The most skillful production is in vain if marketing is not done well. At the same time, the quality of the goods is the principal factor in making the price and in moving the goods. Even then, if costs in production and marketing are too high, the enterprise is a failure.

The differences between high and low quotations on the same market the same day, are usually fairly wide,—say, $1.75 to $2.50; or $0.75 to $1.25; or $0.20 to $0.25 per basket. These differences are sufficient to make the difference between profit and loss. Small differences in quality of the product, in handling and dress-up of the market pack and skill in finding buyers may easily result in price differences as great or greater than those indicated.

Harvesting

Picking in the field calls for the closest care and supervision to prevent damage to the fruits and vines. Stems should be removed to avoid punching other fruits, and long finger-nails do great harm by cutting the skin and admitting infection. Containers should not be too large to be handled conveniently. Round half-bushel stave baskets and galvanized pails are excellent. Baskets made of quarter-inch staves rather than veneer are smooth and durable, but the investment is rather heavy unless dumping is resorted to. In practice, all sorts of boxes and crates are used, often the package that is used for marketing. No container as deep as a bushel basket should be used.

The stage of ripeness at which tomatoes are picked depends upon the time and distance to market. For home use or local market, fruit may range from the first turn to almost fully colored.

A few growers pick at the turn and use ripening rooms to prepare for local selling. In this way cracking, injury by soil, by insects, and by uneven coloring are avoided. Fruits are wiped and handled with less loss and may even be washed if need be.

Fully ripened fruit will not stand handling and hauling and will quickly deteriorate, reaching the consumer in bad condition.

For cannery, full ripening is desired with even coloring. MacGillivray[18] has shown that success in this is largely a matter of care in picking. Cracking and slight softening are not serious defects for this purpose, but molds and bacteria in broken places are serious as they throw the product out of grade or occasion rejection.

Picking Green

Most tomatoes for long distance shipment, are picked before color appears,—at the mature-green stage. One of the great difficulties is to judge this stage correctly; to train ordinary labor to pick by maturity and not by size. Immature-green tomatoes ripen slowly and do not achieve good appearance or table quality.

It is almost impossible to describe the ear marks of a mature-green tomato. Most of those usually cited are of doubtful value—glossy surface, whitish cast of color and the dark ring at the stem scar. The jelly-like or mucilaginous material in the seed cells has sufficiently developed in a mature green tomato so that the fruit may be sliced without cutting seeds. Of course, the tomato is ruined but the method can be used to check one's judgment based on the exterior. Also, one can learn by laying aside tomatoes judged mature-green and immature-green to ripen.

Some efforts have recently been made in Florida to pick tomatoes at the turn, that is, at the first show of color, a practice suggested by Sando[19] some years ago. This should provide fruits of uniform degree of maturity, that would be about ready to sell on arrival and it would eliminate the serious problem of immature-greens. It would require more frequent picking of fields and there could be no delay in packing. There would, doubtless, also be problems of temperature and ventilation in transit. Results of tests thus far have been rather encouraging.

Ripening

Green wrap tomatoes are received at terminal markets by produce houses that have special ripening rooms where temperature is kept at about 70°, with high humidity to prevent wilting or shriveling. Ethylene gas is used by some to hasten ripening. It does not change the nature of the process, merely speeding it up. Some of these repackers have elaborate equipment for sorting and packing.

The tomatoes, on arrival, are shaken out of their paper wraps. Any that have ripened in transit are taken out and packed while the greens go into the ripening rooms. They may have to be sorted over two or three times as ripening progresses.

The ripening process in tomatoes has been rather thoroughly studied. Sando found that tomatoes ripen uniformly, regardless of size, at a certain age, dating from the setting of the fruit. This time, which, of course, varies according to weather conditions, was eight weeks when the studies were made. Ripening is accompanied by an increase in moisture, acids and sugars, with decrease of solids, nitrogen, starch, pentisans, crude fibre and ash. Sugars increase from about a quarter to about half of the dry weight. Chemical analysis did not show differences sufficient to account for the difference in quality between vine-ripened fruit and green fruit ripened in the laboratory. Lack of ventilation seems to be detrimental.

It is commonly held that tomatoes chilled without freezing will not ripen satisfactorily afterward. This belief is discounted by results of Wright and associates and of Platenius who found little effect of low temperatures upon later ripening.

Wright[20] and Platenius[21] have both found that tomatoes should not be stored at low temperatures, 50° to 60° F. being best. Storage is not likely to be satisfactory for more than a month.

Waxing

Waxing of tomatoes by immersion in a dilute water emulsion of paraffine and carnauba waxes is being tried out with very promising results. Waxes are also dissolved in volatile hydrocarbons and sprayed on. Moisture loss and shriveling are materially retarded, and interference with the ripening process is negligible. The wax coating is very thin, adds an attractive gloss and is entirely harmless.

Grading

It is generally true that at market the poorest products in a given lot tend to fix the price. When the buyer finds a few inferior specimens he assumes there are many more. Imperfect and diseased specimens infect others. Grading enhances the appearance of the pack.

