CONSUMER DEMAND FOR APPLES 57 



Receipts 



Apples are received in Springfield in carlots from outside New England 

 — from New York, Virginia and other Southern apple areas, and the 

 Northwest. They are also received from local growers in Massachusetts 

 and Connecticut, who sell their fruit to wholesale houses, mostly on com- 

 mission; from growers who sell to retailers or directly to consumers. Th6 

 chain stores also do a large business which is not handled through these 

 channels, as they maintain their own buyers and store their supply in- 

 dependently of the market agencies. There are also dealers who go out 

 into the country and buy as a bargain offers, often taking the whole of a 

 grower's crop, and usually buying "orchard run", just as the fruit comes 

 from the tree, without sorting or grading. These men have no place of 

 business, but sell from wagon or truck to anyone who will buy — con- 

 sumer or retailer. Some years these men have occupied a vacant lot or 

 store near the shopping district during a few weeks in the fall, but 

 recently the lots so used have been occupied by permanent business, thus 

 forcing these buyers elsewhere. 



The total receipts for the Springfield trade area for which apples are 

 supplied through the city market or from nearby growers may be stated 

 as follows: 



Table 1. — Methods of Sale and Estimated Volume of 



Apples Received in Springfield Trade Area. 



Method of Sale Bushels 



Grower to consumer 31,000 



Grower to retailer 50,000 



By wholesalers 147,000 



By chain stores 45,000 



At farmers' market 3,000 



Total 276,000* 



* These estimates are based upon reports from wholesalers, from 

 retailers in Springfield and neighboring towns, and from growers 

 who sell apples in the trade area. 



Sales of apples by Springfield wholesalers to dealers outside this trade 

 area are estimated at 53,000 bushels, leaving some 223,000 bushels for 

 consumption in the Springfield trade area. This provides a per capita 

 supply of .96 bushels, which is close to the estimated per capita consump- 

 tion in the United States. 



Methods of Distributing Apples 



Apples are distributed in the Springfield trade area by wholesalers, by 

 hucksters or jobbers who buy from the grower or the wholesaler and 

 sell chiefly at the open air market,^ by retailers and by growers. Consid- 

 erable quantities of products are handled at this "farmers' market", 



- This market is a vacant lot in the wholesale district that is regularly occupied 

 during the season by growers who sell here their own fruits and vegetables, and by 

 buyers who purchase their supplies from grower or wholesaler as chance offers. Few 

 hucksters sell from door to door. 



