4 BULLETIN 1416, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
The commercial or market crop is mainly the production from 
commercial orchards as distinguished from the small home orchards. 
It is the part of production available for market to be sold as fresh 
fruit, ange forms about one-half of the average total crop of the 
United States. (Tables 4 and 5.) 
The relation of the commercial crop to total production varies be- 
tween the different producing sections and from season to season. 
The production of the whole barrel region averages 41 per cent com- 
mercial compared with 75 per cent for the box region and 50 per 
cent for both combined as shown in Table 4. Delaware and Mary- 
land are close to great markets and have much early fruit. Dela- 
ware reports 81 per cent commercial and New Jersey 71. Most of 
the representative barreled-apple States—New York, Virginia, West 
Virginia, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, and Arkansas—report that 
about half their average production belongs to the commercial crop. 
The change from season to season in the proportion of production 
rated as commercial is some indication o “ihe estimated market 
quality of the crop. The highest proportions in recent seasons in the 
_ barrel region (Table 11) were 46 per cent in 1919, 49 per cent in 1921, 
and 42 per cent in 1923. These were all on the odd years. None of 
the crops of the years of even date were rated above 40 per cent 
commercial. Frequently the years of decreased production in the 
Hast are the odd ones. Probablyin such seasons more of the crop is 
reported available for market, because of the stronger market condi- 
tions. The boxed-apple production has seldom varied more than 5 
per cent from the average of 75 per cent commercial. 
Commercial crops are produced in 32 States of the barrel region; - 
about one-third in New York and New England, one-third in the 
Middle West, and the other third chiefly in the Middle Atlantic and 
South Atlantic States. The 10 leading States in order of average 
percentage of the combined commercial crop of the barrel region, 
1918 to 1923 (Table 5), are New York, 28.3 per cent; Michigan, 
10.5; Virginia, 8.7; Pennsylvania, 6; Illinois, 6; West Virginia, 5.4; 
Missouri, 4.7; Ohio, 4.5; Arkansas, 3.2; and New Jersey, 2.9 per cent. 
These States produce four-fifths of the average annual commercial 
crop of the barrel region or about 14,000,000 out of 17,000,000 
barrels. Crop conditions in these 10 States are a fairly good index of 
the eastern apple outlook just as the State of Washington is frequently 
considered the key to the western boxed-apple situation. 
Estimated commercial crops for the entire United States ranged 
from 22,000,000 to 27,000,000 barrels from 1916 to 1919, averaging 
about 25,000,000. The average increased 20 per cent for the five 
years 1920 to 1924; the average commercial crop of the boxed-apple 
region gained 43 per cent while the barreled-apple region increased 
8 ver cent. 
SHIPMENTS 
In the western boxed-apple region the estimated commercial crop 
corresponds somewhat closely to the actual shipments but only 
about three-fifths of the estimated eastern commercial crop is shipped 
in car lots. (See Table 10 and fig3). The proportion ran as low as 
44 per cent in 1918-19, when car shortage and the scarcity of sugar 
interfered with marketing. In the short crop season of 1921 over 
three-fourths of the eastern commercial crop was shipped. In other 
recent seasons the percentage was 50 to 60. Of the combined box 
