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from slightly over four million dollars in 191S to one and 
one-half million in 1920. During the past year, 1931, these 
recovered to $2,206,843 in value as compared with the five 
year average 1910-1914 of $2,763,415. 
The effect of the war was to reduce our apple exports, 
in some cases, notably Germany and Belgium, entirely elimina¬ 
ting the markets. Parallel with this falling-off in 1915 
came great increases in exports for several years to such 
countries as Denmark, Norway and Sweden, lasting until the 
effective blockade of the North Sea in the latter part of 
1917 and 1918 practically eliminated these markets. One of 
the accompanying tables shows the rapidly increasing exports 
by months for the year 1919 illustrating the rapidity with 
which the volume and value of exports recovered after the 
close of the war. In this case the high export month which 
normally would have occurred in November or December 1918, 
was advanced to February 1919 when the total exports of 
ripe apples for the month reached 493,996 barrels, valued 
at $3,792,361. For the month of March the exports were 
286,979 barrels wotth $2,619,903, making a total in exports 
of ripe apples for the two months of February and March 
1919, of 780,975 barrels valued at $6,413,363. With the 
exception of 1913, 1913, 1915 and 1916, the exports of ripe 
apples for these two months in the first year following the 
war exceeded in value the annual exports of any year pre¬ 
vious in the history of our export trade. 
It is estimated that the combined fruit crops of the 
United States exceed in variety, quantity, and value, those 
of any other nation. This country is one of the greatest 
