THE MARKET FOR MASSACHUSETTS APPLES 31 



The reason assigned for this liking for small sizes is that most apples 

 are sold by the pound. For eating "out of hand," families of model ate 

 means desire to get about 5 apples to the pound. Obviously these must 

 be of small size. 



Extension of Markets 



The possibility of extending the sale of apples in Europe is shown 

 by the recent experience in Paris, where by judicious advertising and sys- 

 tematic distribution on the part of wholesalers in Rotterdam, considerable 

 quantities of United States apples were sold during the late winter and 

 spring of the season of 1925-26, after the bulk of the French crop was 

 gone. Since the French like larger apples of better quality than those 

 chiefly desired on British markets, apples from the United States have 

 been unpopular in France because they have heretofore reached France 

 by re-shipments from England. Direct shipments of larger sizes better 

 graded would doubtless be well received in French markets. It is evident 

 that barreled apples will not appeal to the French taste, as they are re- 

 garded as of poorer quality than boxed apples. The apples which sold 

 so well in Paris in the spring of 1926 were all Northwestern boxed apples 

 which had been held in storage by Dutch importers. 



Much advertising of apples has recently been carried on by English 

 agencies, but information as to the effect is not at hand. 



PRICES 



Unless the producer can obtain a fair profit, he can not long grow 

 a product. Unless the dealer can make a fair profit, he will not long 

 handle it, and unless the consumer can obtain a product at a fairly reason- 

 able price, sales are likely to be much restricted. Information with refer- 

 ence to prices is, therefore, of the utmost importance to producers and 

 dealers as well as to consumers. For purposes of this study the Boston 

 market only is considered, and unless otherwise stated, the prices used are 

 prices of A grade Baldwin apples on the Boston market. Statistics of 

 prices of apples on foreign markets are, unfortunately, not available except 

 for brief and irregular periods. It is, therefore, impossible to include a 

 comparison of domestic and foreign prices. 



Price Movements 



A study of the movement of prices of apples shows two general types 

 of fluctuations, based on the length of time considered: (1) the fluctuations 

 which occur within the season, from the time the first early apples are 

 placed on the market until the last of the crop is sold; (2) the variations 

 from year to year, which are caused largely by the size and quality of the 

 crop. There are price diflferences also in a season between the different 

 varieties and grades of apples, due to the popularity and supply of cer- 

 tain varieties and the preference of consumers for certain grades; and this 

 fact adds to the difficulty of comparing prices from year to year. 



