4 BULLETIN 290, 17. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
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 OF 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 and 
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, 
