250 MODERN FRUIT MARKETING 
of the agricultural papers collect data from the local 
markets but usually prefer to buy the information from 
those who make a business of collecting it. 
Board Commodities.—The produce listed by the vari- 
ous boards of trade is known as board commodities. These 
constitute the less perishable products such as: Grain, 
foodstuffs, potatoes, butter, cheese, ete., but in no cases 
fresh fruit. The commodities have the prices fixed every 
morning by the board of trade in the various cities. 
The representative of the Associated Press in each of the 
cities get these prices each morning after they have been 
fixed and they are then distributed over the country to 
the daily papers. In this manner most of the large 
dailies get rather accurate information on all board com- 
modities but nothing covering fruit products. 
Fruit Commodities.—Market reports for the fruit 
products have to be collected from day to day as best 
they can. This information can only be had from those 
who handle the goods. And not all produce houses are 
willing to furnish this free. There are in all of the 
larger cities, trade or produce journals which have their 
experts to cover the markets and get the sale prices of 
the fruit. This is done in several ways. The agent can 
visit the auctions and make notes of the sales. They can 
arrange with the larger commission houses for daily 
reports. They may also cooperate with the fruit ex- 
changes or distributors to get the desired information. 
For the shipments into the cities the freight depart- 
ments of the railroads are available, as they have to keep 
such information on file; for foreign shipments, steam- 
ship companies furnish the information. All this calls 
for an expert knowledge of the city and surrounding 
. 
