468 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



appear unreasonable necessary. Large corporations or organizations 

 and close co-operation among both growers and jobbers in order to 

 regulate the supply and distribution so that all fresh fruit and produce 

 may reach the consumer while in prime, palatable, and attractive 

 condition, would tend to establish this market stability, broaden dis- 

 tribution, increase the interest of dealers, greatly increase consump- 

 tion, and reduce the present margin of profit or cost between producer 

 and consumer more than any other system. 



The price is perhaps the last, but not the least, item to consider 

 in influencing demand. The desires for our fruits must first exist in 

 the mind of the consumer, and then the price must be within his 

 means to insure his purchase, and it must be in proper relation to 

 values of competitive foods. The haphazard, random statements 

 frequently appearing in the newspapers and magazines, that, at best, 

 deal only hi generalities and seldom touch the facts as applied to 

 fruits, is one of the factors in destroying demand, because the con- 

 sumer assumes through repeated reading that a commodity is high 

 when in reality it is low. There is, however, always a high point in 

 values, where, if it is reached, the consuming masses will turn to sub- 

 stitutes and a later reduction in price will seldom bring back the con- 

 sumers' favor during that season. Marketing men generally under- 

 stand the serious danger of a high price diverting consumption away 

 from their product. 



Example: During the cranberry season of 1912, 1 addressed the 

 following query to two hundred retail dealers throughout the United 

 States: 



" Supposing the retail price of cranberries is 8 J cents per quart, or 

 3 quarts for 25 cents, please state what reduction in your sales would 

 result from advancing the price to 10 cents per quart, 12^ cents per 

 quart, 15 cents, and 25 cents?" 



I received ninety-two replies, and from twenty different markets 

 located in sixteen different states. The average of these replies 

 showed that the estimated percentage of decrease of sales as price 

 advanced was as follows: 



Advance from 8$ cents to 10 cents per quart reduced sales 12 per 

 cent. 



Advance from 10 cents to 12 J cents per quart reduced sales 23 

 per cent. 



Advance from i2\ cents to 15 cents per quart reduced sales 37 

 per cent. 



