136 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



The expense of marketing our fruits in this package will 

 be less than when smaller packages are used, and when we 

 have uniform packages we will be in a situation to secure 

 lower and uniform rates for transportation, there being but 

 a few cents' difference in the cost of the thirty-two-quart 

 crate and the smaller sizes. It has been estimated that 

 many thousands of dollars would be saved to the producers 

 in the Hudson valley by using larger packages, especially 

 for grapes. 



It being an accepted fact that we must use the gift pack- 

 age for most of our products, I believe it would be to the 

 advantage of all that the size of the package should be es- 

 tablished by national law, and the manufacture and sale of 

 snide packages be punished by fine or imprisonment or both. 



It is a well-known fact that in many of our cities the 

 street pedler of berries makes forty baskets out of a thirty- 

 two quart crate. I am informed that one dealer in New 

 York City sold one million of these skin quarts in one 

 season. 



Now, having our package, what shall we put in it, and 

 how shall we pack it? Standing in the front of a commis- 

 sion house in New York City on the twentieth day of Oc- 

 tober, and looking over the vast amount of fruit to be seen 

 on every hand, the proprietor made the remark, " If this 

 fruit had been assorted, and the best half of it sent here, it 

 would have netted more money to the sender than the whole 

 will now, for it is the poor fruit that depresses the market 

 and paralyzes trade." This shows the necessity of carefully 

 grading our fruit and keeping the inferior stock out of the 

 market. When this is done, and the purchaser finds that 

 he can depend upon a certain mark of fruit, the problem of 

 marketing that fruit is solved. 



Believing that we cannot expect any material increase in 

 the selling price of our fruits so long as the present methods 

 are followed, I can but recommend for your consideration 

 these several points which I have presented, viz. : — 



First. — Improved methods in culture and preparation of 

 the soil. 



Second. — The selection of varieties suited to soil con- 

 ditions and the demands of the market where sold. 



