38 BULLETIN 1416, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
vat where it is bleached in sulphur fumes. Then it passes through a 
slicer and goes to the drying room, where hot air removes all but 
about 20 per cent of the moisture. Some apples of small size are 
dried without slicing, and some are chopped and dried. The apple 
parings are dried and sold for various manufacturing purposes. 
The census of manufactures for 1921 showed an output of 22,975,- 
189 pounds of dried apples, compared with 46,623,599 in 1919, 
54,957,003 in 1914, and 44,568,244 in 1909. The product for 1921 
was evidently much reduced by the extremely short eastern crop of 
that season. New York and California are the heaviest producing 
States. In 1919 California produced 15,477,039 pounds and New 
York 13,524,019 pounds of the total of 46,623,599; most of the bal- 
ance of approximately one-third was made up by Arkansas and 
Washington, with 6,720,070 and 4,044,090 pounds, respectively. 
Average car-lot shipments of dried apples for the five years 1919 
to 1923 wereequivalent to 34,908,000 pounds. Totalshipments do not 
follow the output closely from year to year, as this product is capable 
of storage for considerable periods. Accumulated supplies may be 
drawn upon to offset a temporary deficiency, as indicated by the 
export figures for 1921, which total 19,962,306 pounds of dried apples, 
only about one-fifth less than in 1919, althouph total output in 1921 
was less than half that of 1919. Some influence from the light crop 
of 1921 was apparent in import figures, however, which increased from ~ 
158,085 pounds in 1919 to 1,781,759 in 1921 and dropped to 45,664 
in 1922. 
In addition to the factory product recorded by the census there is 
some farm production of dried apples in Eastern States, either by 
mechanical evaporation or by sun drying, but no definite figures on 
this item are available. 
FORECASTING THE MARKET 
The critical market time for growers is around the picking season. 
Most producers are looking for buyers then and they are anxious 
not to sell too low. If the grower’s ideas are based on full information 
and a reasonable weighing of conditions, he is able to take a position 
with confidence in deciding whether to accept early bids or to wait for 
better terms. His information is of two general kinds—the crop 
news and market conditions. Crop news may be had from Federal 
and State departments of agriculture. 
SOURCES OF INFORMATION 
Information on crops, markets, and car-lot shipments is supplied 
during the most active part of the apple season by field stations of 
the United States Department of Agriculture at Rochester, N. Y., 
Martinsburg, W. Va., and Benton Harbor, Mich., and throughout 
the year by the market stations at Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chi- 
cago, Cincinnati, Fort Worth, Kansas City, Minneapolis, New York, 
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Washington. Reports of 
marketing conditions in the competing boxed-apple areas also are 
supplied through offices at Spokane, Wash., and San Francisco, Calif. 
Reports on conditions affecting the market situation should be 
watched from the beginning of the season. The lighter the general _ 
apple crop, the better will it pay to take care of what apples there 
are and to make the most of them. 
