FRUIT MARKETS 159 
out and it is not always possible for growers of fruit to 
be in a position to properly handle such matters. Hence, 
the common advice among small growers is to sell at 
home what he can and let the rest go. 
There are a few well-known faults of producers who 
sell at home. If he has a surplus he ships it away, and 
usually the best fruit is what is shipped. Unless there is 
a large quantity of similar kinds of fruit grown he asks 
the retailer or consumer in his home town the same 
price which he would have to pay if he bought from the 
stores. Often the fruit that he has sent away to other 
markets will bring him somewhat less than that which 
he has sold at home. While this is recognized as good 
business acumen it is a question whether it is conducive 
to the best interest of the fruit grower. 
Supply and Demand.—The two words ‘‘Supply and 
Demand’’ have been much used and much abused by 
many of the writers on market questions. There are a 
number of conditions that effect supply that are in no 
way related to demand and the converse is true as well. 
When the supply exceeds the demand it does not neces- 
sarily mean that there is an over-production. It simply 
indicates that there is more fruit offered at any one time 
than there is a market for. It may also mean that the 
method of distribution is at fault, or because of the in- 
accessibility of certain markets the supply can not be 
reached. On the other hand, because there is a heavy 
demand for certain kinds of fruit it does not necessarily 
indicate a lack of supply. The word over-production 
should not be used in the sense that there is too much 
fruit grown to meet the needs of the consuming public, 
because this condition has never been reached, 
