144 



" Pack snugly, using just enough force to place them sufficiently 

 tight to prevent shifting, avoid baskets as top weight injuries specimen 

 at bottom. See to it particularly that every package contains uniform 

 specimens. Do not mix culls or secoud grade stock with first class, for 

 by so doing the contents of a full package is rated at the market value 

 of the lower grade which it contains. 



" Outwardly, packages should be neat and attractive, as first appear- 

 ances influence values Every thoughtful shipper of vegetables or fruits 

 is not only led to pack uniformly throughout his crates, but to ship in 

 crates bearing his name, so that what reputation he makes for himself 

 may benefit him through dealers knowing his name and address. Or- 

 anges and vegetables from certain parties in Florida have brought much 

 better prices and met with quicker sales than equally good products 

 from other parties, simply because the brand on the package was a po- 

 sitive guarantee of quality. 



"The shipper must not imagine that his goods are to receive special at- 

 tention from transportation companies or from commission men. The 

 companies care little for his individual interest, and the commission 

 men, if doing business of any volume, have no time to look to special 

 cases, but endeavour to deal equally with all who look to them as agents. 



"Early shipments are always profitable when the fruit is properly de- 

 veloped, but quality should be aimed at by the grower, rather than early, 

 large, or extensive shipments. 



"Qualities should never be sacrificed to quantity, either inthe produc- 

 tion of enormous yields to the acre, or in the production of monstrous 

 specimens, as so often is the case in cabbages and cucumbers. 



"The grower of garden vegetables for shipment should plant a variety 

 and not confine himself to one, as cucumbers, cabbage or tomatoes, for he 

 never knows when the market will be glutted, and if it be of that sort on 

 which he has built his expectations of profit he may be sadly disap- 

 pointed. In shipping, it is better to ship continuously to three or four 

 established markets than to attempt to follow high quotations from 

 various sources, as the conditions which regulate the prices may change 

 daily, and points off ering highest prices one day maybe lowest the next. 



" It is a mistake to divide a limited quantity of fruit or vegetables 

 between many commission merchants, as the returns in small consign- 

 ments are eaten up by the expenses of cartage and handling." 



The only difficulty I apprehend in this matter is in the packing. 

 There is no doubt that vegetables of excellent quality can be grown 

 here, but careful means will have to be devised to get them to the 

 markets in the best possible condition. In the United States there 

 would appear to be a regulation-size box, crate, or hamper for nearly 

 every vegetable product grown there, and a well recognised method of 

 packing each product, and what we need now is more precise informa- 

 tion on these points. It might be possible to procure samples of the 

 various packages for the guidance of intending shippers, who could 

 either have similar boxes, etc. made here, or import them as required 

 if found cheaper to do so. These, however, are matters of detail which 

 can be attended to whilst the crops are growing. The first thing to be 

 done, and that soon, is to decide on what is to be grown, and get the 

 seed in the ground. 



