92 DISHONEST DEALINGS. 



market. I have frequently taken from the same 

 package, from three to six different varieties of 

 pears. 



Fruit dealers or commission men are often ac- 

 cused of dishonest dealings, when the prices antici- 

 pated by the consignor have not been realized ; but 

 on examining a number of such cases, to which my 

 attention had been called, I found that the fruit was 

 carelessly packed and not sorted. 



To give some idea of how little demand there is 

 in market for badly packed fruit, I will relate an in- 

 cident, that came under my observation, a few years 

 ago. While talking with a fruit dealer, he called 

 my attention to a barrel of Duchesse d'Angouleme 

 pears, which T noticed contained some fine specimens, 

 but the majority were very poor. He said : " I have 

 offered that barrel for $5, and even at that low price 

 no one feels inclined to buy it." I suggested to him 

 to empty the barrel and sort the fruit, which he did, 

 and, while I was standing there, he sold a single 

 basket taken from the barrel for five dollars. This 

 may illustrate to people not familiar with the sale of 

 fine fruit, the utter folly of sending to market pears 

 not carefully sorted and packed. 



On one occasion, during our early experience in 

 marketing pears, we sent to a commission house, 

 two barrels of very choice Duchesse d'Angouleme, 



