12 DEPAETMENT CIECULAR 413, U. S. DEPT. OF AGEICULTURE 



maturity, and general condition of the fruit. Thus the buyer is 

 informed as to whether the apples were hard, firm, ripe, or overripe 

 and whether scald, decay, or other storage diseases or freezing injury 

 were in evidence at shipping point. Purchases made on such a basis 

 leave little chance for misunderstanding at the time of delivery. 

 Such certificates are also valuable documents in connection with 

 railroad claims and in the arbitration or adjustment of claims for 

 allowances. 



Records of Government inspections indicate that in 1922-23 slightly 

 less than one-third of the car-lot apple shipments from Washington 

 were inspected at shipping point. In 1923-24 about 40 per cent, 

 and in 1924-25 about 55 per cent, were inspected at shipping point. 



OBTAINING PROPER CONFIRMATION OF SALE 



In many transactions, legal confirmation of sales which protect 

 both buyer and seller was not obtained. It is a conspicuous fact that 

 in a large number of reported transactions, sellers were advised by 

 their counsel that they had no recourse to the courts in obtaining 

 damages resulting from alleged unjustified rejection of shipments 

 because they had failed to secure signed confirmations from buyers. 

 Some shippers make it a policy to secure a signed ''standard confir- 

 mation of sale" or they require their brokers to issue a ''broker's 

 memorandum of sale." When a sale is handled through a broker 

 copies of either of these forms, signed by the buyer and by the broker 

 as the seller's agent, are binding, unless, in event of a mistake by the 

 broker, one of the parties to the transaction immediately files a pro- 

 test with the other conclusively disproving his agreement to the terms 

 as stated. 



An actual offer to sell should specify the commodity to be sold, the 

 quantity thereof, the price, and the time of performance. If the offer 

 is accepted, a valid contract results. It must be understood that the 

 mere quotation of a price is not an offer to sell, but only an invitation 

 for an order or offer to buy, and the sale in such a case is not com- 

 plete until the seller accepts the order. When a seller uses the words, 

 "we quote," he is, according to a trade custom which would be recog- 

 nized in law, soliciting an order, but when he intends to make a defi- 

 nite offer to sell, he should use the words, "we wiU sell," or other 

 words of similar import. 



It must be realized that f. o. b. wire sales made through a seller's 

 agent or broker are very difficult to establish in the courts unless there 

 is a written sales memorandum signed by the buyer, or a confirmation 

 of the broker's order signed by the party to be charged, if handled 

 through a broker. This is because the rule in most jurisdictions is 

 that all sales of personal property in excess of the value of $50 must 

 be evidenced by a memorandum or other writing signed by the party 

 to be charged, or his agent, in order to constitute a legal and binding 

 contract. The original telegram or telegrams, however, signed by 

 the sender and filed with the telegraph company, are considered by 

 the courts as meeting these requirements. When a legal contract 

 has been consummated by telegram between the principals to the con- 

 tract, it is unnecessary to confirm such contract by letter or other 



