4 BULLETIN 290, 17. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTTTBE. 



Harbor and St. Joseph, Mich., ships large quantities of tomatoes by 

 boat to Chicago, and the region along Chesapeake Bay ships in the 

 same manner considerable amounts to near-by cities. 



LOCAL SHIPMENTS. 



Near many cities large quantities of tomatoes are carried to market 

 by trucks, electric lines, and other local transportation facilities. 

 This renders it impossible to secure complete records of the entire 

 commercial crop. Our main effort has been to secure material 

 which will show the location and relative importance of the several 

 districts which supply the major part of the tomatoes shipped to 

 market over comparatively long distances. The data for Florida 

 shipments in 1914 are unavoidably incomplete, inasmuch as one rail- 

 road system handling large quantities of Florida tomatoes has not 

 yet submitted any report. 



EXPLANATION OP MAP. 



The accompanying map indicates the actual shipments of fresh 

 tomatoes to market in the season of 1914. Each dot represents five 

 cars, or fraction thereof. These dots are grouped in the county in 

 which the stations are located, although it is well known that pro- 

 duction does not actually follow the county lines. In cases where 

 shipments are too heavy to be represented by dots the counties have 

 been blacked in and the actual number of cars shipped given in 

 figures. The size of the blackened area is not directly in proportion 

 to the quantity shipped, but exact comparisons may be made by 

 consulting the tabulation. The use of the county as the unit in map 

 graphics necessitates this system. 



The dates within which the various areas ship are shown by curved 

 lines, all of the areas shipping at a given period being grouped in a 

 zone under the line representing that period. The map in this way 

 shows at a glance the various competing areas as well as the dates 

 of heaviest crop movement. These dates are, of course, subject to 

 seasonal variation of considerable extent. 



TOMATOES FOR CANNING. 



An important element in the tomato situation is the cannery 

 supply. It is undoubtedly true that more tomatoes go to the 

 canneries than to market as table stock. The modern methods of 

 preparing this canned product have rendered it so wholesome ami 

 palatable, as well as economical, that this industry has developed 

 very rapidly. Certain localities — Delaware and the eastern shore 

 of Maryland and Virginia, and large areas in New York State, for 

 instance — produce considerable quantities of tomatoes for this pur- 

 pose. It is a fact, however, that general conditions as to quantity, 



