102 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 228 



Table 2. Percentages in Grades of Summer, Fall and AVinter Apples, 1921- 



* "'Other salable"' includes apjiles used for farm consumption and for farm manu- 

 facture, exclusive of culls and ciders. These proljably belong largely with 

 ungraded. 



Furthermore, tlie Baldwin commonly produces few aj)ples of the higher grades, 

 making the cost of grading too high for profit. 



Methods of Sale 



The method of sale varies with the locality. Fifteen different methods were 

 reported, but four are outstanding. The commission man is the most import- 

 ant figure in marketing the crop, and over one-third of all Massachusetts 

 apples are sold through the various commission houses of the state. Country 

 buyers, including peddlers, handle nearly one-fourth of the crop, and in some 

 sections as much as three-fourths. More than 10 per cent is sold outright 

 to wholesalers and an equal amount goes to retail grocers. Direct sales to 

 consumers in one of several ways accoimt for most of the remainder of the 

 crop. 



Door to door sales are most common in the Connecticut Valley and the 

 southeastern part of the state, about 20 per cent of all apples in these dis- 

 tricts being so distributed, while less than 8 per cent in Middlesex and Wor- 

 cester counties are sold by this method. 



Roadside stands sell about one-fourth of the apples reported in the south- 

 eastern part of the state, while but 4 per cent in Middlesex, Worcester and 

 the western counties are sold in this way. 



Sales to retailers comprise but 12 per cent of all sales in Middlesex and 

 Worcester counties, although in some other sections retailers receive as high 

 as 34 per cent of all apples. 



While sale on commission is the most important method for the state as a 

 whole, its use is by no means uniform. Only 1 per cent in Franklin County 

 are so reported. Tn the central part of the state where it is used most, an 

 average of 42 per cent of the apples are handled by commission men. 



Sales to country buyers, who may be wholesalers, retailers or hucksters, 

 are most common in Franklin County, where they receive 65 per cent of the 

 apples. In the remainder of the state country buyers purchase only 12 per 

 cent of the apples sold. Two per cent of the apples reported were exported, 

 and these mostly on commission. Few exporters buy apples outright. 



A comparison of methods of sale and varieties of apples shows that of all 

 apples sold directly to consumers, either at the roadside or from door to door. 



