fcftARY. 
Vol. LXX. No. 4127. 
NEW YORK, DECEMBER 2, 1911. 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR. 
DIRECT TRADE IN APPLES. 
The Value of Advertising. 
One of our readers called attention to the follow¬ 
ing advertisement in a daily paper: ;• 
APPLES 
FROM THE FARM, CHEAP. 
Buy direct and save 
5 middle- 
men’s profits. Prices per 
bushel box, delivered to your 
door by prepaid 
express : 
No. 1 
No. 2 
Kings ....... 
$1.85 
$1.25 
Other Red Kinds . . 
1.70 
1.10 
Greenings. 
1.50 
1.00 
On approval C. O. D. 
if preferred. 
Compare these rates with store prices. 
Please order AT ONCE if 
you want some. 
PINECLIFF 
FARM. 
“An Honest Pack.” 
This farm is located in Dutchess Co., N. Y. Mr. 
Henry H. Albertson, the proprietor, has given us 
the facts showing the result of this advertising: 
“Our first attempt to sell box apples direct to the 
consumer was made about seven years ago, when I 
put an advertisement in a Philadelphia paper and 
secured a number of customers, of whom many 
have come back every year, usually with increasing 
orders. At first we packed only our finest King 
apples in boxes, grading two or three barrels to 
one box, for which we have received an average of 
about $3 per box express prepaid, and one year as 
high as $4 per box. Our next advertising was done 
a few years later in a magazine which circulates 
over the entire country. The replies were numerous, 
but often from distances too great to make 
the shipping profitable, some going as far 
as New Mexico. 
“This year we had the largest crop of 
apples we ever had, about 1,000 bushels, 
mostly from an orchard which we rent. 
We packed over 500 boxes and put the 
rest, mostly Greenings, in barrels. Some 
of our neighbors shook their apples off 
and sold them to the evaporator for from 
40 to 50 cents a hundred-weight. Rather) 
than sell at the low market prices what 1 
our old customers did not take, we maddj 
an effort to get new customers by making' 
a low price and advertising in the New 
York papers. We had small advertise¬ 
ments in two New York dailies and one in 
Philadelphia. To old and new family cus¬ 
tomers we sold, up to November 4, 380 
boxes at an average price after deducting 
freight or express charges, of $1.16 per 
box. They were divided as follows: 156 
boxes Kings, average $1.78; 141 boxes 
Greenings, $1.41; 46 boxes Baldwins, $1.46; 
37 boxes other kinds, $1.55. The freight 
and express cost an average of 42 cents 
a box, making net returns that much less 
than the above prices. At the above price 
spent for advertising in newspapers and by circulars If it goes through two companies, the charge seems 
about $100. This should not be charged against this to be more than doubled. One. of our customers had 
year's crop, however, as no doubt many of the buyers . to pay 50 cents for sending less than two dollars 
will order again other years. It takes longer to pack . from Brooklyn, a charge of over 25 per cent. It 
would seem to me that three cents for the order and 
two cents for mailing it would be ample charge, no 
matter how many companies handle the package. 
They are paid for transportation in addition, and buf 
one company handles the money. If the express com-, 
primes were as careful not to overcharge as they are 
not to undercharge, their services would be better ap¬ 
preciated. . 
“We have not aimed to solve any economic prob- 
lems, except to sell our apples to the best advantage. 
I-'oi any but a small crop there might not be time to 
; take care of the many small orders. Although we 
got a large mail for a few days, 400 boxes are after 
all not very many. It does not seem that the amount 
sold in this way and sent direct to the consumer by 
express will materially affect the commission business. 
It seems to me to be more of individual than public 
interest.- Most people either want to see what they 
ge: before they buy, or do not know their wants long 
enough ahead to order from a distance. The store 
seems inevitable; but the road to it is a little cir¬ 
cuitous. And yet there must be many more persons 
who would buy direct from the grower if they could 
be sure of satisfactory dealing, and had their atten- 
tion called to the advantages. I believe that the inore_ 
growers who tried this mode of sale with honest and 
efficient service, the better for the business. For a 
large trade, the way to do would be to ship by freight 
to a storage in the city and distribute direct from 
there.” h. h. albertson. 
R. N.-Y.—Our own experience in advertising has 
been quite satisfactory except with the express com¬ 
panies. We have done best with advertising in local 
papers and delivering by wagon. Most farmers make 
a mistake in supposing that they will do better in dis¬ 
tant towns. Right at home there are often great pos¬ 
sibilities which a little shrewd advertising 
will develop. We had one case where we 
sold a box of apples to a man living some 
15 miles away in a straight line. Two ex¬ 
press companies between them held him up 
for 70 cents. 
A NINE-YEAR-OLD McINTOSH TREE. Fio. 4(14. 
in boxes than in barrels, and the labor item is con¬ 
siderably larger. Three boxes and paper cost a 
little more than one barrel. There is also a large 
amount of correspondence and clerical work con- 
McINTOSH APPLE FROM HOPE FARM. Fio. 465. 
the Greenings netted us nearly three dollars per 
barrel at the farm, a good price for this year. We 
had many more orders for most kinds than we 
could fill. 
“The expenses of selling were considerable. We 
nected with sending to so many different people. We 
have had very few criticisms of the apples, but sev¬ 
eral complaints of the charges made by the express com¬ 
panies. We sent 69 orders C. O. D., and on the return 
for these the companies charge 15 cents for remitting. 
WOOD FOR GREENHOUSE HEATING. 
L. G., page 1093, asks about wood-burn¬ 
ing heaters. I do not think it would be 
possible to maintain the required tempera¬ 
ture in the greenhouse where wood is used 
for fuel in an ordinary coal heater. The 
fire pot does not hold a sufficient quantity 
of wood. If L. G. starts his tomatoes early 
(in February he will need a night tempera¬ 
ture of at least 60. With the high winds 
prevailing through February and March, 
and a small fire pot, he would get very 
little rest at night or stormy days. We 
tried our wood cut in two-foot lengths, but 
it was difficult to make stowage, and as 
our boiler readily takes a four-foot stick 
we abandoned cutting it. One night in 
March, when the wind was blowing a gale, 
I left our boiler at midnight with plenty 
of steam and a 50 temperature in the green¬ 
house. At two o’clock I found the ther¬ 
mometer at 32 and wood all burned out. In my 
judgment a boiler of the locomotive type with a fire¬ 
box holding four-foot wood is the only kind suitable, 
and a large door is a necessity, f. c. c. 
Maine. 
