Page 10 



BETTER FRUIT 



Timely Advice on Marketing the Apple Crop 



[From Office of Markets, U. S. Department of Agriculture] 



ATTENTION is called to the- small 

 ciuantity of American apples — less 

 than 2,(M)(I,()U(I harrels— taken by Europe 

 in normal times. Both the growers and 

 dealers are urged to view the situation 

 with optimism and to prepare for the 

 disposal of Europe's usual portion in 

 other ways. It is suggested that with 

 judicious handling the demand at home 

 may bo increased and the commercial 

 crop marketed with relatively fair suc- 

 cess to all. As to just what constitutes 

 judicious handling, the Ollice of Mar- 

 kets makes the following suggestions: 



1. Growers should pick the fruit in 

 uniform condition, gleaning the trees 

 only for what is ready to come ofT, 

 repeating the process until the crop is 

 harvested. The advantage is to secure 

 a longer time for distribution and to 

 prevent the pack from representing ex- 

 treme stages of maturity ranging from 

 ripe to green. 



2. When pickeil the fruit should be 

 handled from orchard to cars in such 

 a way as to prevent deteiioration, care 

 being exercised to ijrotect the apples 

 from" the elements. It is explained that 

 under i)roper conditions fruit which is 

 picked toilay should not be packed until 

 tomorrow, and that for this purpose 

 shelter should be provided. 



3. Those using the barrel package 

 should uniforndy grade and pack the 

 crop in comidiance with the Sulzer law 

 and brand in accordance with its pro- 

 visions, for the purpose of creating a 

 feeling of confidence among dealers and 

 consumers. 



I. Inferior grades should be elimi- 

 nated from the green-fruit markets, not 

 only for the reason that the ilemand 

 for such grades will be very limited, 

 but also because their presence in the 

 markets will undoubtedly hamper prof- 

 itable disposition of the better fruit. 



,'). All apple growers, oijcrators, deal- 

 ers and associations should early arrive 

 at an estimate of true values in order to 

 secure quick movement. It is explained 

 that if arbitrarily high prices rule in 

 the beginning of the season, the crop 

 will not pass readily into consumption, 

 but that on the other hand abnormal 

 accumulation and congestion will oc- 

 cur throughout the channels of trade, 

 with disastrous results to all concerned. 



6. Onl\' standard varieties well 

 packed should be placed in cold 

 storage for the reason that prices 



likely to rule in the late fall and early 

 winter, as the inevitable result of lib- 

 eral ofl'erings of conuuon storage stock, 

 will probably limit the demand for 

 cold-storage apples until mid-winter. 



7. An efTort should be made to fully 

 sup:;ly small towns by direct sales in 

 order to secure a more uniform distri- 

 bution and avoid congesting the large 

 markets. Attention is called to the 

 practice in some sections of growers 

 who go with cars of apples to poorly- 

 supplied towns and sell on the track. 

 Growers or dealers who desire to use 

 this system should apph' to the town 

 and railway authorities for informa- 

 tion as to regulations controlling such 

 sales, and, if conditions justify ship- 

 ping, the arrival of the car should be 

 preceded by judicious advertising. 



8. Growers who live in comnuinities 

 where co-operative organizations are 

 operated should do all possible to 

 strengthen these exchanges. It is as- 

 serted that the disloyalty of members 

 is the chief element of failure in co- 

 operative enterprises, and growers are 

 strongh urged to support their associa- 

 tion as the best way to efTect satisfac- 

 tory distribution. 



Those who grade, pack and brand 

 their barrels in accordancet with pro- 

 visions of the Sulzer law should be 

 more successful in making quick and 

 satisfactory sales than otherwise. When 

 apples are packed in a standard barrel 

 as established by Section 1 of the 

 Sulzer law, and are plainly and con- 

 si)icuously marked as containing one 

 barrel of apples of one of the standard 

 grades described in Section 2, such a 

 statement, if true, would constitute a 

 satisfactory compliance with the Net 

 Weight Amentlment to the Food and 

 Drugs Act. Otherwise the package, if 

 intended for interstate conunerce, must 

 be marked to comply with the Net 

 Weight Amendment to show the quan- 

 tity of the contents, either by w'cight 

 or by dry measure or by numerical 

 count. A statement of numerical count 

 must be ([ualilied by the size of the 

 ai)ples expressetl as the average diam- 

 eter in inches to be a statement of 

 ((uantity. 



