MARKETING EASTERN GRAPES. IB 
All slack should be taken up as the packages are loaded with 
racks to fill out at the end of the car when there is a surplus space. 
Every fraction of an inch of surplus space from side to side of the 
car should be tightly filled in by loading the last row diagonally and 
mismatching or "nesting" each row upon the one below. 
"Mixed loads," or loads made up of different sizes of Climax bas- 
kets, or of a combination of baskets and trays, should be avoided. 
When absolutely necessary to ship mixed loads in order to assemble 
a full car, the one rule is to make completed rows of each kind of 
package from end to end of the car. 
THE COMPLEXITY OF THE MARKETING MACHINERY. 
The problem of marketing, in its final analysis, consists of the 
disposition by the producer of a product, of which he has more than 
he requires, to the consumer, who has not as much as he desires. 
This is fundamentally true of all trade. A simple sale from the 
producer to consumer is seldom possible, because of complicating 
factors. 
The functions of the much-criticized middlemen, distributors, 
jobbers, and retailers have made possible the present high develop- 
ment of the commercial grape industry, for taken as a whole they 
form the agency through which the farmers' grapes are marketed. 
As it is much cheaper and more satisfactory, and as it permits wider 
distribution, the practice of shipping grapes in carlot quantities has 
been developed. This has led to the creation of yet another type of 
middleman, the local dealer and carlot assembler, who either buys 
outright from the producer or acts as his agent in disposing of his 
product. 
Undoubtedly sharp practices and inefficient methods have been, 
and to some extent still are, in use by some middlemen, which work 
to the manifest disadvantage of both the grower and the consumer; 
but generally the methods and channels of marketing grapes have 
become so well-developed and standardized, and competition has so 
far eliminated dishonest dealers and inefficient methods, that the 
grape industry of the East is in a very good condition, in so far as 
distribution is concerned. 
THE USUAL CHANNELS OF TRADE. 
The methods used in different localities vary with local conditions, 
but any or all of the following methods may be applicable. A 
farmer with a small quantity of grapes to dispose of has the ad- 
vantage in sections where the production is small ; while a grower of 
large quantities has the advantage in one of the so-called grape sec- 
