WHOLESALE DISTRIBUTION OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. 23 
and collectively handle the great bulk of all perishable food products 
coming into the chVy. The diagram (fig. 2) is not intended as 
either a justification or a condemnation of present market practices 
but rather to portray distributing machinery, its importance, and the 
relation of its several parts in the present scheme of marketing. 
LOSSES AND WASTES. 
Losses and wastes due to deterioration of goods are heavier than is 
usually believed, and especially is this true in the case of perishables. 
On such commodities as strawberries, peaches, and grapes the losses 
sometimes amount to 30 or 40 per cent of the whole. Out of one car 
of bulk Ben Davis apples from the Ozarks which went to a large 
neighboring market 19 per cent was lost before the fruit reached 
the hands of the retail trade. Losses due to spoiling may be the 
result of the shipper's sending overripe or diseased fruit, or failing 
to give proper attention to packing, to loading, or to bracing the 
packages in the car. Sometimes the railroad is at fault. Delay in 
transit, improper ventilation or refrigeration, or unnecessarily rough 
handling of cars may contribute to rapid deterioration of the ship- 
ment on arrival. 
The lack of proper refrigeration facilities at distributing centers 
is a cause of much loss. When produce moves slowly, there is often 
much spoilage before complete sales can be made. Rough handling 
during unloading or carting is another important cause of loss. As 
a matter of fact, the opportunities for losses due to the spoiling of 
commodities are so manifold that it is impossible to enter into a com- 
plete discussion of them. 
In any discussion of losses and wastes it is always well to bear in 
mind the really serious side of this question. The spoiling of a dozen 
cantaloupes, a basket of grapes, or a crate of strawberries represents 
an absolute loss to the community. No benefit accrues to producer, 
distributor, or consumer from such a condition. The loss occurring 
at this point must be borne both by producer and consumer, and in a 
great many cases the distributor must bear his part of the burden. 
In many cases losses and wastes are entirely too heavy a tax on food 
distribution. It is probably safe to say that the elimination of un- 
necessary wastes would do as much toward effecting permanent, sub- 
stantial economies in marketing and distributing as any readjustment 
of present marketing methods could do. The fact that a large per- 
centage of these losses can be avoided by proper grading, packing, and 
shipping, together with prompt, efficient handling while the goods 
are in process of distribution, makes it imperative that this subject 
be given special consideration by those interested in the efficient 
marketing of farm crops. 
