The herald., 1897-04-14
AS TO FRUIT PACKING

Our style of putting UP fruit for the
eastern market is an old subject, but 1t
il to be feared that for some time 1t will
have to come up for occasional discus
sion. The only thing lacking in the
lemon industry today is proper care in
preparing for market. We can, of
course, stand some tariff on lemons and
few here will object to its magnitude.
But without it the lemon is a success and
will make money in any market when
properly prepared.
Most people will remember that we
once had the raisin market and lost 1t
some eight years ago by trying to work
off raisins moulded by an unexpected
rain, From Fresno to San Diego this
was done all along the line. Every fool
who stuffed the moulded raisins in the
middle of the box thought himself the
inventor of new trick that no one
else suspected. While the raisin market
has failed some for other causes, this is
the prime cause. No dealer who got
caught with any of that consignment on
his hands wants anything more to do
with California raisins.
Why is 1t that you may open ten or
ten thousand boxes of goods packed in
Europe and find them al run alike? The
dealer knows what his order will bring.
whether 1t is for one box or a thousand.
His customers do not have to dig
| into the middle of the box to find out
| what they are getting. and they return
no damaged goods to the dealer. Is
this because the people of Europe are
any more honest than are we, or is it SIM
ply plain, business horse-sense? Is it
any different from the policy of all sue
cessful merchants, like A. T. Stewart?
The writer once bought twenty yards
of black silk at Stewards store. Both
he and the salesman looked it over and
saw nothing wrong with it. 1t was sent
to the wrapping department and was
man to report at the office. Examina
ton showed a line of defective threads
about an inch from one end and not
over three inches long, hardly noticea-
Bile except by close attention, and easily
concealed in making up a dress The
salesman gave it sling under the coun-
ter and with detected vsage cut off an
other piece. Whether he was discharged
OF not. the writer never inquired, but
his face showed that he anticipated trou
BILE of some sort.
That is the way Stewart made his
money. That is the way the fruit grow
ers and packers of all kinds in Europe
make their money. All successful busi-
ness of any magnitude in the United
States is managed on the same princi-
pie. The buyer must know what he is
getting and be sure of it without going
through the packages. No matter how
nice things may look, they must be put
up to keep. And no matter how we'll
they may keep they must look nice. The
quality is, OF course, important, but
looks are equally so. Whether they
should be or not has nothing to do with
it. We are here to make money and not
to reform human nature.
Why is it that California cannot learn
so simple a lesson? Of course we are
learning something, but oh, how slowly!
Within a month we shall see boxes of
cherries on our streets that are even
worse in packing than they were twenty
years ago. Then the fine ones were SO
disposed at the top of the box as to make
some effort to deceive the buyer. Now
the arrangement has degenerated into
a mere matter of style, with one thin
layer or two Of nice cherries on the top