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these particular cars which they ought not to have, and it only ties up 

 the fruit grower more tightly. In addition to the profits there may be 

 in this branch of the cost of transit, we must pay the commission mer- 

 chant 7 per cent for selling our goods. He gets a profit on the packing, 

 on the loading, and on his ice, and on his system of cars, and 7 per cent 

 on whatever the goods sell for. The transaction is begun and ended 

 inside of two weeks. He takes no risks whatever, and bears no losses, 

 and yet his compensation for this short service amounts to a fair rate of 

 interest on all the proceeds for one year. I assert that this is the largest 

 per cent paid for similar service in disposing of any agricultural product 

 in the country. 



Must we always submit to this irrational method? It lacks the 

 first elements of mutuality. Furthermore, these same commission firms 

 are often open purchasers and become competitors with the shippers. 

 The motive of seeking the best market or exercising intelligence in 

 directing the point of sale is wanting, for he gets his commission in any 

 event. Why should not these operators take at least some of the risks? 

 Our fruit, for the purpose of fixing this share of the risk, ought to have 

 some value at the place of shipment. Let it be at least 1 cent a pound, 

 if you please. If these goods sell to net that much to the grower, then 

 pay, say 5 per cent commission; if it nets over 1 cent, pay 7 per cent; if 

 it nets less than 1 cent or is sold at a loss, pay not over 2 -J per cent. 

 The reasons for some such plan of graduated commissions are obvious. 

 The shipper will work for the best market. He has an interest in com- 

 mon with us, and he shares measurably the results of his bad judgment 

 or bad luck in selling. 



I think, too, the usual commission of 5 per cent for selling dried 

 fruit is too much. This transaction is even sooner over and involves 

 much less trouble to the commission man than the sale of green fruits. 

 Besides, there are frequently two or three commissions before the fruit 

 reaches the East. 



I think the wheat buyers of this State never pay over 2-J per cent 

 commission. 



What I mean by all this is not that a fair compensation should not 

 be paid, or that commission merchants are not needed — for they are — 

 but that our fruit industry has reached such proportions that it deserves 

 to be classed with the leading agricultural products of the country, and 

 these products should be handled, not as fancy articles or luxuries, but 

 as food products forming a part of our commerce. 



Another thing: As fruit products, the great disparity between the 

 price paid to the producer and the price paid by the consumer should 

 not exist. 



It is the worst drawback to our success to-day, as to dried fruits 

 especially — much worse than the matter of transportation — that when 

 we sell dried peaches here at 6 cents and prunes at 4 or 5 cents, we know 

 they go into consumption at 12 and 15 and 20 cents a pound. Let it be 

 said to the credit of the railroads that to our 6 cents they add only 1£ 

 cents. Most of the balance goes where it ought not. 



And all this is because the fruit dealer persists in treating fruit as a 

 luxury, and we are thus held apart from the consumer by purely artifi- 

 cial barriers. 



This is not true of any other agricultural product. The margin on 

 almost every food product is small, and before we can enlarge con- 



