12 BULLETIN 266, U. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGKICULTUKE. 
limited way, and the practice is becoming less common. Competi- 
tion has become so keen among canning factories that quality is now 
a determining factor of success, consequently they are making an 
effort to secure the higher grades of fruits and vegetables. It usually 
is necessary to make contracts in advance if markets are to be secured 
at these factories. The farmer who approaches the factory only 
when he has unsalable surplus and the markets are glutted must 
expect very low offers. 
Pickling plants use more vegetables than fruits, and a large part 
of the cucumber crop is used in this way. Kraut factories, which in 
many sections afford important markets for cabbage, may be 
included under this head. 
Cider mills and evaporating plants may be said to be the real 
outlet for cull grades of fruits, although even with these quality is 
becoming more important. It is a truth too little understood that 
low grades, while sometimes bringing fair returns, are in reality a 
detriment to the market, because they tend to pull down the price 
of the better grades. Farmers will do better on the whole to accept 
a low price for these cull grades from the factory and keep them off 
the general market, thus causing the general tone of the market to 
strengthen materially. 
Wineries are most numerous in the western grape sections, espe- 
cially in certain districts in California. Certain varieties of the Euro- 
pean grapes are especially desired for wine manufacture, and the 
wine industry at Fresno, Ca]., is a very important factor in the 
grape-growing business. The grape-juice factories of New York and 
Michigan are important factors in the utilization of native grapes in 
the northern section. These factories are insisting more and more 
upon a better quality, and cull grapes find a limited outlet. Apples 
and peaches are the fruits most largely used in the manufacture of 
brandies and cordials by the distilleries, and these are now insisting 
upon at least a fair quality. 
These industries have become vital necessities in the fruit sections 
on the Pacific coast and probably will be the determining factors 
between profit and loss. While the need of such outlets has not been 
forced upon the attention of eastern fruit growers to the same extent 
as in the West, nevertheless there is room for much study and develop- 
ment in this field. One of the main principles in successful manu- 
facturing is the utilization of waste materials, and this principle is 
no less important in fruit growing than in manufacturing enterprises. 
SALES THROUGH MIDDLEMEN. 
Although direct sales from producers to consumers have their 
advantages, nevertheless it is true that most car-lot quantities of 
farm produce must be sold through wholesale distributing agencies, 
