6 BULLETIN 267, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



outright and a number of the remainder were reconsigned and subse- 

 quently refused at other points. This example does not, of course, 

 indicate normal conditions on this market, nor is this particular dis- 

 tribution center more prone to reject produce than are other similar 

 markets. No exact data as to the causes for these rejections are avail- 

 able and unfortunate conditions may have justified the refusal of any 

 or all of these melons. As a matter of fact, carelessness in grading, 

 packing, and loading are largely responsible for the high percentage 

 of rejections which occurs in the handling of fruits and vegetables. 

 Perishable goods, from their very nature, may be said to invite rejec- 

 tions, and the figures here given are probably indicative of conditions 

 in other distribution centers during periods of market depression. 



JUST CAUSES FOR REJECTION. 



Satisfactory compromises can be made only where both the shipper 

 and the buyer are broad minded and willing to make reasonable con- 

 cessions. A very common source of misunderstanding is shrinkage. 

 A shipper who sends fruits or vegetables several hundred miles to 

 market can not understand why his shipment should weigh so much 

 less on arrival than it did at the point of origin. Thus the invoice 

 weight of a car of bulk apples shipped from southwest Missouri on 

 October 16, 1914, was 22,427 pounds. These apples arrived at market 

 on October 23, and were reweighed, barreled, and sold.^ The weight of 

 the apples at destination was 17,971 pounds, indicating a loss of 4,456 

 pounds, or 19 per cent, due to shrinkage in transit and to the dis- 

 carding of a small quantity of culls and spoiled fruit. Very few 

 shippers could be made to believe that a legitimate loss as great as 

 this could occur even though the shipment was graded and loaded 

 carelessly. 



An all too common source of trouble between shippers and con- 

 signees is nonfulfillment of contract by the shipper. This may fur- 

 nish just ground for a rejection. Thus, a shipment may be due to 

 leave the point of origin on a certain day, but the actual movement 

 may be postponed by the shipper for several days. A break in the 

 market in the meantime, if the purchaser gives prompt notice to the 

 shipper, will justify him in refusing the shipment when it finally 

 arrives. Again, goods are often not up to the grade specified in the 

 contract. For instance, a grower agrees to ship a carload of fancy, 

 barreled apples. When the car arrives, the purchaser discovers that 

 from 25 to 50 per cent of the shipment is below the standard specified 

 and he very justly refuses the entire shipment or demands a consider- 

 able allowance. Often with the best management there remain possi- 

 bilities for great losses, so that both producers and distributors should 



