MARKETING BARRELED APPLES 4] 
Too much moisture favors blight, blotch, and scab, and interferes 
with spraying. Too much rain late in the season increases the size 
of the apples at the expense of color and keeping quality. Drought 
means small apples with the yield below early promise. 
The September and October reports in many parts of the country 
are the most important to the grower. The country-wide commer- 
cial production is of great significance. A large or small total pro- 
duction in the intended market territory should be noted as affecting 
local demand and supply, but it is the commercial crop which fur- 
nishes the market shipments and is the source of direct competition 
everywhere. A commercial crop above 30,000,000 barrels is con- 
sidered large and much below that is small. Extremes in recent 
years have been 22,000,000 in 1921 and 36,000,000 in 1923. Location 
of the crop may be important. The nearer the region of shortage and 
the more distant the surplus the better the local outlook. 
Conditions in closely competing sections are to be taken into ac- 
count. Michigan and New England compete with New York; east- 
ern New York with New Jersey; Virginia and West Virginia compete 
to some extent with both the early and main crop sections elsewhere; 
the Central West feels most heavily the competition of the boxed- 
apple region because of lower freight charges. The Hast also com- 
petes with the Central West in favorable seasons. 
The greatest indicators of the generai apple situation and outlook 
are New York and Washington. Next in importance are Michigan 
and Virginia. The probable surplus in Nova Scotia, Ontario, and 
British Columbia is an important feature of the general situation. 
Condition of the apple crop as well as production is to be considered. 
When scab or sooty blotch covers the greater part of the northern 
crop or the codling moth becomes unusually troublesome in the 
western box region, or when scab, rust, and bitter rot are especially 
injurious in the South, the quantity of superior apples will be greatly 
reduced with a corresponding premium for the most desirable lots. 
Large quantities of inferior apples from any leading section tend to 
depress the whole tone of the market, as indicated by prevailing 
quotations in such seasons. Yet a good premium is always paid for 
the apples which have escaped damage in bad seasons by reason of 
unusual care or good fortune. 
YIELD VARIATIONS 
The tendency to produce heaviest crops on alternate years seems 
to be due in some degree to the tendency of leading eastern orchard 
varieties to bear more heavily on the years of even date and corres- 
pene light crops on the odd years. Occasionally there are two 
ull-crop years or two light-crop years in succession, but hardly ever 
more than three heavy crops of barreled apples in any series of five 
years. The tendency is somewhat more toward even crops with the 
increased plantings of such annual bearing varieties as Ben Davis 
and Oldenburg. 
Production in Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New 
England tends to coincide somewhat with that of New York. Middle 
western production is more irregular, because severe weather changes 
cause frequent crop failures. Most damage is caused by cold wet 
weather in May. The commercial crop of New York is the key feature 
