6 BULLETIN 1362, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
EXTENT AND GROWTH OF THE AUCTION BUSINESS 
From gross auction sales of fruits and produce approximating 
$42,000,000 in 1912. 2 the valuation of these sales increased to $164,- 
091.596 in 1923. These sales were distributed among the various 
auction markets, as shown in Table 1. 
Table 1. — Gross valuation of foreign and domestic fruits and produce sold at 
auction in the United States in 1923 
Market 
Gross value 
of auction 
sales 
Baltimore $4, 374, 387 
Boston i 16,629, 206 
Chicago ! 14,045,431 
Cincinnati 3,753. 442 
Cleveland 6,357, 940 
Detroit 14,072,187 
Newark I 3, 174, 477 
New Orleans i 3, 723, 300 
Market 
Gross value 
of auction 
sales 
New York $72,180,617 
Philadelphia 17,328,371 
Pittsburgh 6, 115. 403 
St. Louis 4. 989, 211 
St. Paul and Minneapolis 1. 326. 182 
F. o. b. auctions i 6,021.442 
Total 164,091.596 
1 Estimated. 
A more extended use of the auctions began in 1916, The increase 
in sales during the period 1912 to 1917, inclusive, was approximately 
50 per cent, but during the period 1917 to 1923, inclusive, the gross 
sales showed a gain of 160 per cent. These figures are based on the 
value of the goods sold rather than on car lots and may be somewhat 
misleading, unless it is kept in mind that the purchasing value of the 
dollar has not been constant during the period under consideration. 
Car-lot figures are not available in all markets over a period of years, 
as many companies do not keep permanent records of the number of 
cars sold. In so far as these records are available for the years 1919 
to 1923 they have been compiled and are presented in Table 2. 
Table 2. — Car lots of domestic and foreign fruits and produce .sold at auction 
in the United States from 1919 to 1923 
Market 
1919 
1920 
1921 
1922 
1923 
4,424 
5,656 
1,753 
2,353 
1,053 
2,331 
748 
6.9S1 
5,909 
1,876 
2,882 
1,530 
2.773 
890 
8,399 
6,458 
2.438 
3,182 
1,540 
3,686 
814 
41,225 
8.770 
7.977 
2,106 
3.365 
1.906 
2.933 
898 
45, 346 
5,653 
1. 772 
11,284 
9,612 
2.893 
Cleveland . .. 
4.8S4 
Detroit .. 
2,953 
St. Louis.. 
3.848 
St. Paul and Minneapolis . 
936 
New York . « _ 
50.313 
Baltimore.. . 
5.256 
2, 259 
New Orleans 
2,700 
Philadelphia . . ._ .. . 
14, 862 
Pittsburgh ... . 
4. 359 
F. o. b. auctions. . 
8,835 
Total 
124. 994 
It is difficult to determine accurately the number of cai^ of do- 
mestic fruits and produce sold at auction, since the companies as a 
rule do not summarize their sales in such a way as to differentiate 
2 Sales for 1912 were reported by only four companies. On the basis of the average 
sain in the sales of these companies for the period 1912-1917. inclusive, it is estimated 
that auction sales in 1912 totaled over $42,000,000. 
