CHAPTER XIX 

 MARKETING 



THE preparation for market and transportation normally 

 precede the marketing and selling stage. But this is not al- 

 ways the case. Sometimes the fruit is sold on the trees or 

 sales may be local, to country merchants, or direct to the 

 consumer. Sales direct to the consumer are by house-to- 

 house peddling, or through the public markets. Sales to 

 distant points may be made f. o. b. shipping point, which 

 means that the buyer pays the freight; or they may be on 

 the " delivered" basis, where the shipper pays transportation 

 charges. 



Some of the common agencies in the marketing process 

 will be considered in the following pages. 



389. Commission-men. Sometimes fruit is handled on 

 the commission basis. That is, it is shipped by the producer 

 to an individual or a firm in a large city to be sold in consider- 

 ation of a certain fixed percentage of the selling price. The 

 commission-man generally sells direct to the retailers, that 

 is, to the stores, venders, peddlers, and the like, and occasion- 

 ally through an auction company. The fruit does not at any 

 time become the property of the commission-man but is 

 handled by him as an agent for the grower. He sells the 

 fruit, collects the money, and remits the sale price, minus 

 the commission, to producer. There has been a large amount 

 of dissatisfaction with this system. The opportunities for 

 dishonesty are very great, because the grower finds it almost 

 impossible to keep a check on either the condition or the 

 disposition of his fruit. The commission business as a whole 



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