ANNUAL REPORT. 1940 9 



128 pounds; in the center and to the upper right they were relatively 

 large, 226-287 pounds. Comparatively high production was character- 

 istic also of the square on the right of the triangle, 220-224 pounds. A scale 

 of production, intermediate to the extremes, was characteristic of the belt 

 contiguous to and surrounding the market, 190-214 pounds. Production 

 in the angles of the triangle tended to average about the same and was 

 moderately light, 162-169 pounds. 



An Analysis of Selected Merchandising Practices in the Fruit and Vege- 

 table Industry. (A. A. Brown, Sargent Russell, and Mabelle Booth.) A 

 study of apple prices on Washington Street Wholesale Market was made 

 for 1934-35 and 1935-36. In studying the relationships between various 

 factors which supposedly affect wholesale apple prices in New York City, 

 no significant relationship was found other than that which existed be- 

 cause of normal seasonal variations of the factors. Stating it another 

 way, when the normal seasonal variation was removed from the factors 

 which affected price, no further relationships existed. The factors studied 

 were temperature, weather (precipitation and degree of cloudiness), re- 

 ceipts (total as reported by Market News Service), and sales (figures for 

 two companies from which records were obtained). 



Correlations between price and temperature, weather, receipts, and 

 sales without the removal of seasonal variation, were: 



Temperature 7427 



Weather 4284 



(0 was clear) 



(10 cloudy or rain) 



Receipts 8023 



Sales 6026 



An investigation was also begun on the Cambridge Regional Produce 

 Market. A study of this cooperative farmers' market was undertaken 

 to determine the extent to which it has failed to come up to expectations; 

 and the causes for such failure. 



The degree of failure depends on the measure used. Certainly if one 

 uses the regularity with which the market corporation has paid the in- 

 terest on its obligations, the undertaking has failed 100 percent. If one 

 uses the number of wholesalers and jobbers who have moved from the 

 old market districts to the new as a measure of failure, the result is also 

 100 percent. If the degree of patronage by so-called large buyers — the 

 chain stores and out-of-town jobbers — is the measure, the extent of failure 

 is still complete. These premises were, however, the original ones upon 

 which success was supposed to depend. In addition to them, of course, 

 was farm patronage and in this quarter there has been both failure and 

 success, and the achievements are all the more remarkable. Complete 

 records during the first five years of the market are not yet available. 



During the 1940 season for July 1 to October 25, inclusive, a period of 

 82 market days, 548 different farmers used the Cambridge Regional 

 Produce Market. Only 36 of the total, however, were on the market for 

 more than half the entire season. Equally extreme was the appearance 

 of 183 users who sold on the market but once. 



A preliminar}' analysis indicates that the majority of market users were 

 small-scale farmers. They accounted for approximately 75 to 95 percent 

 of the sellers on any one day, and had fifty packages on the load. 



