CANTALOUPE MARKETING IN THE LARGER CITIES. 3 
Many firms, particularly those located in other than the larger mar- 
kets, combine the functions of the wholesaler and jobber * by selling 
either to the jobber or the retailer as the occasion demands. Thus, 
for instance, in the first channel cited, it is not correct to assume 
that there are necessarily four separate agencies of distribution con- 
cerned. However, it must be understood that when a firm sells to 
both jobbers and retailers, the prices named to the latter, who usually 
bn\ in small quantities, are, as a rule, higher than those charged the 
jobbers. 
In most markets the broker figures more prominently in the dis- 
tribution of western cantaloupes than of eastern stock, and it is safe 
to say that a much larger percentage of cars shipped from the West 
are handled by city firms on consignment than is the case with those 
originating at points east of the Mississippi. The practice of whole- 
sale buying of eastern cantaloupes may be partially explained by 
their lower delivered cost compared with that of western stock. The 
dealer has to invest less money and his risks are fewer. 
FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCE PRICES. 
CAR-LOT RECEIPTS. 
The daily receipts of car lots of cantaloupes naturally play an im- 
portant part in determining prices. On the average large market, 
these receipts are from several widely separated producing sections. 
Table 1 shows how far-distant producing sections will compete with 
near-by areas on the same market in spite of great differences in 
freight and transportation rates. 
Table 1 . — States from which cantaloupes were quoted in New York and Chicago on 
August 1, 8, and 15, 1914. 
NEW YORK CITY. 
CHICAGO. 
Aug. 1. 
Aug. 8. 
Aug. 15. 
Aug. 1. 
Aug. 8. 
Aug. 15. 
Maryland . 
Virginia. 
North Carolina. 
Arizona. 
Nevada. 
New Jersey. 
Delaware. 
Maryland. 
Virginia. 
Arizona. 
Nevada. 
Texas. 
New Jersey. 
Delaware. 
Maryland. 
Virginia. 
North Carolina. 
Texas. 
Nevada. 
California. 
Indiana. 
Illinois. 
Arkansas. 
Nevada. 
Arizona. 
California. 
Illinois. 
Michigan. 
Indiana. 
Texas. 
New Mexico. 
Arizona. 
Nevada. 
California. 
Illinois. 
Michigan. 
Indiana. 
Delaware. 
Maryland. 
Texas. 
New Mexico. 
California. 
Thus it can be seen that there is a great range in the location of the 
shipping sections and in the distances which the cantaloupes must be 
transported before being offered for sale. Cantaloupes from Cali- 
1 The use of the terms "wholesaler" and "jobber" in this bulletin conforms to the meaning gii^en them 
in the eastern and some of the middle- western markets where the wholesaler buys in large quantities, 
usually in car lots, and disposes of most of his stock in sales of good size to jobbers and large retailers. The 
jobber, as a rule, buys in smaller amounts from the car-lot receiver and sells mainly to the retail trade. See 
U. S. D2partment of Agriculture Bui. 267, Methods of Wholesale Distribution of Fruits and Vegetables 
on Large Markets. 1915. 
