UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



I BULLETIN No. 267 $| 



Contribution from Office of Markets and Rural Organization 

 CHARLES J. BRAND, Chief 



J&F'&Ji. 



Washington, D. C. 



August 16, 1915 



METHODS OF WHOLESALE DISTRIBUTION OF FRUITS 

 AND VEGETABLES ON LARGE MARKETS. 1 



By J. H. Collins and J. W. Fishee, Jr., Scientific Assistants, and Wells A. 

 Sherman, Specialist in Market Surveys. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Introduction 1 



Necessity for distributing agencies 2 



Methods of receiving 3 



Inspection 4 



Rejections 5 



Terminal distribution and sales 



methods 8 



Causes of complicated methods- 11 



Sabs by brokers 11 



Auction sales 14 



Car-lot wholesalers 16 



Page. 

 Terminal distribution, etc. — Contd. 

 Sales through commission mer- 

 chants 17 



Jobber's sales 19 



Public markets 20 



Distribution channels 21 



Losses and wastes 23 



Conclusion 24 



Summary 24 



Glossary 26 



INTRODUCTION. 



The details of our present system of terminal distribution at large 

 market centers are practically unknown to many producers and con- 

 sumer.-:. The elaborate commercial machinery whereby fruits and 

 vegetables are brought from distant production areas to our large 

 cities and are there received, divided into smaller lots, and finally 

 passed od to the consumer is an unknown mechanism to the layman. 

 Much confusion and unnecessary explanation could be avoided if 

 those outside the produce trade had a clearer idea of the processes 

 incident to tin; marketing and distribution of perishable food prod- 

 ucts. This is especially true in the case of the small shipper. Goods 

 which have reached a large market usually have passed from the pro- 

 ducer's control, but the fact remains that an accurate knowledge of 



: i'.,r a discussion Of outlet! and methods of sale for shippers of fruits and vegetables, 



Bnl. 206, U. s. Dept at Agriculture, bj Blsber, J. w., jr.; Collins, J. H., and Shei 

 man, Wells, A. 



Son. This bulletin should be of Inten I to shippers, dealers, and consumers of fruits 

 and vegetables throughout the i olted States. 

 06017' Ball. 267— 15 1 



