their characters and qualifications, obtain 

 consignments upon the faith of them, and cheat their 

 dupes out of all they send them. This may be regarded 

 as the most disreputable class. There is another, how- 

 ever, as dishonest, but more politic. The members of 

 this class wish to maintain good reputations, and, at the 

 same time, fill their pockets with what justly belongs to 

 others. They do it in one or other of these ways : The 

 fruit consigned to them is nearly always of different 

 grades; from very good to poor. If they have stands of 

 their own, where they sell by retail, they will select a 

 portion, it may be a fifth, a fourth, or a third, of the 

 choisest for themselves, and sell the remainder at an 

 average price of seventy-five cents per basket, which may 

 be a fair enough price for such fruit. But the fruit the 

 dealer has taken to his own stand would readily bring a 

 dollar and a half per basket. However, he returns the 

 whole consignment at seventy-five cents, and pockets the 

 difference. To illustrate. Let us suppose Peter Pence 

 consigns to John Sly two hundred and fifty baskets of 

 graded peaches. Fifty are very fine ; one hundred are 

 good ; seventy-five are fair ; and twenty-five are poor. 



* For several years past shipments have been made direct to most 

 Northern cities and to all named in the list, and consequently much 

 fewer reshipments from New York. 



