Delaware tribune. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1867-1877, 1870-02-10


dealer does not display good Judgment In
selling 1t; for sometimes AS culls bring as
much as BIS good fruit. admit that this is
sometimes the case, and will explain, to .
certain extent, the cause of It. The first
cause begins with the owner Of the fruit,
and continues to tho agent who loads cars.
1t is presumable that every grower knows
all about the fruit that he picks every day;
If he does not, his foreman should. lie
knows how many ''culls" and "primes"
there are and knowing 1t so well, 1t does
not occur to him that his commission dealer
knows nothing about it, so 1t Is sent to the
cars without a word of explanation to the
dealer. The driver is told to hurry back,
and on reaching the cars he don't want to
wait, but 1rives up and unloads at any cur
that is open.
This promiscuous packing is the worst
feature of the whole, and one that needs a
thorough reformation in order to overcome
this objection. know that agents say that
il cannot be done; but it can be done. and
the time will soon come when no agent will |
| be employed who will not do it. As 1t has |
| been no man can sell with good judgment, |
for he knows nothing of the contents of the |
car, nor can he see a distance OF three feet |
in the car to tell what the contents are.
When a car is opened perhaps nothing but
poor, small fruit presents itself, then how
|
not sec it, aud in case of large supply he
is anxious to sell as soon as possible, for he
| may have q number of cars to dispose OF.
| and he sells to one. two or three persons the
entire load at fixed price. If the load
should prove to be cheap to the purchaser
he will take it, but should 1t prove to be
dear one the ruyers frequently back down,
and the dealer is compelled 10 sell.
In order to get at this feature of the case,
Lac, Ia, sl,ap ct a s,f t,ap raf
NJ, on its arrival. The cart is drawn along
side of the car. The sellers, with half
dozen buyers, mount it, to geta peep at the
fruit. The door is thrown open, and they
see rows of baskets extended to tho roof
filed with peaches, it is supposed but ow-
ing to their being packed so close, hut little
Of the fruit can be seen. In many instances
the car is opened on the opposite side from
which 1t is loaded, and then the beauty of
promiscnous packing is fully illustrated.
Begin to unload it. have known five diff
ferent marks to be taken out before one
cart was loaded; that cart contained all
: kinds, qualities and varieties, that were then
E ripened How is any man to sell that fruit
and give satisfaction to the owners? 1t is
true that there are not always so many marks
A In a car; nor Is there so much complaint
among the large growers who can fill car
!, of their own; Tor their fruit does not vary
so much In quality or variety; and should 1t
Q become necessary to load the car of mixed
4, iruit the dealer is notified of that fact.
One of the results of this promiscuous
packing is, that much of the fruit is not sold
at the cars, but given to the retailers to dis
a pose of at the best prices they can, and pay
foi ii what they can afford to give; for they
Il will not buy such mixture except at a low
or figure than the dealer is willing to accept.
y Some may think this a. strange way to dc
&c business; but there is no help for it; they
d will not buy it,iand one is compelled to dis
If pose oft, for all fthis trash cannot be sem
- to the store to be disposed of.
10 Now remember, that on account of tho
lie early hours of arrivals, we must depend en-
lie tirely upon the lanterns carried by the deal
ia ers TO judge of the quality Of the fruit.
have often noticed this particular feature
~ that the light makes poor fruit look better
&C while it does not improve the looks Of goo'
ed fruit; and have frequently been amuse'
nj AT the disputes among the buyers in regar
to the color OF fruit. some contehding that
was red Others that II was not and pre-
re sumo that many farmers would be puzzle,
a to decide, did they not know the color, b.
ho the variety. Could the dealer exhibit th
~ fruit by daylight and have plenty of ROOF
ed to do so, and could he persuade the purchas
e. ers TO wait until it was done, then he woul
on be enabled to return better prices of goo
int fruit; but he can do neither, and must TAX
nd the chance of getting a good price for I'll
he whole. 1t is frequently the case that dealt
he has from four TO ten cars per day to dispos
he OF, and this must be done promptly, or
me fails to make good sale. Thus it Is tn,
me many growers do not get the value of the
ely fruit, and complain of the dealer, while,
1ty reality, he Is not to blame. The worst te
ture of this point is, that the man who Ii,
Ids the least and poorest fruit makes the grea
IRE est complaint; the only generous feature
liza possesses is to treat his commission deal
US with from two to three grumbling letters p
m week, because he does not get more mon,
the for his fruit.
CIV Prices have been very moderate the enti
ly, season, in fact, so much so as to make h
are trade monOtonous. l think the net sal
ork realized by the farmers is from forty-eig
to fifty cent per basket. The quantity
my ceived as has already been stated, was We
red large. In 1867 the largest number of ca
,ars received in one day was titty-fve, and the
rth, completely glutted the market, causing
eof. general stagnatOn for some days. This 81
for son we had one hundred and seventy-fi
lille cars, and they sold at good prices. In d
Gets dition TO the quantity received, as abo
aud stated, there were three steamers engaged
ing this business, making a daily line from De
all ware; the quantity they carried have ne,
and been ablo to ascertain; but the largest stea
part It will not do to close this subject withc
the speaking OF peculiar branch of busint
iich connected with the running Of the trail
ling a band of organized thieves followed thu
lsty trains, and at every depot where they st
n it these persons attack it and the cast il
frames, already mentioned, are not the lie
sion obstruction TO them; they are broken wi
the out the least hesitancy. | am well satisf
find that frequently the brakemen and cond
l., | tntu I'm IN I,n
ired no man could destroy these gratings and l
if it he heard by these officials. The quaint
the taken shows that they have plenty of ii
the 10 carry on their operations for | hi
ONE known dozen baskets OF fruit to be taxi
lass, out through hole ten inches square, VIII
TO must have been done while the train was
we're motion.
UNI The cars of the Camden and Amboy !
/, for offer every inducement TO these thieves,
atch the ventators of the cars are on the 70
orN, which is surinounted with covering, si
way lar to chimney covering, that protects
10y interior from the storms. This cover Il
knock entirely off, break the grating, d
cvo- help themselves. AS soon as one baske
,lers emptied they pull up another, and so t,
,tect all they can. Could it be possible tina
only stranger could mount car and destroy til
lirty irons without those having charge of
with train know it?
ring 1t is sometimes the case that the door
hich a car is broken open and large guam
good stolen One morning car consigned to
ring was found open as the train ran in the
alers pot; the conductor being on the top it,
ices, reply to n remonstrance was that he g
JURY not care il the whole load was stolen; il '
init none of his business, so he brought the
in" This feature of the business is encc
s ar aged by the mode of freighting, for the G,
not pany says if it delivers the car it Is not
the sponsible for the safety of the fruit. Be
II of as it may, the corporation refuses to pay
the the stolen fruit
With l.. ogqaht' wa dealer may BE in time
, the thnwinr. tornpelled to rise about |
with NJ. Peter F. Causfc riunate man il nc can ie
IS all before 5rble 1.-the commission for sell
will peaches is ten per cent. this includes
T 20 paying for all baskets he loses mot those
half road lose) loading the cars. and also guar
diff teeing the sales, making his returns weel
ce of The caring is four cents per basket;
i. II includes the tunnage, collecting and retr
give ! ing the baskets to the cars.
move The above includes the principal feat,