1115 
The First Orchard Auction Sales. 
“It was the "beginning of a better day and a square 
deal for fruit growers .” 
The most important part of history is the beginning. 
The pioneer rarely thinks he is doing anything remark¬ 
able, even when he lays the foundation upon which the 
work of centuries is to be built. A new leaf in com¬ 
mercial history was turned over on September 1, by a 
band of pioneers under a spreading apple tree on the 
lawn of Wm. S. Teator’s farm at Red Hook, N. Y. 
It was the first orchard auction under direction of the 
New York State Foods and Markets Department. The 
auctioneer, E. L. Goodsell, stood up in an empty wagon 
with an apple barrel for a desk, and called for bids. 
Around him crowded a gathering of nearly 500 men 
and women. There was a little handful of buyers, a 
good gathering of local farmers, and delegations of 
fruit growers from below Newburgh to far above Al¬ 
bany and west to Syracuse. Even if we include the 
fruit meetings at Poughkeepsie it is safe to say that 
never before in the Hudson Valley has there been a 
larger and more representative gathering of business 
fruit growers. Red Hook is a small place, off the 
railroad, yet the crowd came because they knew that 
an experiment which touched the most vital need of 
their business was to be tried out. 
The finest of apples may be and are grown in the 
Hudson Valley. The best farmers have worked out 
the problem of production, but year by year they have 
been the victims of robbery or extortion in the com¬ 
mercial or selling part of their business. It has been 
a yearly contest between the individual grower and the 
organized buyers. Each year the country swarms with 
these buyers, and they pick up orchard after orchard 
at their own figures, because there is no organization 
among farmers, and because there is no basic price 
to be used as a standard. 
The Department of Foods and Markets decided to 
help this situation by organizing auction sales right 
in the orchards. The farmers themselves requested and 
arranged for these auctions. Instead of a dozen men, 
each dickering for his own orchard, they grouped their 
holdings and offered 20,000 barrels to the highest bid¬ 
der. The buyers were invited to inspect the fruit as 
it hung on the trees and then came out with a fair 
open bid for what they thought it was worth. An 
instant’s thought will show anyone that such a system 
fairly conducted and organized would save money to 
the buyers and give them a better chance to obtain 
good fruit. The advantages to the growers, over the old 
system, are evident, and there is no question but that 
this auction system will bring about far better rela¬ 
tions between buyer and seller. 
Thus, under that big apple tree on Teator’s farm, 
history was in the making. The old worn-out, robber, 
grafting system of doing business had come face to 
face with its fresh, clean, hopeful rival, and every one 
of those earnest thoughtful men and women knew it. 
It was indeed a great day for New York farmers, and 
it is not so a matter of how much business was done 
as the fact that the new plan was carried through and 
established. The larger and well-known buyers took 
Pttle or no part in the auction. Thus they left it to 
be assumed that they intend to keep up the old, ex¬ 
pensive and out-of-date system if they can. They will 
fail in this, and also fail to secure some of the finest 
fruit in the valley, because the growers after this sale 
realize as never before what they have been up 
aga.nst, and what to do in the future. A few buyers 
were on hand, and they bought about 5,000 barrels 
at prices running from $2.75 to $3.25. Every farmer 
on the grounds saw that the principle of this auction 
selling is sound, and they are prepared to back the 
Commissioner up to the limit in his efforts to establish 
this new system. The buyers will hereafter be obliged 
to bid for this fruit if they expect to get it. It is safe 
to say that this first apple auction meant at least 
$500,000 to the Hudson Valley apple growers. It 
brought out open prices as some basis for figuring, 
shewed the people the possibilities of the new system, 
and brought them together for a concrete business pro- 
pc sition as they never were brought before. Even if 
not a single* barrel of apples had been sold this one 
day, by putting the theory of auction sales into a 
definite fact, gained for the apple growers more than 
the entire cost of the Department for 25 years. It has 
started and never will stop. 
The following day the second auction sale was held 
at the farm of Andrew L. F. Deyo at Gardiner, N. Y. 
It was quickly evident at this sale that everybody rec¬ 
ognized the fact that the growers meant business, and 
that the auction system has become an established fact. 
More buyers were present and bidding was more brisk. 
About 20,000 barrels were sold at Gardiner at prices 
ranging from $2.65 to $3.25—the higher figures being 
paid for Mr. Deyo’s fine orchard. Many of the grow¬ 
ers who were present at Red Hook came over to Gar¬ 
diner, and there was a large local attendance. The 
apples were sold under four different forms of contract. 
The grower either sold the fruit outright, the buyer to 
pick and pack, or the grower was to pick the fruit and 
pile it on the ground, or the owner was to pick, grade 
and haul, or the grower was to pick and pile the fruit 
—the buyer then taking entire charge of it. The terms 
of sale were 25 per cent, cash to be paid on the day 
of sale and the balance when fruit is picked and 
packed. 
