16 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 231 



Advertising 



Little effort seems to be made by most retailers to push the sale of 

 apples. In general they apparently prefer to make a larger margin of 

 profit on a small volume of sales rather than put forth the effort necessary 

 to handling a large volume. 



The common method of advertising apples which is used in retail 

 stores is the mere display of the fruit in the original container. Seventy- 

 two per cent of the retailers interviewed display apples in boxes, 31 per 

 cent display a bushel at a time; 30 per cent display them in the window 

 and now and then one reports that he displays them in a showcase. Some 

 use bins for display purposes, these being sometimes built in the window. 

 Occasionally the placard advertising the price states also the variety, and 

 less often the grower's name is given. 



Six per cent of the retailers reporting advertise the brands of apples 

 they handle. Eleven per cent advertise apples in local newspapers, and 8 

 per cent advertise them more or less by some sort of circular. 



During national apple week, early in October, considerable effort has 

 been made to advertise Massachusetts and New England apples. The 

 campaign has been carried on under the leadership of the State Department 

 of Agriculture, Division of Markets, which has enlisted the cooperation of 

 chambers of commerce in the markets of the state. Not only the retail 

 markets, but dry goods, hardware, and other types of stores, have entered 

 into the movement. Window displays entirely or parth' composed of 

 apples have been used. 



One wholesaler in particular has, for a number of years, advertised 

 apples throughout the western part of the state, using the side of his big 

 business block as well as bill-boards at several points on state highways. 



The Nashoba Apple Growers' Association, with over 300 members in 

 the apple district in Middlesex and Worcester counties, and also in southern 

 New Hampshire, advertises apples by means of billboards marking the area 

 of what is known as the Nashoba apple district. 



Roadside stands advertise apples by means of signs at or near the 

 stands. Usually these signs announce tlie varieties chiefly sold, particu- 

 larly Mcintosh; and the name of the grower is sometimes added. 



THE FOREIGN MARKET 

 The World Crop 



The volume of the world crop in apples can not be exactly stated, 

 since returns are not available from all countries, Russia, Belgium and 

 some others not being reported. However, statistics compiled by the 

 United States Department of Agriculture include the bulk of the world's 

 apple crop. These are included in the following table. It will be noted 

 tliat figures for Canada and New Zealand represent commercial crops only. 



