4 BULLETIN 302, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



had to be discarded at destination and as a result the returns from 

 the sale of the merchantable grades were reduced materially by the 

 cost of shipping and handling the unmerchantable fruit. It can not 

 be said that the consumer paid more for good apples, because the 

 wholesale buyers as a rule discount sufficiently the price paid to the 

 farmer so that all costs and other losses for handling this character 

 of mixed stock will be met. 



The operation of the New York standard package and grade law 

 was noted especially, and information regarding its results will be 

 found on page 13. 



STUDIES IN THE MARKETS. 



TRACING DISTRIBUTION. 



The mediums through which apples usually pass in the large mar- 

 kets are the wholesaler, jobber, and retailer. In the case of consign- 

 ments, the sales are usually made by the commission merchants to 

 the jobbers. Frequently a wholesaler, commission merchant, or 

 jobber performs the functions of all three, so that there is no distinct 

 line which apples may be said to take in process of city distribution. 



Growers east of the Rocky Mountains form market contacts in 

 many ways. Frequently the original sale is made at the orchard to 

 local or itinerant buyers, who sell to large operators or city dealers. 

 The brokers in the producing areas and in the market centers do a 

 large business as salesmen or purchasing agents for all those engaged 

 in the distribution to retailers. Such are the usual steps when the 

 growers act individually. Collectively or cooperatively short cuts 

 are possible, because through organization all the growers of a com- 

 munity may make direct market contacts with the city dealers. 



In those markets where investigations were carried on an effort 

 was made to trace the distribution of specific lots of apples through 

 to the consumers in order to observe the various steps and ascertain 

 the cost of handling, including trade margins. It proved very diffi- 

 cult, however, in most cases, to trace the whole of any original ship- 

 ment through to its final sale to the consumer, and the larger the 

 city the more difficult the tracing. 



It is easy tfo trace wholesale lots from the shipper to the wholesaler, 

 but just as soon as the lot is broken up the record of its disposition 

 becomes more difficult to obtain. The wholesaler may sell to the 

 jobber or to the retailer or perhaps direct to some large consumer. 

 He will probably have a record of the sale to a jobber, but many of 

 his sales to retailers are likely to be in small quantities, for cash, and 

 without record of the purchaser. The jobber, in turn, may sell 

 either to a retailer or to a large consumer, and a very large part of 

 his sales are likely to be for cash, without further record. It is possi- 

 ble, therefore, to follow only a small part of the shipment even so far 



