4 



shore of Maryland and Virginia, and there they were producing 

 cantaloupes in great quantities, shipping them from the farms 

 to the cities of Philadelphia, New York, Boston and other 

 points. The returns from those cantaloupes would be received, 

 as I have stated, from ten days to two weeks, sometimes a 

 month, after the shipment was forwarded. The returns would 

 be anywhere from postage stamps to a fairly reasonable sized 

 check. But during all of that time the farmer continued send- 

 ing his shipments on without a knowledge of what the outcome 

 or the return would be. 



Now, I would hesitate to speak along that line or even make 

 the slightest mention of it this morning, except for the fact that 

 it has been called directly to my attention that this case con- 

 tinues to exist around the largest city in this State; and that 

 farmers within 20 to 30 miles of Boston are still operating their 

 business on such a method as that. It is an absolute lack of 

 system, — an absence of the fundamental principle which is 

 absolutely and entirely necessary to success. 



That same principle applies to the Jersey farmers, with whom 

 many of you are familiar, who bring their produce to the Phil- 

 adelphia market from day to day. There was a time, a few 

 years back, when they did not know what that produce was 

 bringing, but to-day they are receiving either a telephone call 

 or a postal communication the following morning, telling at 

 what price the product sold. 



That is enabling them, whenever it is possible, to force their 

 products through, and, if they are within reasonable hauling 

 distance of the city market, to bring in shipments or their loads 

 later in the day and so manage to sell them on the high market 

 while it continues. The telephone, therefore, and the postal 

 service have been the first two factors in developing real market 

 news service, — in making it possible for us to know whether 

 the products grown on the farm are bringing the actual cost of 

 harvesting and of shipping. 



Now the development as it comes in that line — the one from 

 the merchant to the grower — is the one we have stated, but 

 there has been another significant growth in the line of market 

 news service. This has been effected more especially where 

 there has been organized effort manifested on the part of the 



