72 METHODS OF 



market. In such a case successful growers have 

 two sets of packages different in appearance. The 

 packages for the second grade of fruit are neat and 

 attractive, and have a private mark which the com- 

 mission man will understand as meaning that the- 

 contents are second grade. Oftentimes a good 

 price will be obtained for this second grade fruit, 

 especially if it should reach the market when fruit 

 is scarce. Good packers make this second grade 

 of fruit look attractive by the pains taken in pack- 

 ing and arrangement. We have seen a half-dozen 

 crates of handsomely colored fruit which was ex- 

 tremely soft and good only for immediate use sold 

 to a large hotel in New York simply because they 

 were attractively packed. Anything inferior to the 

 second grade is not sent to the New York markets 

 by growers who understand their business, but 

 usually finds a resting place on the refuse pile. 



It is perhaps more diificult and less profitable to 

 grade vegetables than fruit, but still it should be 

 done when possible, especially with winter varie- 

 ties. It is of course understood that in green 

 vegetables, nothing that is specked or inferior in 

 any way will be used. The packing of apples is an 

 art that few growers as yet understand, for they 

 will insist on putting in specimens that are badly 

 specked or bruised, and as a result it is only a short 

 time before nearly all the fruit is a mass of rot. 

 There is no question but that careful grading is a 

 profitable course to take, and we venture to assert 

 that there are not a half dozen instances on record 

 where a lot of mixed fruit brought the same good 

 price as a similar lot sorted into two grades and 

 sold in the same market. 



METHODS OF TRANSPORTATION. 



The route of shipment must of course be largely 

 determined by the shipper, though when it is 

 possible to choose between several routes he is 

 able to get rates which are moderate. We are of 

 the opinion that those who raise produce for mar- 

 ket do not give the question of transportation rates 

 the attention they should. Our friends of the tree, 

 plant and seed trades combine with each other to 

 get the most favorable rates. They are constantly 

 fighting the transportation companies and are 

 usually able to get liberal concessions. The in- 

 ter-state law, from which so much was hoped, has 

 given the shipper little relief. We rarely hear 

 of fruit-growers and farmers seeking for reduced 

 transportation rates; yet goodness knows they need 

 low rates about as bad as any other class of people! 

 We are aware that there are many difficulties in 

 the way of accomplishing this purpose, but never- 



MARKETING. 



theless it might be done were concentrated efforts 

 made and persistently kept up. 



When we consider that large quantities of pro- 

 duce of all kinds are grown within 20 miles of New 

 York city, it may be readily seen that the grower 

 who can cart his goods to the market has the ad- 

 vantage in more ways than one over the producer 

 who depends on the several transportation com- 

 panies. It is no unusual sight to find long rows of 

 market wagons drawn up on the streets which lead 

 to the large markets of New York as early as 7 

 o'clock in the evening, though we cannot see why it 

 is necessary to reach the market so early, as one 

 has little chance to sell to dealers much before 2 or 

 3 o'clock in the morning. Of course large quan- 

 tities of this produce is brought in early to fill 

 orders already given, for we see many of the whole- 

 sale dealers getting in and arranging their stock 

 early in the evening for the trade of the next day. 



The grower of fruits and vegetables distant from 

 New York would be able to learn many valuable 

 lessons if he could see the methods of grading and 

 packing done by the growers of Long Island, and 

 those parts of New York state and New Jersey 

 sufficiently near to the city to carry in the produce 

 by wagon. The inexperienced would see readily 

 why their own products bring so little. Let us 

 step up to one of these wagons. The driver, a 

 sleepy Swede, looks at us as we lift the blankets 

 from off his produce but says nothing. See the 

 celer}', blanched to the very tips of the leaves. 

 The turnips look as if they had been v/ashed. We 

 examine a half-barrel of potatoes and are willing to 

 swear that there is not an inch of difference in 

 diameter between them. Next to this small barrel 

 stands another filled with smaller tubers, yet all of 

 these are near of a size. They are what are 

 termed seconds, yet so uniform in size are they 

 that they will brmg a good price. Now an applica- 

 tion of our moral : Suppose these potatoes had 

 been mixed, would there have been the opportunity 

 to obtain so good a price for the lot ? It is easy to 

 see the advantage of proper sorting. The entire 

 load is thus carefully graded and, when in bunches, 

 nicely tied. Time was consumed in doing this, but 

 it was well paid for by the additional price received. 



Many of these growers near New York occupy 

 small plots of ground for which they pay an 

 enormous rental, and every inch of it must be made 

 to pay something. After they have grown the crop 

 they fully understand that the real success of their 

 work depends on marketing it in such a manner as 

 to bring the highest price. They also understand 



