2 FRUIT HARVESTING, STORING, MARKETING 



has increased in nuicli greater proportion than otlier 

 agricultural industries. The following figures, show- 

 ing the percentage of increase in total production of 

 various agricultural crops in the United States between 

 1850 and 1897, are compiled from a chart in Fairchild's 

 Rural Wealth and Welfare : * 



Oats 551 Tobacco 313 



Wheat 465 Rye 198 



Hay 376 Buckwheat .... 163 



Corn 557 Sweet potatoes . . 112 



Cotton . . . . . 355 Sugar loi 



Potatoes 331 Rice 60 



Butter 323 Barley .... 1,506 



Fruits .... 2,000 



The increase of total population in the country dur- 

 ing the same period was 270 per cent. 



But while the increased production of fruit in the 

 United States as a whole has been thus enormous, it 

 has been proportionately still greater in the recog- 

 nized fruit sections. Fifty years ago there were no 

 fruit sections. Now there are neighborhoods prac- 

 tically given up to the growing of strawberries, other 

 localities engaged almost exclusively in peach culture, 

 and still other communities in which the apple is the 

 staple crop. In- the eastern states, near the large 

 cities and in the neighborhood of manufacturing 

 towns, the progress of the fruit growing industry is 



* Fairchild, Rural Wealth and Welfare, 11. New York, 1900. 



