SELLING METHODS 209 
which calls for all of the ingenuity human brains can 
devise to keep and maintain a standard of efficiency. 
Auctions.—A method of disposing of fruit which has 
very recently become quite popular is by means of the 
auction. These auctions are in no wise connected with 
the producing end, but are strictly a selling organiza- 
tion. There is one, sometimes two, doing business in 
every large city of the United States. For the most part 
they are corporations usually of the profit-sharing kind, 
their main object being to handle fruit on a basis of gross 
receipts for the fruit sold. They are not materially dif- 
ferent from the commission men except in the very large 
business that is handled. 
To dispose of fruit through an auction company it is 
necessary first to belong to some exchange or organiza- 
tion. As an individual it is practically impossible to sell 
fruit through these auctions. They handle very large 
quantities and mostly from the larger exchanges. Their 
argument in favor of the auction is quick action in the 
selling operation. Of the more perishable fruits, this is 
likely to be to the best interest of the shipper. They 
work on a very much smaller commission than do the 
ordinary commission houses and are, at the present time, 
handling enormous quantities of fruit. Some of the 
more perishable fruit, like the deciduous kinds from the 
far West, also the imported lemons and a good deal of 
Porto Rican and other tropical fruits, are sold almost 
entirely in this way. 
The method of doing business with an auction com- 
pany would be about as follows: The carload of fruit 
is consigned to the agent of the exchange, and on the 
arrival of this car at its destination it is turned over to 
