FRUIT MARKETS 155 
retailers or to the small grocery stores in the home 
towns. Arrangements can be made ahead of time 
for the grower to produce such material as can be 
sold readily by the retailer. This does away with con- 
siderable personal canvassing and gives the grower more 
time to attend to the producing end of the business. 
Furthermore, it often promotes a more friendly feeling 
between the producers and the retailers because where 
the grower retails his own produce he becomes a com- 
petitor of the retail stores, hence often they do not work 
in harmony. Where retailers are patronized direct the 
grower cannot expect as large returns as from the sell- 
ing of his own goods to the consumer because the retailer 
must then make his profit which on the more perishable 
fruits runs from 25 to 100% of the value. 
Another method often resorted to by the producer is 
to sell direct to buyers in the home town. The more 
staple articles of fruit and vegetables can often be dis- 
posed of this way. The buyer then assumes the responsi- 
bility of the fruit and does the shipping or selling at 
his own risks. The grower settles his account then with 
the buyer and gets his money before the goods are 
shipped out of town. This occasionally is a very satis- 
factory method, but often the buyer is well posted on the 
market conditions and does not presume to take any 
great risk, hence the price offered for the goods is usually 
very much less than could be realized if the grower 
choose to handle the sales himself. 
Selling Away From Home.—Where fruit is shipped 
beyond the distance that it is possible to deliver by the 
grower, then it must be trusted in the hands of some 
third party. Often the railroad companies or boat lines 
