204 MARKETING PROBLEMS 



near their suburbs, and, further, not only undergone 

 more handling thereby (thus losing in freshness), but 

 accumulated a collection of charges in the form of 

 market tolls, salesmen's commission, and cost of extra 

 transport, which the eventual purchaser must make good. 

 The relations of the producers to the salesmen repre- 

 sent a phase of the general question which an inquirer 

 into agricultural conditions will find constantly being 

 raised, wherever he may go. It is almost as much a 

 stock subject with British fruit and vegetable growers 

 as the weather itself. Opinions certainly vary. I 

 have heard much that is complimentary said concern- 

 ing salesmen, but I have heard much more that 

 indicated dissatisfaction. It may be that undeserved 

 reflections are too often made on the general body be- 

 cause of the faults and shortcomings of the black sheep 

 who are, or have been, among them ; it may be, also, 

 that the salesmen get the blame for low prices due to 

 market conditions entirely beyond their own control. 

 But one cannot resist the force of the bitter experiences 

 of growers who have had the misfortune of dealing 

 with unscrupulous men, and been ' heavily hit ' in con- 

 sequence ; nor can it be denied that, under existing 

 conditions, it is very much a matter of chance whether 

 a grower gets into touch with an honest or a dishonest 

 salesman. ' I consign all my stuff,' a Lincolnshire 

 grower once said to me, ' to a salesman who is 

 thoroughly trustworthy. But I lost thousands of 

 pounds before I found him.' Another grower told me 

 that, having reason to suspect he was not getting a 

 proper return from the salesman to whom he had been 

 consigning, he accompanied his next lot, on the follow- 

 ing day, disposed of it himself, and, under precisely the 

 same market conditions, got over 30 per cent, above 

 the amount previously remitted to him. 