With respect to Europe, the Ollice of 

 Markets urges exporters to carefully 

 watch the movement and assure them- 

 selves of steamer space and a demand 

 on the other side before making 



September 



shipments. Latest announcements of 

 steamship eomi)anies are to the effect 

 that fairly regular schedules will be 

 maintained between .America and the 

 United Kingdom. 



American api)lc shippers are advised 

 to stimulate the demand and increase 

 their shipments to Latin .\merica and 

 the Orient. It is suggested that by co- 

 opeiating with the Depai'tment of Com- 

 merce, extension of trade in this respect 

 can be accomplished. Incpiiries relat- 

 ing to these countries shoulil be ad- 

 dressed to the Bureau of Foreign and 

 Domestic Connuerce, Washington, I). C. 

 Shippers are urged to apply to the 

 Superintendent of Documents, for the 

 following publications, issued by that 

 Bureau, which may be secured at the 

 prices shown: Special Agents' Series, 

 No. 02, 30 cents; No. 72, 10 cents, and 

 No. 81, 2.') cents; Special Consular Re- 

 ports, No. ()2, 10 cents, and TarifT Series, 

 No. I'.la, 5 cents. Remittances should 

 be in cash or by money order. Stamps 

 are not accepted. Attention is called 

 to an announcement of the Department 

 of Commerce that it will aid in every 

 practicable way. 



For the benefit of those who may 

 not be disposed to exercise especial 

 care in handling the crop, on the 

 grounds that it will not be worth while, 

 hie Ollice of Markets suggests it as 

 probably being true of this year that 

 not onl,\- proper handling but also great 

 diligence will be recpured for efi'ecting 

 sat isf actor V distribution. 



The grower who gets into his orchard 

 now sees anything else which is the 

 matter with his orchard, has his atten- 

 tion called to anything which needs to 

 be done to improve it, and learns a 

 good lesson for next year's operations. 



Pacific Coast Fairs, Land and Apple Shows 



California Stati' Fair, Sacramento, September 

 2 to 9. 



Spokane Interstate Fair, Spokane, September 

 1 to n. 



Soutbwest Washington 1-air, Chebalis, .\uglisl 

 28 to September 2. 



Oregon State Fair, Salem, September 2.')-.'!0. 



Montana State Fair, Helena, September 2j-.'i0. 



Utah State Fair, Salt Lake, October 2-7. 



^VashinKton State Fair, North Yakima, Sep- 

 tember 18-2.'i. 



riic Pendleton n<uuul-u|), I'cnillclon, Oregon, 

 Seplember 21-2.'!. 



Idaho Slate F'air, Caldwell, October l-Ci. 



Northwest Land Products F;xposition, Seat- 

 tle, October 1-14. 



Ninth National Apple Show, Spokane. No- 

 vendiei- 2(l-2.'i. 



Nintlnv<st l.iveslock Show, Lewiston, Idaho, 

 November 2('> to December 2. 



Pacific International [.ivestock Exposition. 

 North Puilhinil. Ilccclidirr l-il. 



-Th. ^Ur.. T P^.^;ncT THE MANHATTAN REFRIGERATING COMPANY 



1 he 1 nree l^eaClinOr Located on N. Y. C. R.R. tracks 



Cold Storage 

 Warehouses in 

 the New York 

 District 



General Offices, 525 West Street. New York City T. A. Adams, President 



West Wastiington and Gansevoort Markets, New York City 



UNION TERMINAL COLD STORAGE COMPANY 



Located on Erie Railroad and D. L. & W. R. R. tracks 

 Jersey City, New Jersey 



KINGS COUNTY REFRIGERATING COMPANY 



Wallabout Freigtit Station, Wallabout Market, Brooklyn, N. Y. 



WHEN WRITING ADVERTISERS MENTION BETTER FRUIT 



