170 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



this year and these are the ones which will produce the fruit in the 

 future. — September, 1914. 



SELLING THE APPLE CROP OF 1914. 

 J. K. Duncan., 



What to do with the crop may be a pertinent question to 

 some grower. On another page will be found a summary of the condi- 

 tion in Nebraska and the U. S. Nebraska 'growers have a splendid 

 market here at home to handle all the fruit they will harvest this year. 

 This is a year when only the best grades should be packed in barrels 

 and the rest sold in bulk. Owing to the curtailment of the 

 foreign trade as an excuse buyers will be exceedingly slow 

 to buy in large quantities. The buyer figures that he may have to 

 change some of his methods of distribution and work through new 

 channels. This will take some time and will be an uncertain quantity 

 until after the most of the corp is picked. Hence he will be cautious 

 about loading up heavily on barreled or boxed fruit. It would seem that 

 the best thing for the grower to do under the circumstances would be to 

 either sell the entire crop in bulk; or barrel the best grade, put it in 

 cold storage, and sell the rest in bulk at picking time. After the 

 packed apples get to moving later in the winter and conditions become 

 settled barrel stock if it is good fruit will bring a good price. The 

 Nebraska grower has several conditions in his favor. The crop is light 

 both here and in the surrounding states. In other years these states 

 have been able to ship in what was lacking of our own crop. Our 

 growers have a reasonable freight rate and they can ship any where in 

 the state for a reasonable price. By selling fruit in bulk the cost of pack- 

 ing and packages is eliminated. If the fruit is handled carefully and 

 the cars are padded with straw and paper the apples will go through 

 to the destination in good condition. In shipping bulk apples care 

 should be taken in grading the same as in packing the fruit in barrels. 

 Only good sound fruit should be shipped. The inferior and wormy 

 fruit should be made into cider. A grower or association of growers 

 should be as careful of the kind of fruit that is shipped in the bulk as 

 the ones that go into the barrels. Conditions thisi year are abnormal. 

 Light crop in middle west and indications for prices ruling medium to 

 low for barreled stock during harvest time. In summing up the situa- 

 tion it would seem that the best grade fruit should be packed and stored 

 and the rest disposed of as bulk stock or as cider stock. In either 

 event where good fruit is grown and care taken in grading a good 

 price will prevail. Now is the time to convince Nebraska people of the 

 superiority of Nebraska fruit. In order to do this, good sound fruit 

 must be sold instead of knotty, gnarly, wormy apples. Don't kill the 

 goose that laid the golden egg. Furnish Nebraska consumers with the 

 best apples grown, namely well graded and well grown Nebraska apples. 

 • — September "Horticulture." 



