SELLING AGENCIES 169 
before selecting a commission house. In the first place, 
it is always good judgment to find out as much about 
the various commission houses as possible and get ac- 
quainted with the man in charge of the business. 
Where a grower ships considerable produce to any one 
commission house it is well to take a trip to the city and 
familiarize himself with the conditions as far as possible; 
also with the way in which the house handles his busi- 
ness. Where a grower has only a few dollars of produce 
each month this would not be advisable, but where it 
amounts up to several hundred dollars during the sea- 
son it certainly is time and money well spent. 
The wise shipper probably takes several of the produce 
papers which carry advertisements of various commis- 
sion houses. After selecting several he will make a trip 
to the city and investigate the reliability of each one. 
He can do this, first, by getting acquainted with the men 
and judging their character from observation. Second, 
he can ask for bank references and, by looking these up, 
determine if there is sufficient capital involved to insure 
prompt payments. He also wants to know if the com- 
mission house is a member of the National League of 
Commission Merchants. He can get information con- 
cerning them through that organization. When a house 
is once selected it is a good policy to stay with it through 
the season and unless some particular line of fruit de- 
mands a change it is well to ship the same varieties from 
year to year. 
Along with this goes certain rules which the producer 
does well to observe. First, it is well to have a brand or 
trade-mark for the fruit packages. It has often been 
observed by the people who are opposed to organiza- 
