The MarKeting' of Vegetables" 



7"'HE more we study the vegetable 

 business the more comphcated it 

 appears to become. The mer- 

 chant only requires good judgment in 

 buying his goods, attention to the 



FranK "Williams, Otta-wa SoutH, Ontario 



whv not grade the goods and get their 

 true value? We believe that in some 

 cases it would pay to throw away the 

 few small inferior ones and not disgrace 

 the bunch or box. I had almost said 



A Large Greenhouse on the Premises of Mr. Williams at Ottawa 



wants of his customers, a reasonable 

 profit, and fair dealing, to make his 

 business a success. The manufacturer 

 works up the raw materials by well 

 defined rules and patterns. The miner 

 seldom meets with new and unknown 

 difficulties. The whole list of our com- 

 merce runs pretty much the same way. 

 On the other hand, the successful 

 vegetable grower has the problem 

 of what to grow and how to grow it, 

 which involves details innumerable, 

 and when the goods are ready for market 

 has to rely solely on his good judgment 

 for what he may realize for his product. 

 The following are some of the reasons 

 for this: 



In the first place, as nature never 

 repeats herself, no two growers will 

 have just the same size and quality of 

 goods ; hence, a variety of prices for the 

 same lines on any given day of the 

 season. Secondly, the manner in which 

 these lines are offered for sale vary 

 according to the fancy or judgment of 

 the individual grower or salesman. 

 Thinking over this problem of the 

 marketing of our crops our conclusion 

 is that there is a good work lying at the 

 door of this association along these 

 lines. Grading of quality, imiformity 

 and attractiveness of package whether 

 bunch or box, cleanliness of goods and 

 package, together with a respectable 

 outfit and driver, are just as necessary 

 to success in our business as any other. 



GR.\DIXG OF QUALITY 



The poor man cannot always afford 

 to pay for fancy quality, and the rich 

 man will not pay for poor quality. Then, 



•One of the papers read at the convention of the 

 Ontario V'eget:iblc Growers' Association last month. 



"yourself," for does it not seem dis- 

 honest to try to sell such stuff at the 

 price of a good article ? It will be a sur- 

 prise to most growers when they set 

 this cull stuff to one side to see how 

 small a portion of the crop it is. Gener- 

 ally, the better quality and less bulk 



will bring more money than the total 

 crop ungraded. 



ATTRACTIVENESS OF PACKAGE 



Oftentimes boxes several years old 

 that have been used for onions, potatoes, 

 roots, and other work around the garden, 

 may be seen filled with asparagus, 

 snap beans, tomatoes, cauliflower, and 

 so forth. The grower does not realize 

 that the fastidious customer is generally 

 the one who will pay the price, and that 

 by so doing he is losing many times 

 over in a season the cost of a clean and 

 attractive package. 



UNIFORMITY OF PACKAGE 



Uniformity of package will always 

 give the line a better appearance when 

 offered for sale, and will be found to find 

 favor with the purchaser when giving 

 his order as well as help the grower to 

 keep a record of his crop. 



ADVERTISING 



Does it not seem strange that while 

 all other lines of business advertise their 

 goods the vegetable grower has nothing 

 to say for himself or his product? This 

 should not be so. Our business is 

 worthy of better treatment. If you have 

 a good thing let the consuming public 

 know it, and where it comes from. If 

 it is a box or basket, stamp your name 



An Ezcelleiit Display of Onions shown at last Canadian National Exhibition 

 The onions at the recent Ontario Horticultural Exhibition were even better than these. 

 301 



