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ganizations of buyers, who desire to sup- 
ply all their customers at all seasons of 
the year with whatever the market de- 
mands. With the buyers’ organization, 
future delivery is a kind of insurance 
that the products can be supplied at a 
given price. With the seller or seller’s 
organization, it is a promise to supply 
it at a given price. The seller believes 
he can furnish the fruits at that price 
at a profit. The buyer knows, if the 
goods are delivered according to contract, 
that he can supply the market at a profit. 
This would seem to be better for both the 
seller and the buyer, but it has been sub- 
ject to many abuses. 
Market Corners 
“Corners” often result from the con- 
tract for “future delivery.” They may 
result from a mistaken judgment of a 
number of persons as to the supply of 
products. As a result, persons who have 
made contracts for future delivery at 
certain dates, are unable to fulfill them. 
The fact that the market is oversold 
soon becomes known and the persons 
holding products who could supply the 
demand raise the price against those 
who are buying to fulfill their contracts. 
If a dealer has undertaken to deliver 100 
cars of fruit at a certain price and it 
becomes known that fruit is much more 
difficult to obtain than he calculated it 
would be, and those who have the fruit 
for sale know that he is compelled to de- 
liver, they might compel him to pay two 
prices in order to fill his contract. He 
has contracted to deliver believing that 
he could do so at a profit, but in the 
case described he does so at a loss. There 
are a few growers who will contract 
ahead to deliver fruit at a fair profit. 
Others will contract to deliver a certain 
proportion of the crop at a fair profit 
and hold the remainder of the crop for 
speculation, taking their chances that it 
will be higher than the average. 
The Standard Dictionary defines ‘a cor- 
ner” as follows: 
“A corner is the result of the pur- 
chase, or contract for the purchase. of a 
commodity by a person or combination of 
persons so as to command the market 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
and be able to fix the price of the com- 
modity.” 
Selling to Buyers Who Pay Cash 
Selling to buyers who pay cash for the 
products is an old method and has a num- 
ber of advantages. The producer re- 
ceives his money early and so is enabled 
to meet his obligations without borrow- 
ing heavily. Some claim that in the long 
run the grower who sells for cash at the 
prevailing market price at harvest time 
will, all things considered, come out 
ahead of those who wait for an expect- 
ed rise later. In a fruit-growing district 
where a large volume of fruit must be 
marketed, this method can only succeed 
in the case of a few. To attempt to 
force the whole output of a district upon 
the market at once would be out of the 
question both on account of the enorm- 
ous capital required and because of the 
disastrous effect on prices. 
Another advantage to the grower is 
that it closes the transaction without 
further risk to him, compelling the buy- 
er to assume the risk of unloading with 
profit on future markets. It is vastly 
superior to the consignment method, a 
discussion of which follows. 
The Consignment Method 
Under this system fruits are consigned 
to commission merchants who sell the 
fruits on a percentage basis, at atc- 
tion, to the retail trade, or to other com- 
mission merchants as seems to them best. 
This system is subject to many abuses 
and temptations. I would as willingly 
send my pocket-book to a man in 
Chicago or New York whom I did not 
know, or if I did know would not trust, 
as to send him my fruit. 
When he has possession of the fruit, 
if he is dishonest, he might say that “It 
arrived in bad condition,” sell it for a 
good price, send the consignor the price 
of damaged fruit and keep the balance. 
He might be a partner of a firm of retail 
merchants and keep the fruit, reporting 
it to be in bad condition and return 
to the grower or shipper whatever he 
pleased. He might do any one of a num- 
ber of things which would be to his own 
advantage and the disadvantage of the 
