73 



sale, is that the buyer is then able, a few minutes after the 

 goods have been knocked down to him, to obtain his delivery 

 order, and get possession of the goods. You can quite un- 

 derstand that in a city such as London, the purchasers can- 

 not spare the time to send their vans to the docks: this is 

 one of the reasons why Covent Garden has grown to such 

 great importance, as shopkeepers can purchase there every 

 article — from vegetables to the heavy barrel and case fruit, 

 and obtain possession, immediately their goods are bought. 

 Auction sales are held in London any day when sufficient 

 fruit offers. The Liverpool market is the great distributing 

 centre for American apples, supplies going from there to 

 Continental market^s. 



HAMBURG, however, is now receiving large quantities 

 of apples direct from this country,, and is supplying not only 

 all of Germany, but also the greater part of Austria, Russia, 

 and Scandinavia. Sales are conducted in Hamburg, similar 

 to those held in Liverpool. However, they only have one 

 sale day each week, Tuesdays, but in case of need, one is also 

 held on Thursdays. In the morning, from 6 until 12 o'clock, 

 all buyers go out to the Fruit Sheds, which are close to the 

 Salesrooms, and there they find printed catalogues of each 

 of the Brokers, and samples are put up so that they can take 

 their notes during the forenoon. In the afternoon, at 4 

 o'clock, the sale takes place, with the six important fruit 

 brokers selling in turn, similar to Liverpool. All apples aro 

 inspected by the German Authorities for San Jose Scale — 

 that is to say, a certain number of apples of each brand are 

 inspected, by well trained and responsible experts, — not 

 only by the naked eye, but also with glasses, and if they find 

 any apples showing this scale, such apples are not allowed to 

 be introduced into Germany, but have to be sold for re-ex- 

 port to foreign countries. If there are not too large quan- 

 tities of such infected apples arriving, there is always a 

 ready sale for them at the same prices being made for apples 

 not infected, to Scandinavia, Russia and Austria, especially 

 if they are of good quality and in good condition. As the 



