THE BEST MARKET 



279 



(Fig. 143). There is not the slightest question that the special, 

 retail market is the one which pays if it is well worked up. 



Some one has said that the great difficulty with farmers is 

 that they sell at wholesale and buy at retail ; and this difficulty 

 is nowhere better shown than in the fruit business. The less 

 fruit you can sell a customer, at one time, the more he is willing 

 to pay for it. Did you ever stop to think of that? Take it in 

 apples. A man is usually quite willing to pay five cents for a 

 single apple and sometimes ten cents for a really fine one , and 

 he thinks he is getting a bargain at two for five. But attempt to 

 sell him a barrel at these rates, and he thinks that you are com- 

 mitting highway robbery. A barrel will hold about three hundred 

 and fifty to four hundred apples of average size. Taking the 

 latter number, if these are sold at ten cents it means $40; at 

 five cents, $20 ; and at two for five $10 for the barrel. No one 

 would suggest that we sell apples at $40 per barrel, but we should 

 come just as near to retailing them direct to the consumer as 

 we can. 



The following table brings out the point just discussed and 

 is worthy of study by every fruit grower: 



TABLE VII. Value of a Barrel of Apples when Sold in Retail Lots, Estimating 

 350 Apples per Barrel 



