Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-19
Says Market Plan
Causes High Prices
Continued FROM RAGE rne

"ut OF hNc- elghthS basket, instead of
ten quarter pecks.
Experts Distribute Blame
Experts seem inclined TO believe that
the blame for high prices ought to be
distributed all along the line. They are
the effect, say the men who have studied
markets most carefully, of wastcful.
old fashioned system. which sends food
commodities travelling back and forth
through many hands before they reach
tho hand Mt the dinner table.
The process of getting food from the
field to the market is bound to be a
complicated one in the big centers Of
population. philadclphians eat some
thing like forty carloads of potatoes
every day. Keeping tho metropolitan
dinner table supplied with the staples
Of life, to say nothing about tho lux.
uries, is tremendous big job.
Sometimes Several "Middlcmen"
dealer in carloads of producr--may work
on a straight commission basis or he may
buy tho consignment outright and sell
for what he can get. There are some
times several "middlemen,' however. to
take their profit out Of goods before they
go to the retailer.
The farmer who raises the crop takes
the first profit, Of course. Unless he
is very big farmer, however, he takes
his goods to near market and then
forgets about them.
In all the country districts are men
known as ''cOnCcntrators." They may
hn il, l,,e c., . .I..
may be acting as the agents for big
commission men in such cities as
Philadelphia and New York. They buy
what the farmer has to offer, assembling
it at the nearest rail head, and loading
it on cars for shipment.
If the concentrate" is in business
for himself, he waits until he has
car or two ready, then wires for
price to perhaps several big whole
salers. They quote him a price with
the understanding that the goods are to
arrive in sound condition. He closes
with them, and sends his produce off bv
freight. If he does not choose to sell
direct, he may send the consignment on
strictly commission basis.
If the concentrator is in business
as the agent of commission house, he
buys the produce in the name of his
employer, and ships it to the metropolis
in the same manner.
Big Farmer Acts Same Way
The farmer with large farm may
send individual consignments and may
follow either of the two methods de-
| yprthaI Ok NJ
| on a commission.
A thousand complaints have been
made by farmers over the evils OF the
commission system. They claim that
they receive almost nothing for their
products oftentimrs; that they are
swindlcd out of their just due: that
sometimes when they have paid for
packing and freight, they owe them
selves money.
All these things happen occasionally
Those who know, however, say that the
commission business has been put on n
steadily higher level during the last ten
years. There are instances every now
and then, however, Of sharp practice
and even fragrant dishonesty on the part
of individual commission men.
lIl't comparisons ElNtI DtlO" are
based on the report of the Bureau of
Markets of the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture for yesterday
The Bureau of Market quotations are
for large lots sold to jobbers. The
jobbers in turn sell them to retail mer-
chants, who sell them to the consumer
Take the cantaloupe as an instance.
It is in active demand right now,
though prices still are high. The Bu-
reau of Markets reports a price range
of from seventy five cents to 81 % for
fifty fours,' the smallest size, to 81
for forty fives. y The price quoted
is for crate, which runs the number
indicated; i. e., forty FIVE cantaloupes
in forty five etc.
Always Bad Cantaloupes
The retail merchant yesterday paid
from 1925 to 81 %, buying the better
varieties only. lie sold them at his
retail stores at ten, twelve and fifteen
cents apiece. There are always some
bad cantalOupes in a crate. on an aver
age from two or three to eight or ten.
Jobbers' quotations on apples, taking
just one variety, ranged from 81 to
81 40 a five eighths bushel basket on
the variety known as Stars. The dealer
quoted bought for $1.2J basket, paying
fifteen cents additional for the basket.
He sold them at twenty five cents
quarter peck. This would have been at
the rate of $3.50 a basket, provided
there had been no waste. AS n matter OF
fact, according to dealers, there is
waste almost invariably and the heap
ing up of the measure reduces the num-
ber of quarter -pecks to be got out of a
basket.
Blackberries, quoted by the Bureau
of Markets at from fifteen cents to
eighteen cents a quart, cost the dealer
nineteen cents quart wholesale. The
crate itself costs from thirty five to
forty cents, and there is no rebate for
the return of the crate itself. These
blackberries were sold to the consumer
for twenty five cents quart. The usual
wastage is one or two quarts out OF the
crate Of thirty two boxes.
l. Huckleberries were quoted by the
wholesalers at eighteen to twenty five
cents quart for Jersey and Pennsyl-
vania berries; fifteen to twenty cents
quart for Delaware berries. They cost
the retailer nineteen cents n quart and
he sold them for quarter.
String Beans Varying
String beans ranged widely yesterday
and have been varying greatly this last
few days. Yesterdays government
quotations were from twenty five to
ffr onnt. an X I,slyn ordinary Urapn