The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1900-03-13
No 5

other hand, had they been put up in
nice new sacks Of uniform size the diff
ference in price would have paid the
shipper a handsome profit for his pains
and the small extra expense.
In placing our truck before the peo.
pie we should not be unmindful of the
tastes, fancies and peculiarities of cur
patrons-we should study their re-
qutrements and always meet them,
lst as the store keeper who decor ates
q window to draw trade. Just go we
ehould beautity our fruits, vegetables
and packages to attract the attention
of the trade in our line. Such as this
applies not only to fruits, vegetables,
&c, but to every thing. We find cat
tlemen buying steers for market as
nearly the same siz9 and color as ig
possible, and go on. Again, what Chi
cago demands in the Style Of packing
and packages Omaha might possibly
not care for at all, ana what Omaha
might go wild over New York wouldn't
have. So these little points should be
carefully considered, and while we
cannot ill the requirements cf all these
differences as regards the style and
shape of packages, still we can fill the
+, qlirements that all Of the markets
demand, and that is cleanliness, neat.
ness and uniformity
Don't lose sight of the fact that the
fruit and vegetables you ship are to be
eaten, that every one else is just as par
ticular about what they eat as you are
and that the looks of the package will
have a great deal to do with the price
the buyer will give for the goods. Our
readers will be surprised when we tell
them that we have seen tomatoes come
into the San Antonio market packed in
boxes that had been allowed TO remain
un der the chicken roost for a season.
1t is useless for us to tell you also that
they were hard to dispose of and that
they were allowed to remain in the
hands Of the commission merchant un.
til all the other stuff Of like kind
"O+O 04SROSC0 OkU LUG E6u40 EOAo hp-
plies to neatness Of vegetables as it
does to neatness of anything else The
good farmer keeps his mules we'll and
nicely s1eared and curried, fat and
sleek; the good housewife keeps on her
clean, nice, neat calico or checked
dress. and above all a nice, clean
apron; keeps the children clean and
neat, the rooms and b3ds in good shape.
So prepare your truck just like youex
pected to accompany il to market and
be present when the purchaser dives
into it to see what is In the case, and
you won'S miss it, for egain remember
that your truck cannot possibly look
as nice to disinterested party as il
does to you, which is another thing
that should stimulate you to take more
care In the preparation Ct it.
After neatness and Witness comes
uniformity. OF the three above i'm
portant points uniformity takes the
lead uniformity of color, size and
package-uniformity OF every thing,
including uniformity Of ripeness. Some
of our Texas people geeEn to think that
most any kind Of box will do to chip
any thing in, and lot of sacks that
will hold a potato will do to ship and
SILL potatoes in. We have seen cars Of
potatoes come into our market in sacks,
some Of which would weigh IS pounds
per SACK and others that would weigh
l60 pounds, varying between these two
stzes. Now the shipper would bluah
with shame to see these sacks set up in
a row and see the dissimilarity in size
and looks. So bad dOes such as this
look in the eyes of the purchaser that
We firmly believe that good, new, well
filed sacks, of uniform size will pay
100 per cent. profit on the investment
for sacks. We can clearly see from
the above that frequently the commits
sion man is cursed for our own mis-
makes. We cannot be too careful.
When we do all these things we will
find that in acting perfectly honest to-
ward the buyers Of our truck, which
will always pay 100 per cent. more
than dishonesty; it matters not how
many times we may succeed in deceiv.
ing people, we can't do it long. About
the greatest dish onesty we have ever
been able to discover is with the apples
of the North, where great many of
them pack small fruit in the center
and face them with magnificent fruit
this caper is cut only once with a
purchaser and no more.
Pack your stuff so it will not rattle,
by all means. In the first place if you
don't do this the truck is liable to ruin
in transit, but the greatest objection ia