22 BULLETIN 302, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



(5) That the Panama Canal route may be an increasingly impor- 

 tant factor in the distribution of apples grown along the Pacific 

 seaboard. 



(6) That the exports of apples during the season 1914-15 were large, 

 despite the unsettled conditions caused by the war in Europe, and that 

 a demand for American apples may be expected to continue. 



(7) That apples from the United States are growing in favor with 

 South America, and that by judicious cooperation with the Latin- 

 American trade shipments may increase. 



The studies conducted in the markets during the fall of 1914 indi- 

 cated the need for more strict grading and careful handling, the elimi- 

 nation of culls from the fresh-fruit markets, more intelligent distribu- 

 tion, and the effective operation of cooperative associations. Often 

 when the individual growers act independently in marketing the 

 crops, there is little uniformity in the grading and packing, much 

 poor fruit is shipped, much good fruit is forwarded in overripe condi- 

 tion, and the output of the community is dumped on the markets 

 with little regard for equitable distribution or proper storage conser- 

 vation. 



Better methods are required for profitably marketing the increas- 

 ingly large apple crop. These methods are provided best by effective 

 cooperative organizations. In those States in which apples are packed 

 in boxes, the growers' associations handle a very large percentage 

 of the output. The quality of their fruit, the uniformity of the pack, 

 and the distribution of the crop far surpass the individual results of the 

 Middle West and East. Unusual difficulties were responsible for the 

 development of cooperative associations in the Far West, and it is 

 thought that the problems of the growers east of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains are coming to be so great that dire need will require them to 

 organize for the purpose of securing more profitable results. 



