MARKETING EASTERN GRAPES. 13 



All slack should be taken up as the packages are loaded with 

 racks to fill out at the end of the car when there is a surplus space. 

 Every fraction of an inch of surplus space from side to side of the 

 car should be tightly rilled in by loading the last row diagonally and 

 mismatching or "nesting" each row upon the one below. 



"Mixed loads," or loads made up of different sizes of Climax bas- 

 kets, or of a combination of baskets and trays, should be avoided. 

 When absolutely necessary to ship mixed loads in order to assemble 

 a full car, the one rule is to make completed rows of each kind of 

 package from end to end of the car. 



THE COMPLEXITY OF THE MARKETING MACHINERY. 



The problem of marketing, in its final analysis, consists of the 

 disposition by the producer of a product, of which he has more than 

 he requires, to the consumer, who has not as much as he desires. 

 This is fundamentally true of all trade. A simple sale from the 

 producer to consumer is seldom possible, because of complicating 

 factors. 



The functions of the much-criticized middlemen, distributors, 

 jobbers, and retailers have made possible the present high develop- 

 ment of the commercial grape industry, for taken as a whole they 

 form the agency through which the farmers' grapes are marketed. 

 As it is much cheaper and more satisfactory, and as it permits wider 

 distribution, the practice of shipping grapes in carlot quantities has 

 been developed. This has led to the creation of yet another type of 

 middleman, the local dealer and carlot assembler, who either buys 

 outright from the producer or acts as his agent in disposing of his 

 product. 



Undoubtedly sharp practices and inefficient methods have been, 

 and to some extent still are, in use by some middlemen, which work 

 to the manifest disadvantage of both the grower and the consumer ; 

 but generally the methods and channels of marketing grapes have 

 become so well- developed -and standardized, and competition has so 

 far eliminated dishonest dealers and inefficient methods, that the 

 grape industry of the East is in a very good condition, in so far as 

 distribution is concerned. 



THE USUAL CHANNELS OF TRADE. 



The methods used in different localities vary with local conditions, 

 but any or all of the following methods may be applicable. A 

 farmer with a small quantity of grapes to dispose of has the ad- 

 vantage in sections where the production is small ; while a grower of 

 large quantities has the advantage in one of the so-called grape sec- 



