6 BULLETIN 266, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
On the market lie will see his shipment in competition with the 
fanciest grades from f anions specialized sections. The relative quan- 
tity of his pack and grade will immediately be apparent. The selling 
value of well-known brands and labels will be evident. He will see 
mixed grades sold at a discount as compared with imiform grades and 
sizes, and he will note the premium paid for attractive packages and 
quality. These facts and conditions will be impressed upon him 
with a vividness which no impression conveyed by any written 
description can equal. 
Bailroad officials in the city can be of great help to the producer who 
visits the market, as they can show him where and how the goods 
arrive, give him information regarding supplies from various sec- 
tions at different seasons, from other sections during his own ship- 
ping season, and finally put him in touch with trade connections 
and direct customers. The grower who wishes to understand the 
machinery which intervenes between himself and the consumer 
can well afford the time and expense necessary to study the following 
elements which enter into the distribution of goods in a large city: 
the railroad facilities for transporting and unloading goods: arrange- 
ments for trucking and cartage; cold storage warehouses; kitchens 
and storages of hotels, restaurants, and clubs; sales methods and 
handling facilities of auctions, public markets, brokers, car-lot 
wholesalers, commission merchants, jobbers, grocers, hucksters, 
peddlers, and fruit-stand men. If possible, it would be profitable 
to get some prominent dealer to explain in detail how he conducts 
his business and meets his problems. 
BUSINESS RESPONSIBILITY. 
TVhen any considerable amount of produce is to be shipped, it will 
pay to look up a dealer's comniercial standing very carefully before 
shipping in his care. The commercial rating of any dealer may be 
secured through a number of sources of information. There are sev- 
eral firms which make a business of rating the financial and general 
credit standing of men in different kinds of business, and which 
publish reports regularly. These publications are of value and give 
a general idea as to a dealer's standing, yet, as is perhaps inevitable 
in such matters, in many specific instances they have been found to 
be inaccurate. This general credit standing is of prime importance, 
as a man with a very low financial rating may be one of the very best 
in honest dealings. 
Firm letterheads, giving trade references, should not be accepted 
at then face value without verification, for it is understood that in 
some cases firms have made use of the names of banks and other 
credit institutions without proper authority. 
