Then assume that the goods bought and sold are information in all its varieties, shipped digitally down the same networks.
Local supermarkets, he said, are far more likely to stock varieties shipped from thousands of miles away than the fruit grown in their backyards.
Valencias also have been pounded by increased competition from other offshore fruit and citrus varieties shipped to the United States during the summer, when the oranges have traditionally been at the height of their season.
The average Variety ship is no more than 25-30 candns and the ships dock at small ports at each destination, so cruisers avoid the large tourist-trap ports of call and get a much more authentic experience of each island.
After going through a variety of shipping partners, it tried another tactic: printing an image of a flat-screen TV on the box.
Last year 46m pounds of blue swimming crab, a species similar to the Atlantic variety, were shipped to America: twice the amount imported in 2000.
Clearly there's some demand because modest quantities of Italia, an old seeded variety, are shipped from California and Italy, and a round, pinkish, Israeli-bred seedless muscat, Mystery, is imported from Chile in March and April.
The tender, juicy, richly flavoured pulp is abundant in vitamin C. Some varieties ship well.
But good mail-order nurseries, which offer a wider selection of more unusual varieties, will ship both spring and fall bloomers in early spring.
Billed as an early summer fruit, shipping varieties of apricot settle in around the country in June, and vanish before they are run out of town.
