example, several said that California 3's were as large as Florida

 2 1/2's. This does not appear to be a major detriment to Florida's

 competitive situation, but it is a slight "confusion factor" that

 probably does not help the Florida industry. Standardized sizes

 would tend to facilitate direct price comparisons where Florida has

 a decided advantage due to transportation differentials.


 Celery Purchases by Retailers and Wholesalers

 This section examines retailers and wholesalers' celery purchases

 with respect to product type, i.e., whole stalks versus hearts, and

 with respect to type of packaging for whole stalks.

 Ratio of Whole Stalks to Hearts


 On the average, retailers in Philadelphia and Detroit purchase

 and subsequently sell 82 percent of their celery volume as whole stalks

 and the remaining 18 percent as hearts (Table 14). Most of the larger

 firms in these two cities estimated their whole-stalk volume to be 75

 to 80 percent of the total and the remaining 20 to 25 percent hearts.

 However, smaller firms reported no heart sales or else a very small

 proportion sold as hearts.

 Boston retailers were found to buy and sell substantially more

hearts. On the average, 58 percent of the Boston retailers' celery

volume was whole stalks and 42 percent hearts (Table 14). Retailers'

sales in Boston ranged from 30 percent to 56 percent. Smaller Boston

firms tended to report proportionately greater heart sales in con-

trast to small firms in Philadelphia and Detroit.