24 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



we have grown, but tlie expense of caring for the trees and the harvest- 

 ing and marketing are correspondingly high. It is not uncommon to 

 get a yield of 500 or 600 cases to the acre and much larger yields are 

 sometimes obtained. 



The most critical time of the year for the ])roduction of cherries is 

 just as the blossoms are opening in the spring. They come out very 

 early and a cold storm at this time may injure the blossoms an<l prevent 

 the setting of the fruit. Sweet cherries are also apt to crack if we have 

 a rain just before they are ripe enough to pick and there is sometimes 

 considerable loss from this cause. 



In considering the money that may be made out of cherries we must 

 take into account the average for a term of years rather than Ihe prod- 

 uct of any single year. I think it is safe to say that sour cherries may 

 be grown up to the time they are ready to pick at an average cost of 



25 cents a case and sweet cherries at about 50 per cent more. The 

 cost of picking is 25 cents and the case 13 cents. The cost of looking 

 after the pickers and packing and delivering to the shipping stations 

 would bring the cost of a crate of sour cherries up to somewhere be- 

 tween 75 and 90 cents. Tliere would be little profit in selling them for 

 4 or 5 cents a pound, tlie price usually paid by the canning factories, 

 or about one dollar a case including the package. Cherries for the 

 canning factories are often put into baskets which are emptied and re- 

 turned to be refilled. 



Sweet cherries thougli more difficult to groAV Avill bring more money 

 on the market and especiall^^ so if care is exercised in packing and they 

 are graded up to a high standard. Carefully put in ten pound boxes 

 (about six quarts) they often bring from |1.50 to |2.50 a box. 



MARKETING. 



The most difficult ])roblem in connection with the cherry business is 

 in marketing the fruit. Nearly 200 car-loads of cherries were shipped 

 out of Traverse City last summer, most of them going to Chicago and 

 Detroit. These markets Avere kept full most of the time and often the 

 returns were not very satisfactory. It is coming to be evident that if 

 we are going to get anything like adequate returns for the cherries that 

 will soon be grown in the Grand Traverse Region we must adopt some 

 means for wider distribution of the crop and not send them all to one 

 or two points. An association has been organized in Traverse City 

 knoAvn as "The Grand Traverse Fruit and Ti'oduce Exchange," taking in 

 a radius of 50 miles around Traverse Cit3^ Tliis association '\'is recent- 

 ly closed a contract Avith ''The North American Fruit Excl) .nge" for 

 the marketing of our fruit and potatoes and other farm products. The 

 North American Fruit Exchange has lieadcpiarters in Ncav York Cit}' 

 and i«e})resentatives in all the leading marketing centers in the country. 

 A rigid system of inspection will be inaugurated to insure uniformity 

 in grading and packing. They promise to put our cherries and apples 

 into markets Avlicre tliey have never been known before. We are very 

 hopeful that this system will lead to better grading, Avider distribution 

 and larger returns. 



