EXPRESS SHIPMENTS TO SMALL CITIES 297 



grower may drive around to the various retail stores and offer his 

 products, or he may offer his goods from house to house in the 

 residence districts. In either case, a regular trade can be estab- 

 lished by furnishing choice products, and making deliveries at 

 stated intervals, either every day or three times a week. Usually, 

 at each delivery, orders may be taken for the next delivery. Often 

 a very satisfactory business in fresh vegetables can be established 

 in even a small town by an enterprising gardener located near its 

 borders. 



A vegetable grower who is located within driving distance 

 from his market, so that he hauls his products directly to the market 

 in his own wagons and pays a personal visit to the market every 

 time he has goods to offer, has a distinct advantage over a grower 

 located a distance from his market, in that he can learn at first 

 hand the demands of the particular market in reference to types 

 of products and styles of packing, as well as keeping in daily 

 touch with changes in market conditions, and demands for partic- 

 ular products. 



On the other hand, the early market must be supplied almost 

 exclusively with vegetables shipped from a distance by growers 

 who seldom or never visit the market. Such growers must keep 

 themselves advised by other means regarding market demands 

 and conditions. 



Shipping to Distant Markets. — Under existing conditions there 

 are three general methods of marketing vegetables open to the 

 grower who is located at a distance from his market: Shipping 

 by express to commission men or retail dealers in the small cities; 

 shipping by freight to commission men in large cities, and selling 

 f.o.b. shipping point either to local buyers or to representatives of 

 city firms. 



Express Shipments to Small Cities. — Each of these methods 

 has certain advantages, and any one may be superior to the others 

 for a given grower, depending upon circumstances. If the grower 

 is located where vegetables are not extensively grown for ship- 

 ment, he must, perforce, ship by express or parcel post, since there 

 will be no facilities for the handling of perishal^le goods by freight. 

 In that case he will usually ship to the smaller cities, and try to 

 deal directly with a retailer. Usually vegetables consigned to 

 commission men in the smaller cities do not sell for as high prices 

 early in the season as those consigned to the large markets, but 

 there is usually less fluctuation in price through the season, so 



