32 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 231 



Various factors influence the price of any product, chief of whicii 

 are the volume of the supply, the quality of the product, the dremand, and 

 the general level of prices. 



No facts are available as to the quality of apples sold in Boston dur- 

 ing the early part of the period covered by the statistics of production, 

 IS89 to date, hence the influence of this factor can not be estimated. 



Seasonal Fluctuations 



With the exception of a few seasons since 1878 the price of apples 

 has been higher at the end of the season than it was at the beginning. In 

 general the price fluctuates more or less early in the season and then 

 rises rather steadily as the season progresses. Now and then the price 

 shows a decline at the end of the season, and occasionally there is little 

 or no decline from the beginning to the end of the season. 



Since the average price of all varieties and grades of apples gives a 

 true picture of none of them, it has been deemed best to study seasonal 

 fluctuations of one variety which is on the market as much of the season 

 as possible. For this purpose A grade Baldwin apples are chosen, and 

 the average monthly prices for the period from 1878 to 1924 are presented 

 in Table 19. For the purpose of comparison, average prices during the 

 first 25 years and the last 25 years are separated from the rest of the 

 period. During the 47 years included in the table the average price in 

 May was $1.43 per barrel above the average for October, nearly fiO per 

 cent increase during the season. During the last 25 years of the period, 

 lf'00-25, this increase was not so great, being but $1.39 or 49 per cent, 

 although the prices ranged higher than in the first 25 years. This smaller 

 variation between the October and May prices is due to the higher prices 

 paid for apples during this later period, in accordance with the higher 

 level of all prices, and to the improved storage facilities of the later years. 



Table 19. Average Monthly Prices per Barrel of No. 1 

 Baldwin Apples 



47 years 25 years 25 years 



Month 1878-1924 1878-1903 1900-1925 



October $2.41 $1.88 $2.82 



November 2.56 2.12 2.96 



December 2.76 2.31 3.17 



January 3.01 2.52 3.43 



February 3.27 2.75 3.74 



March 3.48 2.93 3.97 



April 3.64 3.13 4.10 



May 3.84 3.35 4.21 



Average 3.12 2.62 3.5S 



A\erage increase — October to 



May 1.43 1.47 1.39 



During the seasons of this period when the common movement was 

 reversed and the price declined throughout the season, apparently the 

 prices in the fall were too high and the crop could not be sold at the early 



