18 BULLETIN 861, U. SJ DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



have become standardized, growers who consign their stock in nor- 

 mal years are less often found, and it is only in the outlying and scat- 

 tered districts, in sections from which the shipments are small, that 

 consignment is now the standard practice. It should not be over- 

 looked, however, that in a generally weak market consignment may 

 be the only alternative. 



CONTRACT SALES. 



Sales on contract, or outright sales, are sometimes made. Such 

 sales are the result of an individual contract, which varies greatly in 

 its adaptation to local conditions and is the result of bargaining be- 

 tween the grower and the buyer, who may be a consumer, such as a 

 grape-juice factory, or a city carlot receiver or a local buyer. Most 

 of such sales are made on the basis of cash on delivery and are 

 contracted for before the picking season. With the exception of 

 sales to juice factories, this method of sale is seldom found in lead- 

 ing commercial sections, but is confined to outlying vineyards where 

 growers are not well in touch with market prices and conditions. A 

 notable exception is the Keuka Lake district of New York, where 

 most of the growers sell on contract to local dealers well in advance 

 of the harvesting season. 



SALES TO LOCAL BUYERS OR CAR-LOT ASSEMBLERS. 



The most common method of sale is to local buyers or car-lot as- 

 semblers at the current market price. Where grapes are produced 

 commercially there are generally several dealers who make a spe- 

 cialty of buying for cash the crop of the growers in their locality, 

 usually delivered to the car. Here they assemble them in carloads 

 and dispose of them through any of the usual market outlets. This 

 is the simplest and easiest method of sale for the grower, as it 

 transfers the highly specialized business of marketing the crop to a 

 man who has had relatively wide experience. Besides his other 

 duties the local carlot assembler often assumes large financial risks. 

 The grower should also expect to pay him for his specialized knowl- 

 edge of the industry. 



Conscience and competition usually keep down the profit of the 

 local buyer to reasonable figures. In the sections of large acreage, 

 such as parts of NeW York and Michigan, the competition between 

 bu} 7 ers is usually so keen that the grower is assured of the full market 

 price for his product. However, in the more isolated sections, abuses 

 have crept into the s} r stem and individuals are often found who ab- 

 solutely control their limited districts, bu}dng grapes not on the basis 

 of what they are worth at the current market price, but on the basis 

 of the lowest price at which they can be obtained. 



