The Florida agriculturist., 1907-07-17

ing strawberries. That year the crop
in this section was unusually heavy,
and prices therefore ruled very low.
When | came to town there were 30
wagon loads on the market, and still
coming; berries sold from three to
five cents per quart. [ had some fine
large Jessie and Bubach, and got six
cents for them. After being sold out
I walked into a store, where I saw
large display marked from five to seven
a separate counter, was a small lot
to behold, laid in tiers in the basket,
turned up, laid closely together, every
berry seemingly of the same large size,
and filled so full there was no room
for another berry in the basket; the
attractivenesS was revelation to me.
| went home; there 12O quarts, as fine
berries as those I saw in town, were
already picked for next days market,
but they were not filled as we'll, nor
as nicely graded, and not as attract
lively put up as those in town. | went
to work at once, reflled and put up
the berries as [ had seen the others
in town. When done I had 81 quarts
frsts, Is quarts seconds, and 10 quarts
Of empty baskets. lost 10 quarts
by filling baskets the new way. | went
to town the next day; the market was
in the same glutted condition, but [
asked and received readily 10 cents
per quart [ got seven cents per quart
for my seconds, the 1O5 quarts sold
for $9.95; had I left the same berries
in the 100 baskets I should have re-
ceived 72O for them | do not retah;
| sell all my stuff to grocers and
dealers. Having my load sold I went
into the store to collect, but had to
wait quite a while, as they were very
busy. Here I had a chance to see
what people really want. Strawberries
were marked from five to seven cents;
mine were marked 121s cents. To
prove to you that people will pay
big price for a fine article honestly
put up more cheerfully than a lower
price for an inferior ARTICLE, [ was sur
prlsed to notice that everyone who
bought berries took mine, and paid
l2E cents for them, leaving the five
and seven-cents berries until all mine
were sold except a half bushel, WHICH
the grocer put back under the counter
saving them, as he said, for special
customer. One lady ordering five
quarts OF berries spoke up and said
.Ot course they are so much nicer
than those others, but it seems the
difference in the price is very big"
The grocer said: IT make one-half
cent more on the cheap berries than I
do on those-you will have to quarrel
with that man." turning to me- ''He
puts that high price on them" The
lady looked at me as though she was
waiting for an explanation, so I told
the grocer to select one basket of his
cheap berries and put them on the
scale and weigh it. He did so, and
announced the weight 'Now," I said,
''select any one of my baskets and
weigh it, He did so, and there were
SA ounces more fruit in my basket
than in the other. ''Now,' l said to
the lady, ''you see you pay that higher
price not only for select fruit, but
you get more of it, She was fully
convinced and highly pleased. The
grocer then contracted for my whole
crop and bought from me ever since
Attract1veness a Business Factor
The above little experience proved a
stepping stone to my success of selling
stuff. Everything [ sell I put up as
attractively as it can be done, sparing
no time or labor. l fill all packages
as full as it is possible to fill them; I
allow not poor specimen to go into
a package that | fill Even if one
does not do it for conscience sake
or because he wants to pive EVERYONE