Lower coast gazette., 1913-09-13
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER ls, 1912,
p,ao,,ernjne Paris1's Problem.

side it stands as the cnlef orange ploaoe-
section of the state and is very faVoraoly
loeo+od for the production of all kinds OF truck
oordan products. Our citizens seem to thor
o,,oblv comprehend this, but lamentations are
oluyavs heard to the effect that the truck garden
;,o interest paws once in q while, but not very
often We have repeatedly endeavored 10 ana
Two ,his matter and see if there was any saileht
cause for the frequent losses reported. IL iao
a]ways seemed to US that il 1t were IN any way
of doubtful ~propriety for a sugar planter 70 coh,
Gno himself exclusively to sugar cane 1t was al
tho more 50 of doubtful ~propriety for a truck
gardener to confne himself to any one paruco-
lar crop. Not only should every possible aiuc.e
he produced by the truck gardeners 1f 'heii
own consumption, but in addition thereto thel
chief production should be of a sufficient range
to so divide the risks as not to Involve u'ehl ~
any one great loss that might spell rum II the
end.
A few years back large profits were reported
in cucumbers and many persons OUT o1aef crops
and went into cucumbers. Then flne heao let
tuce became a great success ara cur tlueA gu
daners scuYried away into that crop. warm
weather and rains came and the head lettuce
went info seed heads and the crop YVES u9pfont-
able.
LATER on. as conviction began to grow IN the
minds of our truck gardeners that the pfohtS III
the business were very much restricted py liese
losses, some of them went out OF the BUSINESS
and went to the city seeking other employment.
We learn now that their expefiInentsh city l'!s
have not been very satisfactory and that PROB
ably some of the truck gardeners OF four or hVe
wears ago will be back in the parish again this
wear or next. endeavoring to make q living IN
der the blue skies Of P%laqueminess Parish where
a living is practically assured to everyone.
The complaint which seems to be the best
founded is the difficulty in securing adequate
distribution and in placing the products OF the
truck gardeners in tee hands Of the consumers
at a sufficiently low price to largely increase the
consumption. In this connection it has occur
red to US that as each side of the river has its
own railway, It would be well to organize q
Truck Gardeners Association on each side OF
the river and each association could elect q sales
AGENT Of intelligence; could then send him TO the
CITY and there hire a salesroom, or one or more
stalls in the French market and thus lnausuraIe
the direct intercourse between the truck grow
es in the parish ard the consumers III the CITY
and more particularly the larger consumers who
would come to the French market, or to some
selected location, in order to get fresh and cheap
supplies.
One objection that arises to this is the pos
sibility of favoritism, the possibility that the
agent would favor his own goods, or his FAM
ily's, or those of his immediate friends and that
the remoter ones would suffer. This somewhat
difficult matter could he overcome by a gulcA
mitted salesman registering everything that
came in as to the time Of its arrival and the
current prices at that time, he subsequently &c
do the best he could with ali of the goods ar
irving, the gains or losses to or from the as
sessed value to be divided proportloEatey
among the sales Of each day, in this mannel
assuring everyone a square deal ana as 1he
losses or profits would be all shared in proper
ton to TIE amount Of business done, it Woult
then become simply a problem as to Whethe
that method Of selling could be made a success
Incidentally some carefully complied rules 0
regulations would be required. For instance
perishable property should be sold on the da
of its arrival, for fear of resulting damage
This would lead to many afternoon sales at yer
low prices, the losses on which would have I
be shared with those sales made earlier in tn
day. This to some may seem of uncertal
propriety, but a careful analysis would sho'
that there lies behind the whole scheme simpl
the desire to bring the sellers and buyers close
together and on open valuations that wouI
speak for themselves.
If cucumbers Of the first grade sold at a do
lar a crate in the morning and fell to SO cen
in the afternoon, the actual average of II
price then should obtain for all of the sales
that day, as the sales would in degree interfe
with each other, but the results should be a
piled to the produce in proportion to its valu
ton when first recorded. If cucumbers OF t
first grade were held at a dollar and those lie
good at 80 cents and those still less good at
cents and if all of them had to be sold at low
prices, the quantities and qualities should