Of course, the grower who picks marketable tomatoes and leaves unmarketable fruits on the vine is engaged in a form of grading—informal and subconscious. Methods may range from this simple practice to the elaborate schemes adopted in large packing houses. There is no difficulty in adopting methods for the farm that are easily managed and perfectly practical. In general, two grades to sell represent a good plan, leaving culls at home unless prices are high and there is good demand for them. The set-up may involve no more than a worker at a table with three baskets—one with tomatoes from the field; another for #1's and a third for #2's. The worker may well use a cotton flannel glove or cloth to wipe the tomatoes and the fruits should be placed in layers to bring the package to a good face. With some practice, this slows the operation but very little. Shed packing should be more common than it is though the practice seems to be gaining.

Shippers scattered from Cuba and California to New York state have packing houses set up to all degrees of elaborateness. Some have machines and conveyors that wash, sort for size, provide for hand sorting for grade and deliver to bins for packing. Experienced packers advance with the season from Florida to Lake Erie. These workers become almost incredibly expert and speedy. It is not uncommon for a worker to pick up, wrap and place in the lug box 60 or 70 tomatoes per minute—not as a show-off but in course of regular work.

The federal government has worked out and published standards for the grades of tomatoes along with most other vegetables. These standards are practical and have found wide acceptance as furnishing common language between seller and buyer, especially for long distance shipment. The one who grades may, however, set up a standard of his own to meet the needs of his conditions and market.

U.S. Standards for cannery tomatoes are widely used as a basis of payment to the grower and this practice is to be commended.

Packaging

The lug box has almost wholly replaced the older 6-basket carrier and 4-basket flat for shipment of tomatoes. It is in almost every respect, a good package for tomatoes. It is built with solid board ends, with veneer or sawed sides, bottom and cover. Cleats on the ends serve to raise the lids so that a bulge pack will not be injured by pressure. Veneer covers and bottoms are held together by stitched veneer cross pieces. The lug box is packed in three layers and holds about 30 pounds net of tomatoes though it is often over-packed to carry considerably more. The bulge pack is desirable only so far as it is necessary to insure a tight pack and to take up the small shrinkage that takes place in transit. Ordinarily, it goes beyond this. It results in delivery of more tomatoes than are paid for, and in bruising because the top center is too high.

The late M. R. Ensign in Florida, was working with a wire-bound lug to carry 20 pounds of tomatoes in two layers without bulge.

The lug box is packed in three layers and the size of fruits is designated by the number of tomatoes each way,—6 x 6, 6 x 7, and 7 x 7 being the commonest sizes. Each tomato is wrapped in a square of tissue paper which may or may not be printed. The principal advantage of the paper is to cushion the pack and protect the tomatoes against rubbing and abrasion. Where tomatoes are small, U.S. Standards provide for "bridge pack" or partial extra layers, for extra rows and for double wraps or two tomatoes in one paper.

Lug boxes were formerly loaded lengthwise of the car but are now generally loaded crosswise,—that is, the side of the box is crosswise throwing the heavy endwise thrust against the substantial end of the box. Thin strips are nailed between layers, butting against the sides of the car to prevent shifting of the load and closing of ventilation channels. Refrigerated cars are generally used but icing is not usual.

A few shipping sections, notably New Jersey, still use the 12-quart climax basket for tomatoes.

Local markets use various containers for tomatoes,—the Boston bushel box; a half bushel of the same depth also used in New England; lug boxes; the Jersey tomato crate; and very commonly, 8 and 12-quart square braid veneer market baskets. Peach baskets and bushel baskets are now used but little, being too deep for good carrying. The diamond market basket of earlier years has about disappeared—being too flexible and not suited for stacking. The square braid with suitable cover may be stacked very satisfactorily in trucks but is hardly substantial enough for rail shipment.

Hot house tomatoes travel in square braid, climax or paper fibre baskets, now rather commonly, the latter. The Cleveland section sells some millions of baskets of 8-quart capacity but carrying 8 pounds of tomatoes in two layers, usually with stems on, usually wrapped and sometimes with a paper divider between layers.

Cannery tomatoes move in field crates belonging to the canner or, in Jersey, in 5/8 bushel baskets, about as awkward a container as could be readily devised unless it should be the Jersey tomato crate with its two cover strips permanently fastened.

Repack tomatoes are sometimes replaced in lugs or in half lugs. Ten pound corrugated cartons are widely used, newer and fancier packs being but one layer deep. Fruits are wrapped with paper or cellulose film. An increasing proportion of repacks are now put up in one-pound cartons with a window of cellulose film, carrying four or five tomatoes. A variation is a paper tray wrapped with cellulose film.

Good marketing calls for a good label for whatever package is used. These are usually pasted on the package. Paper containers are often printed directly but the problem of misuse of second hand packages is coming to the fore.

Selling

Success in selling demands in the producer the qualities which we ordinarily expect in the business man. The good grower is a business man if he succeeds, and this will be more true in the future than in the past, as competition increases. It is necessary to judge the men one deals with, forming estimates as to reliability and character. Mutual confidence is essential to satisfactory dealings. It is worth while to study the produce business and to learn its ins and outs, reading a trade paper, talking with dealers, and making trips to markets.

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.