WHOLESALE DISTBIBUTION" OF FBULTS AND VEGETABLES. 23 



and collectively handle the great bulk of all perishable food products 

 coming into the city. The diagram (fig. 2) is not intended as 

 either a justification or a condemnation of present market practices 

 but rather to portray distributing machinery, its importance, and the 

 relation of its several parts in the present scheme of marketing. 



LOSSES AND WASTES. 



Losses and wastes due to deterioration of goods are heavier than is 

 usually believed, and especially is this true in the case of perishables. 

 On such commodities as strawberries, peaches, and grapes the losses 

 sometimes amount to 30 or 40 per cent of the whole. Out of one car 

 of bulk Ben Davis apples from the Ozarks which went to a large 

 neighboring market 19 per cent was lost before the fruit reached 

 the hands of the retail trade. Losses due to spoiling may be the 

 result of the shipper's sending overripe or diseased fruit, or failing 

 to give proper attention to packing, to loading, or to bracing the 

 packages in the car. Sometimes the railroad is at fault. Delay in 

 transit, improper ventilation or refrigeration, or unnecessarily rough 

 handling of cars may contribute to rapid deterioration of the ship- 

 ment on arrival. 



The lack of proper refrigeration facilities at distributing centers 

 is a cause of much loss. When produce moves slowly, there is often 

 much spoilage before complete sales can be made. Rough handling 

 during unloading or carting is another important cause of loss. As 

 a matter of fact, the opportunities for losses due to the spoiling of 

 commodities are so manifold that it is impossible to enter into a com- 

 plete discussion of them. 



In any discussion of losses and wastes it is always well to bear in 

 mind the really serious side of this question. The spoiling of a dozen 

 cantaloupes, a basket of grapes, or a crate of strawberries represents 

 an absolute loss to the community. No benefit accrues to producer, 

 distributor, or consumer from such a condition. The loss occurring 

 at this point must be borne both by producer and consumer, and in a 

 great many rases the distributor must bear his part of the burden. 

 In many cases losses and wastes are entirely too heavy a tax on food 

 distribution. It is probably safe to say that the elimination of un- 

 necessary wastes would do as much toward effecting permanent, sub- 

 stantial economies in markei ing and distributing as any readjustment 

 of present marketing methods could do. The fact that a large per- 

 centage of these losses can he avoided byproper grading, packing, and 

 shipping, together wilh prompt, efficient handling while the goods 

 are in process of distribution, makes it imperative that this subject 



be given special consideration by those interested in the ellicient 



marketing of farm crops. 



