106 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 228 



Exports 



Only 2 per cent of the crop of 1924 was reported as exported. Most ex- 

 ports are handled on commission, the hazards of the business being so great 

 that in general tiie dealers do not care to buy outright for export. A few- 

 growers have exported considerable portions of their apple crop for a good 

 many years. These men iiave learned to pack for foreign markets so that 

 comparatively few "slack" packages appear among their shipments. 



Storage 



Growers report available storage space for 919,000 bushels, but less than 

 20 per cent of the available space was used in 1924. The farm cellar is the 

 usual place of storage, although more storage buildings are built each year. 

 Many growers with young orchards intend to build or enlarge their storage 

 space as their orchards come into full bearing. 



Of the 227,000 bushels stored by farmers in 1924, over .50,000 ))usliels were 

 placed in city storage warehouses. Boston handles iialf of the fruit going 

 into city storage, but some storage was reported in AVorcester, Springfield, 

 Greenfield, Fall River and Providence. 



The late winter varieties, such as Baldwin, make up the largest part of 

 fruit stored on farms. These are usually kept until the holiday season or 

 later. Many growers who supply tlieir local markets from storage holdings, 

 frequently have fruit on hand as late as March or April. However, the bulk 

 of the fruit in farm storage is usually disposed of by January. 



More Mcintosh are stored each year, and they are held for a longer time 

 than formerly. Most of the storage holdings are sold out by the end of the 

 holiday season. 



Transportatiox 



Information on methods of transportation shows that at some point in their 

 distribution 9.5 per cent of all Massachusetts apples marketed are hauled by 

 motor truck. This may be all the distance to market, or the haul may be 

 completed by rail. The same is true of hauls l\v wagon, which are confined 

 almost entirely to Franklin County shipments. Over 70 per cent of all Massa- 

 chusetts apples shipped in carlots during the four years 1920 to 192.3 were 

 from this county. 



Future of the Industry 



The future of the apple growing industry in Massachusetts and its profit- 

 ableness to the farmer depend upon the amount and quality of future pro- 

 duction. With favorable growing conditions, there is no doubt but that pro- 

 duction of all of the important commercial varieties will increase each year. 

 Large numbers of trees are just coming into bearing and yields will increase 

 with maturity. Many of the large orchards of the state now bearing will not 

 reach full production for at least ten years, and over 300,000 trees not bear- 

 ing at present will come into bearing during the period. Barring the possi- 

 bility of a disastrous winter which may kill the trees, tiie estimated future 

 production, together with the number of bearing trees for the leading varieties, 

 is indicated in the following table. 



