APPLE MARKET INVESTIGATIONS, 1914-15. 15 
or short term. There is no indication that the rates were increased; 
on the other hand, in western New York the storage firms reduced the 
usual 50-cent charge to 40 cents on account of the low prices which 
were being paid for apples. 
Until the past season accurate information regarding the quantity 
of apples placed in cold storage and the progress of the movement 
during the winter and spring has not been available to the public. 
In October the Office of Markets and Rural Organization undertook 
to secure and publish the data, so that growers and dealers alike 
might direct the sale of their holdings in an intelligent manner. 
The cooperation of the cold storages was solicited for this purpose, 
and a large number assisted in making the office reports valuable. 
However, many concerns failed to answer the inquiries which were sent 
to them at the end of each month, and many submitted only partial 
reports, some reporting one month and failing to do so thé next. 
The holdings of such firms necessarily were eliminated from considera- 
tion in estimating the progress of the movement, for the reason that 
a comparison between the holdings from month to month with the 
holdings on December 1 is necessary for determining the movement. 
The office mailing list now includes the names of 667 cold-storage 
firms. Of these, 443, with a capacity of 8,902,013 barrels, have 
reported their holdings one or more times during the season. The 
balance, or 224 concerns, failed to reply at all. It was not possible, 
therefore, to publish quantitative reports showing the total number 
of barrels and boxes held. Still, the number of firms which responded 
was thought to be sufficiently large to justify the issuance of per- 
centage reports through the medium of the press. This was done 
monthly, and a detailed report of each investigation was printed in 
the current number of the Agricultural Outlook and mailed to the 
cold storages, trade papers, and individual growers and dealers. 
These investigations embraced the holdings of apples not only during 
the season of 1914-15, but also of 1912-13. The crops of the two 
years were similar, and it was thought that a comparison of the 
holdings would be helpful to growers and dealers in arriving at true 
values. 
Estimating upon the basis of the reports received, it was found that 
the holdings on December 1, 1914, amounted approximately to 114 
per cent more than those of December 1, 1912; on January 1, 1915, 
23 per cent more than January 1, 1913; on February 1, 1915, 28.4 per 
cent more than February 1, 1913; on March 1, 1915, 5.7 per cent less 
than March 1, 1913; on April 1,.1915, 15.6 per cent less than April 1, 
1913; on May 1, 1915, 13.2 per cent less than May 1, 1913. 
Of the total number of storages reporting, it was found that 289 
responded December 1; 306, January 1; 280, February 1; 289, March 
1; 270, April 1; and 258 on May 1. While the minimum number of 
