37 



the grading being done by the buyer. This method has consider- 

 able advantages for the men who are not in close touch with apple 

 markets, or who are not experienced in grading and packing fruit. 

 It relieves the grower immediately of the two great responsibili- 

 ties — grading and selling. 



(3) On Commission. — One of the best recognized methods of 

 selling is that of s4iipping the fruit on commission. When the 

 barrels or boxes are ready, they are put in the hands of commis- 

 sion men, usually in one of the large city markets. The commis- 

 sion man sells them for what he can get and returns the amount to 

 the grower minus the commission and any charges for freight, 

 cartage, storage, etc. There are many disadvantages to this sys- 

 tem, and much fault has been found with it, but on the whole it is 

 the best method for a large number of growers. If a reliable 

 commission house is selected and if the shipper is careful and 

 honest on his side of the transaction, good results may be expected. 

 Most of the cursing against commission men comes from shippers 

 who have tried to cheat them, 



(4) On Joint Account. — This is a new method of selling and not 

 often adopted. According to this method the grower turns over 

 his fvuit to the seller at picking time, receiving a stipulated amount 

 in cash down. 



This is considerably less than the value of the fruit, say $1 

 a barrel. The fruit is then held by the seller and disposed of at 

 his option. At the close of the season when the fruit is all sold, 

 the shipper and seller have a final settlement. From the gross 

 amounts of the sales there is deducted first the advance payment 

 made to the shipper. Then the storage, freight and other charges 

 are subtracted. The balance is finally divided equally between 

 the apple grower and the apple seller. In every instance which 

 has come to our notice, this method has worked very well. 



The Current Crop. 

 It may be proper to remark that, though 1904 is scheduled as 

 " the apple year" with us, the crop now promises to be moderate. 

 The most reliable reports that we have seen say that it will be less 

 than last year. This is rather a safe way of estimating, for the 

 markets handled more apples from the crop of 1903 than ever 

 before in the history of American apple growing. Prices offered 

 by buyers this fall will probably be about the same as in the fall 

 of 1903. Though growers cannot generally expect to get better 

 prices than a year ago, they should not be frightened into selling 

 for less merely because this is called " the apple year" in Massa- 

 chusetts. 



