14 
BULLETIX 315, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
CAR-LOT, JOBBING, AND RETAIL PRICES. 
In figure 5 the relation is shown between the average car-lot, jobbing, 
and retail prices of cantaloupes as secured over a period of 33 days 
in a large western market. In plotting this curve the cost to the con- 
sumer is figured per crate. It is understood, of course, that prac- 
tically all sales were actually made per melon, and if the retailers had 
been able to sell by the crate the prices named to the consumer would 
have been substantially lower. These prices are not taken from 
published quotations but were obtained by the daily personal 
investigations of a member of the field force. 
THE RETAILING OF CANTALOUPES. 
In his position at the end of the line of agencies which distributes 
foodstuffs from the farm to the consumer, the retailer performs the 
same important functions in the marketing of cantaloupes that he 
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Cost to Retailers 
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AFTER SEPTEMBER 21 SHIPMENT' 
WERE LARGELY CONSIGNED 
September 
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22 23 24 25 26 U 28 Z3 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . 
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5 
Fig. 5.— Chart showing the relation of the car-lot, jobbing, and retail prices on flat crates of Rocky Ford 
cantaloupes holding 15 melons in a large western market from September 7 to October 9, 1914. 
does in the case of other perishable products. There is no doubt 
that he could increase the consumption of these highly perishable 
products by a change in his system of handling them and by the use 
of more up-to-date and efficient methods in distributing them. 
Observations in the markets lead to the conclusion that the retailer 
could stimulate the consumption of cantaloupes by featuring them 
through display and attractive prices. Intelligent buying on his 
part and careful handling in the store, combined with the more 
rapid movement which would be occasioned by the lower prices, 
would greatly reduce his loss through deterioration. If this plan 
were not being followed successfully by numbers of progressive 
retailers, it could not be advocated with such confidence, but it 
repeatedly has been proved to be profitable, in spite of the handi- 
caps under which the green grocer and fruit dealer work. The 
