514 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



were divided and had to trade with various importers in various 

 quarters. There was no uniformity or stability of price. Similar 

 grades would bring widely divergent prices. Some brands would 

 sell well; the same quality bearing a different brand would be sacri- 

 ficed. Commodities could not be quickly distributed. Distribution 

 was not expanding with increasing offerings. Before a cargo was 

 cleaned up at private sale, another cargo would arrive. Neither 

 shipper nor buyer knew what he was doing. It was not merchandis- 

 ing; it was speculation. Such obstacles restrain trade instead of 

 expanding it. For the purpose of overcoming this division of the 

 trade, of concentrating sellers and buyers in one place, of giving 

 stability and uniformity to prices, and of securing speedy and wide 

 distribution the auction method was adopted. 



Today there are sixteen American cities in which are held regu- 

 larly public auctions of fruits and in some instances vegetables. 

 Eighty-five per cent of Florida oranges and grape fruit; 75 per cent 

 of pineapples, oranges, and grape fruit from Porto Rico, Cuba, and 

 Isle of Pines; 98 per cent of California oranges, lemons, cherries, 

 peaches, apricots, pears, plums, and prunes; 100 per cent of Sicilian 

 lemons; 100 per cent of Almeria grapes from Spain; 100 per cent of 

 cherries, pears, and prunes from the Pacific Northwest which are sold 

 in the large auction cities of the eastern part of the United States, 

 are now sold at auction. In addition, the bananas that are consumed 

 in New York and Baltimore are sold in that way. In 1914 one hun- 

 dred and fifty thousand dollars worth of chestnuts from France, 

 Spain, and Italy added to the vast volume of business going through 

 the auction companies of New York. 



The services which the auction renders are ten hi number. It 

 advertises the sale and prints a catalogue of the offerings. It divides 

 the contents of the car or cargo into lots according to the catalogue. 

 This "lining-up" enables the buyer to examine the goods quickly and 

 make a notation as to its quality and condition on his catalogue as 

 an aid to his bidding at the sale. A certain number of packages of 

 each "line " are opened for the inspection of buyers. These are called 

 "parts of marks" not "samples." The buyer is free to open other 

 packages if he so desires. The commodity is sold at public auction 

 to the highest bidder by auctioneers who are specialists in the line of 

 goods that they sell. At each sale the auction clerk makes a record 

 of the number of the lines sold, the price at which the goods are sold, 

 the name of the buyer, and the quantity purchased by each buyer. 



