216 MODERN FRUIT MARKETING 



of 20 minutes each. They are paid on a commission basis 

 for the amount of fruit they sell. 



No one in England except licensed buyers are per- 

 mitted in the auction room. They have to pay certain 

 fees to belong to the company and to have the privilege 

 of buying. Each one's record, his bank references and 

 reliability must be certified to before he can become a 

 member. This apparently is necessary in order that the 

 auction company may guarantee their sales. They are 

 supposed to remit within 24 hours after the sale and 

 then collect from the buyers cash in 5 to 10 days. If 

 buyers were allowed indiscriminately to bid in the fruit 

 there would of necessity be considerable chance for 

 buyers to default, and then the auction company would 

 be the loser. Hence only regular licensed members can 

 buy fruit at the auction of the foreign markets. 



Special Retail. This is a system of disposing of fruit 

 that has only recently become of any material impor- 

 tance. The tendency is to eliminate the middleman 

 wherever possible and deal direct with the consumer. 

 To do this several methods have been made use of. 

 The most common is the parcel post. Many of the more 

 perishable fruits can now be packed in special cartons 

 and sent through the mail direct to the consumer. Some 

 of the less perishable kinds of fruit and their by^ 

 products, such as prunes, dried fruit, nuts, etc., enjoy 

 an especially low postal rate, hence there are possibili- 

 ties in disposing of large quantities of fruit in this 

 manner. 



Many of the various express companies have followed 

 the example set by the Government in the use of the 

 parcel post, by establishing low express rates intending 