As a result of these first two auctions the buyers now 
realize that the growers mean business, and that they 
will back this now system to the limit. The growers 
THE RtJRAb NEW-YORKER 
have taken new heart and encouragement. An open 
price has been established, and the growers now see 
that if they will combine storage with this auction 
system they can hold their fine fruit until the buyers 
will pay a fair price for it. For years they have been 
doing a business based on “What will you be kind 
enough to give me!” With the auction system coupled 
with proper storage they have started for that time 
when they will be able to say “My price is so much!” 
The fruit offered at these sales was catalogued in neat¬ 
ly printed pamphlets with the names of growers and 
their offerings. As one farmer said : 
“That catalogue alone is worth half a million dol¬ 
lars to this valley. It puts us on the map along with 
California and other places where fruit with a reputa¬ 
tion is grown. Every buyer in the country will keep 
that catalogue and refer to it for years when he wants 
good apples!” 
We could fill a page with shrewd, wise sayings by 
these farmers, to show how thoroughly they realize the 
possibilities of this new system. They are so fully con¬ 
vinced that this is the right way to sell apples that 
they will back the Commissioner to the limit. 
Egg Conditions in the United States. 
Part III. 
HOW WASH SALES AFFECT QUOTATIONS.— 
That quotations on butter and eggs have been subjected 
to “wash sales” have been shown in evidence collected by 
the Attorney General of the State of New York while 
examining, under oath, members of the New York Mer¬ 
cantile Exchange, who have themselves admitted that 
the sales were fictitious and fixed. It is safe to say 
that 90 per cent, of the eggs sold in New York City and 
many other cities are sold at a price based on New 
York quotations, as published by the Urner-Barry 
Company, for that day. In New York City, in the 
wholesale market, it is a common practice for the 
dealers to contract with western shippers for their 
eggs at a price based on the quotation for western 
“Firsts,” as quoted by the Urner-Barry Company. 
Thus we find the western shippers selling their eggs to 
a New York egg dealer at a price to be quoted in the 
Urner-Barry Price Current, which the shipper has 
nothing to do with making. 
EXTRAVAGANT PROFITS.—This wholesale deal¬ 
er is on the market and on the floor of the Mercantile 
Exchange, daily. He is able to use his influence during 
the season of the greatest production to have the 
price quoted just as low as possible so that he can 
accumulate the surplus stock over and above his daily 
trade requirements to be placed in cold storage at the 
lowest possible price. On the other hand after he has 
accumulated his lot of cold storage eggs he is in a posi¬ 
tion with his friends, who are all in the same position, 
to fit up the market during the balance of the year 
on special grades of eggs which exist only on paper, 
and thereby fixes the market so that he can unload his 
cold storage eggs on his customers at a handsome pro¬ 
fit, and they in turn sell them to the retail grocer, and 
he to the consumer, each making a handsome profit 
on the sale. The average price of eggs during April, 
1914, was 21 cents at New York City. To this price must 
be added two cents per dozen to cover the cost of stor¬ 
age, insurance and interest. Then two cents per dozen 
should be added to take care of any loss that may have 
occurred in the eggs and the expense of candling. To 
this add two cents per dozen for profit for the wholesale 
dealer, who invests his money, and who should make 
a fair return on his investment. Thus we find that 
these eggs ready for the consumer giving the whole¬ 
sale dealer a fair margin of profit, stood at 27 cents 
per dozen. But we also find, if we investigate care¬ 
fully, that the consumer actually paid for just such eggs 
as described from 35 cents per dozen to 50 cents per 
dozen. 
ECONOMIES OF AUCTION SALES.—This has 
been done in the past and until some stringent regula¬ 
tion has been enforced it will continue to be done in 
the future. Eggs arriving at the docks in New York 
City are usually consigned to wholesale dealers. The 
expense of carting to the wholesale dealer’s store is 
four cents per case of thirty dozen each. Here the eggs 
are unloaded, piled up in the store as a rule, and are 
sold to jobbers, at which time they are again loaded on 
trucks and carted to the jobber’s store. Here they 
al - e unloaded, candled, crated, sorted for size, sometimes 
for color, and often separated into six or seven grades, 
depending upon quality, size and color. They are again 
loaded on wagons and carted to the retail grocer’s 
store, he in turn selling them to the consumer. Should 
as scientific a system for selling eggs be developed as 
has been devised for the selling of California fruits and 
Almeria grapes, these eggs would arrive at a large 
terminal, be assembled on one of the main floors, and 
made ready for sale at auction direct to the retail deal¬ 
ers in eggs, throughout the city. There would be no 
manipulation of the market or the values. The eggs 
would be graded and sold in strict accordance with this 
grade, which would be just as reliable as the State in¬ 
spection of grains in the Chicago market, which has 
been accepted by every country in the world for the 
past 40 years as a satisfactory standard. This trade 
is an absolutely safe one. This business could be 
handled by an auction company, charging not to exceed 
two per cent, for selling the eggs for the producer and 
shipper. At the present time it is costing two cart¬ 
ages more than are necessary, amounting to eight cents 
per case on every case of eggs arriving in New York 
City by freight. As there are consumed in New York 
City 100,000 cases of eggs per week, we find $8,000 
per week wasted in extra cartage, while the extra 
labor and store rental would amount to at least an ad¬ 
ditional $10,000 on the week’s egg supply. In addition 
to this we find that middlemen have charged a profit 
of not less than 10 per cent, more than would be the 
charge if sold at auction direct. As the value of the 
eggs consumed in New York City would easily amount 
to $750,000 per week, we find here an item of $75,000 
per week unnecessary expense on this one item of food. 
