UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
% BULLETIN No. 688 
Contribution from the Bureau of Markets 
CHARLES J. BRAND, Chief 
Washington, D. C. 
May 18, 1918 
MARKETING BERRIES AND CHERRIES BY 
PARCEL POST. 
By C. C. Hawbaker, Assistant in Marketing by Parcel Post, 
and Charles A. Burmeister, Scientific Assistant. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Strawberries 2 
Blackberries 10 
Blueberries or huckleberries 11 
Page. 
Raspberries 13 
Cherries 15 
Obtaining and retaining customers 17 
WHILE BERRIES AND CHERRIES are grown to some extent 
in all States and are shipped in carload lots from a large num- 
ber of stations in 30 or more States, both producers and consumers 
are sometimes dissatisfied with the existing methods of marketing 
and distributing these fruits. Poor returns are often received for 
berries of good quality because of a reported glut in the market. 
Most growers believe that often there is no reason for glutted markets 
for berries and cherries of good quality and appearance, and thus 
they become dissatisfied with marketing conditions. Growers who 
must ship from points where berries are not grown in sufficient quan- 
tities to be marketed in carload lots often receive unsatisfactory 
returns because their fruit must be shipped without refrigeration 
and is sold in competition with that which is shipped from other 
points in refrigerator cars. While the larger part of some of the berry 
crops must be transported in carload lots, the agitation for direct 
marketing has caused many persons to become interested in the 
possibilities of marketing berries and cherries by parcel post. The 
publicity that has been given the farm-to-table campaigns conducted 
by postmasters in many cities has stimulated this interest. 
During the season of 1915 the Bureau of Markets of the United 
States Department of Agriculture, in cooperation with the Post 
Office Department, began an investigation of shipping berries and 
53286°— 18— Bull 688 1 
