Shipments are made on "f.o.b." or track sale, on consignment, or on joint account. The first plan of outright sale is the most desirable and is possible where there is enough business at a given point to attract buyers or where grades and business standing are well enough established to assure the purchaser of what he is getting. When the quality of the product is uncertain or when markets are glutted, consignment must be resorted to. Under this plan, the shipper owns the goods until the receiver makes a sale and all the risks up to this point are his. There are many consignment houses of high character if the shipper will take the trouble to find them instead of shipping to any one who writes a good letter, and there is vigorous competition in the trade. These factors make it possible to secure fairly good service most of the time. Joint account selling, where shipper and receiver agree on how returns shall be divided, is sometimes undertaken where mutual acquaintance justifies it.
Selling on distant markets is more complex and difficult than local selling for many reasons. Shoving crates off the wagon into the car and forgetting them is not selling. Co-operative organization has helped many communities through pooling of resources, standardizing, grading and packing the product, encouraging better field practices, and securing the services of able managers and salesmen.
Local Selling
A very small amount of produce is sold by producers directly to the consumer at his home, but the roadside market has greatly developed retail activity by growers. Here fine quality, attractive appearance, moderate prices, and fair dealing are effective in building business. Stands that plan to "fleece them as they pass" do not last long. It is the return business that counts. The bulk of local selling is done directly to retailers—grocers or hucksters—either at market or store-door. The costliness of this system is being realized and local commission business is growing, in many cases through the establishment of commission houses co-operatively owned and managed by growers, as in Providence, Cleveland, Chicago and other markets.
Some effort has been made to increase the use of tomatoes as has been successfully done with oranges and bananas. These efforts have been sporadic and results have been hardly more consistent than the efforts. Co-operative publicity, especially at times when large quantities are to be moved, would seem to offer fine possibilities. Growers of some crops are finding chain store groups very ready to help in moving out large volumes of produce when the supply is large.
Cannery Selling
Cannery sales are generally made at a stipulated price on contracts closed in advance of planting. These contracts have usually devoted more words to protecting the interests of the packer than those of the grower, largely because the grower has accepted the canner's initiative with little question. Farseeing companies have been fair in enforcement of terms and liberal in their dealings, realizing that prosperity must be mutual for the highest success. A few canners have contract provisions that enable the grower to share in prices realized for the packed product when they rise beyond a certain figure. Too many canners have lacked vision, however, and have taken all they could get. Farmers have known little about costs and so have frequently been lured by the prospect of cash return even though they see no money until the packed tomatoes are actually sold. During recent years, much has been learned about the business side of growing for cannery purposes and the knowledge has been made available through extension channels. Growers have shown some tendency to organize and some canners welcome this movement as helping them to set their affairs on a plane of definite understanding. Canners have suffered sadly through failure of growers to live up to contracts if it suited them better to evade the terms, and organization helps greatly to develop the producer's sense of responsibility. Indiana has formed a federation of locals, but an organization movement in another state failed, more because the directors and members did not live up to their duties than through opposition of certain hostile canners. Co-operation in this field has the same possibilities, requirements and dangers as in other fields. With time and experience, co-operation will be an increasing and beneficial factor in the business.
In some sections, most of the cannery tomatoes are sold on open market, and in others, the early part of the crop is free for local sale or shipment. This arrangement would seem to have possibilities for further development by the use of good plants and good culture.