250 MODERN FRUIT MARKETING 



of the agricultural papers collect data from the local 

 markets but usually prefer to buy the information from 

 those who make a business of collecting it. 



Board Commodities. The produce listed by the vari- 

 ous boards of trade is known as board commodities. These 

 constitute the less perishable products such as : Grain, 

 foodstuffs, potatoes, butter, cheese, etc., but in no cases 

 fresh fruit. The commodities have the prices fixed every 

 morning by the board of trade in the various cities. 

 The representative of the Associated Press in each of the 

 cities get these prices each morning after they have been 

 fixed and they are then distributed over the country to 

 the daily papers. In this manner most of the large 

 dailies get rather accurate information on all board com- 

 modities but nothing covering fruit products. 



Fruit Commodities. Market reports for the fruit 

 products have to be collected from day to day as best 

 they can. This information can only be had from those 

 who handle the goods. And not all produce houses are 

 willing to furnish this free. There are in all of the 

 larger cities, trade or produce journals which have their 

 experts to cover the markets and get the sale prices of 

 the fruit. This is done in several ways. The agent can 

 visit the auctions and make notes of the sales. They can 

 arrange with the larger commission houses for daily 

 reports. They may also cooperate with the fruit ex- 

 changes or distributors to get the desired information. 

 For the shipments into the cities the freight depart- 

 ments of the railroads are available, as they have to keep 

 such information on file ; for foreign shipments, steam- 

 ship companies furnish the information. All this calls 

 for an expert knowledge of the city and surrounding 