All told we have here an estimated Saving, under an 
economic system of distribution, of $10,236,000 an¬ 
nually on the supply of eggs for the New York market 
over and above the cost of the present wasteful system. 
In addition eggs arriving at the terminal and placed 
directly in storage at the terminal would show very 
much less breakage and waste than eggs which arrive 
on the docks and are carted over the cobblestones, un¬ 
loaded and re-loaded two.or three times. In the auc¬ 
tion system there is never an opportunity for any 
complaint, justly, of the shippers being taken advan¬ 
tage of in his sales. Yet a representative of the At¬ 
torney General’s office of the State of New York, at 
299 Broadway, New York City, stated that in in¬ 
vestigating the sale reports of butter and eggs con¬ 
signed to the New York market, the auditors had re¬ 
ported to the Attorney General’s office that in 85 per 
cent, of the shipments received some advantage had 
been taken of the shippers at the time the account of 
sales was rendered for the shipment. 
Canada in the Wool Business. 
Some of these people who are yelling “Socialism” 
because the N -w York State Foods and Markets De¬ 
partment is trying to help apple growers sell their 
fruit ought to move up into Manitoba. That Province 
started out to encourage the sheep industry. The De¬ 
partment of Agriculture undertook to handle and sell 
this season’s wool clip on a cooperative basis. Thus 
far the scheme has proved a great success. The de¬ 
partment took charge of the work about the middle of 
May. Every man in the Province who was known 
to keep Sheep was approached and told how to ship his 
wool. When the wool came in, whether it represented 
one pound or 1,000, it was carefully weighed, graded by 
an expert and shipped to market by the Department of 
Agriculture. It was properly sacked and the grade 
and weight printed on each sack. As the wool came 
in the department paid these farmers an advance of 15 
cents a pound for the wool. There were 74,000 pounds 
of wool received, and sold to the highest bidder at 
an average rate of $26.80 per 100 pounds. The farm¬ 
ers were promptly paid the balance due them after 
taking out a light charge for selling. The wool was 
graded carefully, so that those farmers who sent the 
best quality of wool received the most money, just 
as they would had they been dairymen with their milk 
paid for on the fat test. As a result of this work 
farmers paid one cent per pound commission charges 
and received from five to seven cents more than they 
would have received had the department not taken up 
the work. There is a double purpose in this opera¬ 
tion. In the first place wool is a profitable crop now 
and goes well with Northwestern farming. The sheep 
clean up the grain fields, keep down the weeds and tidy 
the land generally. Their wool and their mutton un¬ 
der these circumstances is almost a clear gain. North¬ 
west Canada needs more live stock, and also needs more 
diversified work, especially something that will provide 
a job for Winter. The sheep will do this probably 
better than dairying, as the sheep are easier to handle 
than the cows. Thus this work is educational, and in¬ 
duces the farmers to keep more sheep. On the other 
hand, this work was done as a matter of business, 
to save as much money as possible to the producers 
themselves. Here is the State going directly into the 
business of helping the producers to dispose of their 
goods, and up in that country no one seems to deny 
that this work is wise and profitable. 
Difference in Wheat Quotations. 
Will you kindly explain why there is such a differ¬ 
ence in quotations on wheat on the same date? I en¬ 
close clippings taken from Rochester Democrat and 
Chronicle. j. h. g. 
These quotations on cash wheat, No. 1 Northern, 
were $1.52 at Minneapolis and $1.10 at New York. 
Striking differences in price of cash wheat are not 
unusual during the time when old wheat is quite thor¬ 
oughly cleared out of interior markets and the new 
crop has not begun to move. When wheat gets scarce 
at an interior point where it must be had at once for 
milling, or to fill speculative contracts, it advances in 
proportion to the difficulties of getting a sufficient sup¬ 
ply there. During the past week a heavy movement of 
Spring wheat has started for Minneapolis and other 
northern markets, and those who have watched the 
figures for the last six days have noted a steady de¬ 
cline in the Minneapolis price, until now New York 
and Minneapolis are practically on a level on this grade 
of wheat. These differences are, of course, most strik¬ 
ing on cash, or immediate delivery, wheat, and are 
partially the workings of a brand of business ethics 
which pinches a man financially when caught in a 
tight spot. On wheat for future delivery Minneapolis 
prices are now below New York, as might be ex¬ 
pected. 
