Daily Kennebec journal., 1913-12-26
Valuable Suggestions from
A Man Of Experience.
A KennebeC Raiser Of Fruit and
Way He Grades Apples.
Received S4.t0 a Barrel for Crop
This Year..His Little Joke.
Editor Kennebec Journal:

How to market fruit to advantage so
as to get the most out of it is quite O.
problem. First raise good fruit, but
am not going to tell you how to do
that: you have been told how q thou
sand times and, IL after all the in
gtruction you have had, you don't
know how, you will never know, Per-
haps you are like myself and good
many others; we know how but we
don't practice what we do know.
But how to market; that's the ques-
ton. First, select your firm, whether
in the home or foreign market, and
when you are satisfied with results,
stick to that house like burr. There
is nothing gained by jumping from one
firm to another. 1t takes time to es-
tablish a good reputation for packing
and marketing apples or any other
fruit. 1t can't be done in a minute nor
in one year. Several years ago l was
in Portland looking UP a representative
CT a good house in Liverpool / found
him and he gave me good sound hon
est advice; told me all the ins and
outs of the business of shipping and
said if I concluded to ship, his house
would be pleased to handle my fruit.
| also ran across at that time, j. l.
Libby of Portland. He said it took him
eight years to learn how to pack and
market apples to the best advantage
and he was a large buyer and shipper.
Says he: Il am not going to advise
you what to do, but if you don't ship,
1 will buy your apples. His experience
was most discouraging, but l came
home determined to try and did try;
shipped a car lot and made SITS over
and above what would have received
had I sold to a buyer or speculator.
The rext year / lost all I had raised
the year previous: but nothing daunt-
ed have kept right on shipping near
ly every year since with very satis-
factory results.
Mere and better still, several of my
neighhors have joined with me and we
have formed-not on paper-a sort of
combination or cooperative associa
tion whereby we are in honor bound to
5tanG by each other and give the cold
shoulder to the apple speculater. Apple
buyers or middle men are all right and
frequently necessity, but where it
can be done it is best to eliminate him
from the game.
Now having settled the question of
the commission house you desire to
patronize dhere are scores of good
houses on both sides of the water) be-
gin to pack your apples and do it hon.
eStlN, according to law It Is very
simple. Put no wormy fruit into a No.
l barrel, no matter how large the ap.
pie. nor one off color: they must go
into No. 2 barrel; the better your No
Is are the better your No. 2s will be.
a small wormy apple is no good and
large one with two or more worm
holes must be thrown out.
Only three classes of apples as a
rtle are recognized in, the large brok-
eraEe houses in Liverpool: No. l. No
and unclassified, but all stock must
be sound and arrive in good condition
TO bring the highest price. AS | said.
we have Joined hands in this neigh
eora2od and send together to the same
house, each man packing his own ap-
PIES, stencllling the name of the va
rety, the name of his farm and his
own name plainly on the faced end of
the barrel.
When they arrive at the brokerage
"A,
whole barrelful into a large basket
on a long table around which sit the
bidders. No man is allowed to bid for
less than 20 barrels but for as MANY
more as he may wish. Those we sent
this year netted back to Portland all
the way from 1919 to s4.10 per barrel
The one USUALLY beaten) who received
the highest price-s41o-also received
word that his little lot of 105 barrels
sold the best of any on board the ship
there were several thousand) by 22
cents per barrel. That so set him nm
that for time he didn't know wheth
er he was on Water street, Hallowell
or Water street, Augusta. He almost
lost his head and something more val
uab bic, his pocketbook. But after tn :.
excitement was over, both were re
stored to their usual tranquility.