2 DEPARTMENT CIRCULAE 413, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



sales were on a basis of f. o. b. usual terms/ 4.7 per cent were sold 

 at auction direct, 8.2 per cent were sold either on a cash track basis 

 or delivered at destination, 2.9 per cent were consigned, and 2.7 

 per cent were exported direct. (Table 1.) For the year 1923-24 

 f. o. b. usual-terms sales were 72.5 per cent which is considerably less 

 than for either of the other two years, while the percentages sold 

 direct at auction, delivered or on track and direct for export were 

 larger in 1923-24 than in the other years. The tabulation for the 

 three-year period does not show any decided trend in the percentages 

 of the crops sold by the various methods. 



Table 1. — Methods of sale of Washington apples 





Firms 

 report- 

 ing 



Cars re- 

 ported 



Wash- 

 ington 

 ship- 

 ments 

 reported 



Method of sale 



Year 



F. 0. b. 



(usual 

 terms) 



At auc- 

 tion 

 direct 



Deliv- 

 ered or 

 on track 



Con- 

 signed 

 direct 



Exported 

 direct 



1922-23. - - 



Number 

 15 

 12 

 13 



Number 

 10, 777 

 17, 449 

 11,019 



Per cent 

 38.1 

 46.4 

 43.8 



Per cent 

 85.2 

 72.5 

 86.9 



Per cent 

 4.3 

 7.4 

 2.5 



Per cent 

 5.6 

 12.8 

 6.1 



Per cent 

 2.3 

 3.2 

 3.2 



Per cent 

 2.6 



1923-24 



4. 1 



1924-25 



1.3 







Average 







42.8 



81.5 



4.7 



8.2 



2.9 



2.7 











The highest percentages sold f. o. b. usual terms by any firm were 

 93.6 in 1922-23, 84.5 in 1923-24, and 96.5 in 1924-25; the lowest 

 for the three years were 55.7, 50.0, and 67.9, respectively. 



In 1922-23 one firm sold 29 per cent direct at auction, which is the 

 highest percentage sold in this way by any one firm during the three- 

 year period. The auction was used by all firms in 1922-23 and 

 1924-25 and only one firm did not make any sales through the 

 auction in 1923-24. 



For the three-year period the highest percentage sold delivered 

 for cash on track by any one firm was 28 per cent in 1924-25 and one 

 firm did not make any sales on this basis in 1922-23. 



The records show that m 1922-23, three firms did not consign any 

 cars; in 1923-24, two firms did not consign; and in 1924-25, five 

 firms did not consign. The highest percentage consigned by any 

 firm for any of the three years was 25.7 in 1922-23. 



Four firms did not export any cars direct in 1922-23, and in both 

 1923-24 and 1924-25, five firms did not export direct. The highest 

 percentages exported direct were in 1922-23, when two firms each 

 exported 11.3 per cent of their shipments. 



In this study only shipments sold f. o. b. usual terms were con- 

 sidered as subject to rejection by the buyer, but since more than 80 

 per cent of the Washington shipments are sold on this basis the rejec- 

 tion problem concerns a large part of the crop. 



REDUCTIONS IN PRICE CAUSED BY REJECTIONS 



Reductions in price on cars rejected and resold on an f. o. b. basis 

 were computed by subtracting the resale price from the original 

 f. o. b. price. On cars resold on a delivered basis the reductions 



1 Under an f. o. b. usual-terms sale the buyer is permitted the privilege of inspection at destination to 

 determine before payment whether the shipment conforms to the terms of the contract. These terms 

 require the buyer to assume all losses from damage or deterioration in transit that are not attributable to 

 the neglect of the shipper. The buyer must file all claims against the carriers that arise out of damage in 

 transit. 



