506 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



THE APPLE OUTLOOK.* 



By J. B. Hickman, County Horticultural Commissioner, Aromas, Cal. 



The apple outlook for the season just opening is somewhat better than 

 the showing of 1914, mainly because the crop of the entire country is 

 about 25 per cent less than last season, and possibly because of better 

 distribution assured by organization in our chief apple-growing sections. 

 The standard pack will doubtless send much of the so-called "choice" 

 pack of the past to the dryer, to which it would be well if much of the 

 B grade stock went also. 



As indications point to a better outlook for dried apples than for 

 green, it would seem advisable for growers to determine early to dry all 

 but fancy apples. This would enable dryers to begin operations earlier, 

 thus working up stock in season, instead of waiting until many varieties 

 mature, during which time apples of earlier delivery become unfit to 

 M'ork up well. 



The disastrous season of 1914 eliminated many of the unstable pack- 

 ers, who felt that they must, at all hazards, realize every available asset 

 on any sort of trashy stock, so that we have reason to hope for saner 

 marketing. The standard inspection stamp, a guarantee of qualit}^ and 

 quantity, will insure against all poor stock. If now most of the growers 

 enter into association with either the Watsonville Fruit Distributors in 

 the Pa.jaro Valley, or some other organization, a minimum price may be 

 maintained ; underselling by means of consignment would be eliminated, 

 and fair returns secured. Distributing depots throughout the State 

 would bring the grower and consumer together, and our postal author- 

 ities might be induced to establish business rates, particularly in the 

 first two zones. The parcel post rate now on a box of apples is from 

 two to three times that charged by express companies, except in outer 

 delivery districts. Experience has shown that without such centers of 

 distribution, the intermediary profits and extra charges are wholly arbi- 

 trary, the final price to the consumer having no rational relation to the 

 sum paid the grower. These retail prices frequently become prohib- 

 itive, and some controlling influence is necessary to prevent curtailment 

 of consumption. To cite briefly: one apple dealer found apples, all of 

 the same brand, that he had sold for 65 cents per box, retailing at $1.00, 

 $1.50, and $2.25; and I know personally that 4^-tier apples sold by 

 commission men last season for 50 cents per box were retailed at 25 cents 

 per dozen. Instances such as these might be multiplied into thousands. 

 To controvert such practices and turn legitimate profits in the right 

 direction, many experiments on the grower-to-consumer plan are being 

 tried out. The following was recently brought to light: The manager 

 of an experimental farm prepared hampers containing six four-quart 

 baskets of assorted products, and expressed them to consumers at $1.50 

 delivered. He netted 98 cents per hamper, while by shipping them to 

 commission houses his net proceeds had varied from 4 to 8 cents per 

 hamper. The same produce in the city market would have cost the con- 

 sumer 70 cents to $3.00 more per hamper. Similar opportunties should 

 be open to us, as they assuredly will be as soon as amended postal rates 

 give cheap service for heavier packages over longer distances. 



*Address before the State Fruit Growers' Convention, Palo Alto, Cal., July, 1915. 



