FRUIT MARKETS 163 



become so popular in the home diet that they are no 

 longer accepted as a luxury but are demanded by the 

 regular household, hence a demand is always present for 

 this class of fruit. Many efforts have been made to in- 

 crease the popularity of certain fruits for food, and this 

 has always resulted in an increased demand. The ac- 

 quaintanceship or knowledge of the fruit by the buyer 

 has a surprising influence upon the demand of any fruit. 



Most of the buyers in the cities do not know that 

 there are more than five or six kinds of apples. Per- 

 sonally they may not be acquainted with more than 

 two or three. Even most of the fruit growers who are 

 familiar with apples and who see upon their markets 

 large numbers of bananas recognize, perhaps, two types, 

 while the growers of those bananas in their native habitat 

 can easily recognize 40. So the knowledge of the variety 

 from the buyer's standpoint effects the demand. No 

 person is willing to go into a store and ask for fruit 

 without knowing just what he wants, hence without 

 bothering to name the variety he buys largely from ap- 

 pearance or looks. Fruits that have a good appearance, 

 nicely packed, are attractive and are the ones demanded 

 by the buyer in the large market. 



When ordering fruit from the retailer over the tele- 

 phone it is a common occurrence to have the groceryman 

 or retailer ask the customer what varieties they want. 

 The buyer unable to name more than one or two kinds 

 selects the one that is best known and well established 

 throughout the whole country. The demand for cer- 

 tain well-known varieties is always much greater than 

 for the less-known kinds, even though they may not be 

 as good as some of the others for the purpose for which 

 they are to be used. 



