Transportation, State and National 



The efficient use nf our transportation facilities is a national 

 problem. Locally it becomes a trucking problem, nationally a rail problem. 

 lie are fortunate in Massachusetts that we have built local and farm storages 

 for apples in recent years. There will not be a peak demand for trucks to 

 haul apples from farms to terminal storages during the harvest season. Farm 

 trucks can get rubber to haul apples to terminal markets from farm storages 

 as the marketing season progresses. 



Vfe should begin now to think of the distribution of the 1942 crop 

 of apples. If rail transportation facilities are to be economized, all cross- 

 hauling of traffic must be eliminated. Insofar as it is possible to do so, 

 our applfe growing regions should serve customers nearest to home. There is 

 no reason why New England orchards should not serve New England. The Shen- 

 andoah Valley could serve the Middle East, and Northwestern apples could 

 serve the Middle and Far ITest. This plan is not selfish but comes under 

 the heading of "must." A. H. Lindsey 



These Changing Time s 



(1) Bu lk Shipment o f Apples . Can you iraagine shipping Fancy apples 

 except in bushel containers? Bulk shipments are now being considered in the 

 Northwest. In a recent issue of Better Fruit, Howard Fletcher, manager of a 

 Washington growers' organization, says that it is an entirely sound and 

 practical means of transporting apples. He predicts that such a procedure 

 will be both common and economical as v;ell as generally accepted before the 

 war is ended. Besides saving a minimum of 25 cents a box on paper, nails, 

 packing and paper, there is the added advantage of saving storage space and 

 of getting apples into small tovms and thinly populated regions which v;ould 

 not otherwise take a full car. Fletcher does not believe it will be wise 

 to sliip apples in bulk into far eastern markets such as Boston and New York. 

 He does think there is a definite place in the scheme of things for bulk ship- 

 ments into mid-western and prairie areas. 



There is real danger of a car shortage during the coming season. A 

 temporary shortage developed early in February, for the first time since 1923. 

 It is entirely possible that boxes v\rill not be available for C-Grade fruit, 

 and if this is the case and processing plants are unable to handle all low 

 grade tonnage, bulk shipments might solve the problem. But Fletcher does not 

 rule out the shipping in bulk of Fancy Grade or even Extra Fancy. He points 

 out that if the loss by bruising, stem puncturing and the like, amounted to 

 as much as 10)j, it still would not be as great as the average bruising loss 

 in the bulge pack boxes. He is looking ahead to 1943 when he expects priority 

 on boxes, cars and paper to reach a peak. He does not v/ant anyone to get the 

 idea he favors dumping apples into a car and rolling them off to market. He 

 believes, however, that if 30,000 pounds of apples were loaded carefully into 

 a refrigerator car, straw lined, and carefully handled in loading and unload- 

 ing, they will find a ready sale in many coimnunities. No large scale bulk 

 shipments are likely to be made this season. A portion of the 20,000 bushel 

 crop at the Experimental Station, however, may be marketed in this manner. 



