CROPS A^D PRICES. 



5 



to bear. The product in barrels in 1860, as nearly as can be 

 estimated, would not exceed 30,000. The product for the year 

 1893 will be at least 300,000 barrels and is necessarily increas- 

 ing at a rapid rate each year. As the product began to increase 

 after the formation of the Fruit Growers' Association, the 

 necessity for a market, permanent and unlimited in its scope, 

 was felt. In 1871 the first effort was made to place Nova 

 Scotia apples in the English market. Of course many difficul- 

 ties had to be overcome. Nova Scotia apples were unknown 

 and the English people could not discriminate between them 

 and Canadian or even American apples. The farmers were not 

 accustomed to packing them in a form that entirely suited the 

 English market. All these things have been met, and to a very 

 great extent overcome, until now there is a large and increasing 

 export. To show the development of this English trade, I may 

 state that the estimated export to Great Britain in 1873 was less 

 than 10,000 barrels; the export last year was over 130,000 bar- 

 rels. It is estimated that the total export to Great Britain 

 from 1871 to the present year would not be less than 1,400,000 

 barrels. Formerly the export to the United States was very 

 large. Latterly, however, the competition of American fruit is 

 so keen in the United States that the Nova Scotia producers 

 have scarcely a fair chance, except in certain special lines. 

 Besides, under the McKinley bill, a heavy duty on apples was 

 imposed, which still further interfered with the trade. For the 

 past twenty years, however, it is likely that the total export to 

 the United States has not been less than 400,000 barrels, an 

 average of 20,000 barrels a year. The product during the past 

 twenty years has not been less than two and one-half million 

 barrels, which indicates a considerable local market/' 



The Piedmont Region of Virginia gave a fair to large crop, 

 and its value in Albemarle county alone is estimated at $400,000. 



Apples in Europe. — Germany and other parts of continental 

 Europe had a very large crop of apples in 1893, and the yield 

 is reported to have been good in England. The Tasmanian 

 apple trade continues to attract attention in the Covent Garden 

 Market, London.* These apples arrive in spring and come into 

 direct competition with the late consignments of American rus- 

 sets. The continental ports receive little attention from Amer- 

 ican apple exporters, and the fact that they are nearer to sources 

 of native supplies than the English markets will always dis- 

 courage heavy trade in that direction ; but it is probably true 



*For a full discussion of apple-growing in Tasmania, see Annals 

 for 1890, 9; also Annals for 1889, 10; Annals for 1891, 9. 



