170 HARVESTING AND MARKETING 



for it. Nevertheless the commission men have done a great 

 deal to develop the produce industry and we will probably 

 never be able to dispense with them. The grower should 

 assure himself of the honesty and integrity of the commission 

 man before dealing with him. 



The Jobber. — A jobber is a man that usually purchases 

 produce from the commission man. Such men usually have 

 a special trade such as hotels, clubs and some retail stores 

 which they supply with their commodities. The jobber also 

 buys direct from the grower and might also buy from the 

 broker. His function is chiefly to buy in rather large quanti- 

 ties and parcel the produce out to smaller buyers or retailers. 



The Retailer. — The retailer is the man that sells direct to 

 the consumer. He depends upon getting his supply from the 

 commission man, the jobber, and in many cases direct from 

 the grower. Seasonable products are oftentimes purchased 

 from the grower, but during off seasons and out of season 

 products must be purchased from other agencies. As a rule 

 the retailer must look to the jobber or commission man to 

 keep him supplied uniformly throughout the year with all 

 commodities. This serves then to emphasize the impor- 

 tance of the jobber and commission man in maintaining a 

 steady supply of products the year round. Oftentimes a 

 grower will ship direct to the retailer, but in such cases the 

 grower should pack his product especially for the retailer 

 and aim to establish a name for his products. 



Selling Associations. — The selling association is the most 

 recent development in the manner of disposing of products. 

 The principle of an association of this kind is through the 

 union of a number of growers of a certain crop. It is devel- 

 oped chiefly to help the grower realize a fair profit by doing 

 away with some of the middlemen. 



Selling associations are greatly developed along the Pacific 

 coast and were perhaps perfected to the greatest degree in 

 that region because of the long distance to ship and the 

 need of cooperation among the growers. At the present 

 time this form of selling is gaining in popularity and many 

 associations are being formed in all parts of the country. 



The most effective wav of handling an association is to 



