Transactions at the Annual Meeting. 95 



would be improved, and added to this, half the shipping expenses 

 would be saved. This is where the Michigan, Ohio and New 

 York fruit growers gain the advantage over us. By close sorting 

 and careful handling they get better returns from their shipments, 

 keep up the reputation of their fruit, and not only save expense 

 on their inferior fruit by keeping it at home, but in many cases 

 they utilize it and make more from it than we do on our best. 

 As an illustration of this, notwithstanding the abundance of fruit 

 the past season, it is said that the Alden fruit-drying factories in 

 Michigan have paid on an average twenty and twenty-three cents 

 per bushel for windfalls, culls and second class apples. These 

 factories are located in nearly all the large towns in the fruit 

 region, and work up large quantities of fruit at a profit to their 

 owners and to the fruit growers. Can we not in this wav utilize 

 much of the fruit which goes to waste or is sold at very low rates 

 in years of abundance, and thus turn what we term over produc- 

 tion, to good accouut? The fruit now raised may not be sufficient 

 to warrant the building of large factories, but small ones can be 

 put up at a moderate expense, and even portable home dryers 

 might be used to advantage, working a large amount with a small 

 outlay. 



Fruit Statistics. — It may be of interest and also valuable as 

 a matter of record, to state here, briefly, some of the statistics 

 gathered by the Chamber of Commerce, showing approximately 

 the transactions in the leading varieties of fruit in the Chicago 



markets the past season : 



Value. 



Peaches, 2,000,000 packages $1 ,000 ,000 



Apples, 1,000,000 barrels 2,250,000 



Pears, 200,000 packages 150,000 



Strawberries, 20,000,000 quarts 2, 000, 000 



Raspberries, 3,500,000 quarts 467,500 



Blackberries, 12,000,000 quarts 1 ,500,000 



"Whortleberries, 3,200,000 quarts 320, 000 



Grapes, 10,000,000 pounds 400,000 



Cherries, 100,000 bushels 250 ,000 



Cranbeiries, 60,000 barrels 420, 000 



Apples, evaporated, 1,000,000 pounds 100, OOo 



Apples, dried, 12,000,000 pounds 720, 000 



Fruit of other kinds, dried, 6,420,000 pounds 421 ,000 



Canned fruits of various kinds 1 ,752, 500 



Foreign fruit of various kinds 2,303,300 



California fruit of various kinds 813,500 



These with the minor kinds of fresh fruit which have been 

 omitted, foot up a total value of $16,692,800. 



