528 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



caused shippers to condemn unhesitatingly any practices which did 

 not appear to be perfectly plain. A shipper is seldom able to inspect 

 his own output with an unprejudiced, eye; his own product usually 

 appears better to him than does his neighbor's offering. Often, there- 

 fore, the shipper who considers his goods on a par with the best 

 market offerings is disappointed when returns are below the figures 

 listed on current wholesale quotations, and accuses the dealer of dis- 

 honesty. Often, too, perishables which leave the point of origin hi 

 first-class shape arrive at destination in a greatly deteriorated condi- 

 tion. The grower, who last saw his produce in first-class marketable 

 condition, does not understand or appreciate the conditions which 

 were responsible for his loss. 



Commission men offer almost the only good outlet for unstand- 

 ardized goods which cannot be sold direct to the wholesale trade. 

 Acting as primary receiver of less than car-lot shipments, they serve 

 as a medium through which to market all goods which cannot be 

 sold direct to car-lot wholesalers, and, when honest and efficient, they 

 offer to inexperienced shippers the valuable services of trained experts 

 in disposing of their produce. 



Next in importance to car-lot wholesalers on large markets is the 

 jobbing trade. Jobbers are middlemen at distributing centers who 

 usually buy in less-than-car-lot quantities from car-lot wholesalers or 

 commission men and in turn sell to the retail trade; in other words 

 they are intermediaries between primary receivers and retailers. The 

 term as here used must be distinguished from the term "jobber" as 

 used in connection with wholesale distribution for manufacturing con- 

 cerns, where the jobber distributes the total output of several fac- 

 tories direct to large wholesale houses. 



Jobbers hi fruits and vegetables get their supplies from com- 

 mission merchants, car-lot wholesalers, auctions, and public markets. 

 The chief outlet for the jobber is the retailer. The jobber, acting 

 as the intermediary between the car-lot wholesaler and the retailer, 

 buys in less than car lots, as a rule, makes quick sales, operates on a 

 relatively small margin, and secures his profits by rapidly turning 

 over his capital. 



The jobber's chief usefulness at the present time is in facilitating 

 the rapid distribution of extremely perishable products. A car of 

 strawberries, for instance, will usually be disposed of much more 

 rapidly when handled by several jobbers than would be the case if 

 a single car-lot wholesaler attempted to complete the distribution to 



