THE MARKETING OF FARM PRODUCTS 893 



that the authorities may enforce the renewal of the license each 

 year. There are between 600 and 700 porters. The ordinary 

 charge for porterage is id. per package, and the porter must 

 return the container to the wholesale dealer after it has been 

 emptied by the buyer. In case a porter loads the full containers 

 on a grocer's cart, he is also bound to unload and return them 

 when brought back empty by the grocer. 



Potatoes are sometimes sold on commission and sometimes 

 bought outright by the wholesalers. The commission is generally 

 3d. the hundredweight (5s. the ton), and the average profit, if 

 bought outright, is from 5 s. to 10s. per ton, the latter varying 

 greatly. When sent to Manchester on commission, all the ex- 

 penses connected with the sale of the potatoes are charged to the 

 sender, but otherwise it is according to contract whether the whole- 

 saler or sender pay the expenses. These expenses are, besides 

 the commission: cartage from the station, which costs is. 8d. 

 per ton if done by the railroad and about is. 6d. if done by the 

 wholesaler ; porterage 1 d. per hamper or bag ; and storage at the 

 station of 3d. per ton per day after the first forty-eight hours. 

 The dealers who are known to be very reliable and sell in very 

 large quantities carry on a large trade in produce sold directly 

 from the station (ex the station), thereby saving cartage and 

 handling in the market. The buyers, as a rule, however, like to 

 see their goods before purchasing, especially as there is no stand- 

 ard and the buying is done, to a great extent, on the personal 

 judgment of the buyer as to the actual weight, and on his knowl- 

 edge of the wholesale dealer from whom he gets his goods. This 

 lack of a standard is strongly contended against by the retail 

 grocers, who are often caused very appreciable losses. They, wish 

 to have the net weight marked on all containers, but nothing has 

 yet been accomplished in this line. 



The market contains dealers who might be classed as follows : 

 The man with large capital, having representatives abroad and 

 possibly his own cars or boats, who does a very large, strictly 

 wholesale business. In some cases these men are also growers. 

 Second would be placed the man who has built up a large busi- 

 ness without much capital. There are about 100 men or firms 



