14 BULLETIN 861, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



tions, where surplus of production over local demand necessitates 

 shipment to distant markets. 



(Trapes usually move successively from the grower to the local 

 carlot assembler (local buyer or cooperative association), to carlot 

 distributor (sometimes), to city carlot receiver, to jobber, to retailer, 

 and then to consumer. Of course, there are many short cuts and 

 variations to this method which have been worked out to meet indi- 

 vidual conditions and requirements. It may seem cumbersome and 

 inefficient to pass the fruit through so many hands, but when it is 

 considered, that sometimes the grapes of 50 or 60 growers are in- 

 cluded in a car which may be shipped a great distance, per- 

 haps as far as from New York to Colorado, or from Michigan to 

 Texas, and that often the contents of the car go to over 2,000 differ- 

 ent ultimate consumers, the difficulties of the problem and the need 

 for specialization by the handlers are apparent. If division of labor 

 and specialization are commended in manufacturing plants, should 

 they be condemned in the grape industry ? 



SALES BY GROWERS DIRECT TO LOCAL CONSUMERS. 



The simplest method of sale, that of producer direct to consumer, 

 though open to all growers and to a limited extent practiced in all 

 sections, is not of great commercial importance, and the larger the 

 production of grapes in a section, the smaller is the relative im- 

 portance which this method assumes. Farmers with small vineyards 

 in a nongr ape-producing locality often find a ready market among 

 their neighbors, or they may haul their product to neighboring 

 towns and villages and there peddle their crop. While the method 

 is relatively unimportant, the quantity of grapes disposed of by 

 this method in portions of the South, the Middle West, New Eng- 

 land, and the North Atlantic States, outside of the specialized areas of 

 grape production, is fairly large in the aggregate. The proportion 

 of the consumer's dollar received by the farmer by this method may 

 seem large, but it should be borne in mind that he has performed the 

 functions of distributor, transportation company, jobber, and re- 

 tailer, and is receiving payment for these services. 



SALES IN SMALL LOTS BY GROWERS TO NEIGHBORING CITY CONSUMERS. 



A second method is the direct sale by growers to consumers in 

 neighboring cities and towns by express and parcel-post shipments. 

 This has the general advantages and disadvantages of the former 

 method and requires the services of less people in the distribution, but 

 requires higher transportation charges than carlot shipments and 

 necessa rily reduces the possible marketing area. Also, as in the former 

 case, this method is not feasible for large vineyards. The growth 



