European receivers of American apples, represented by Chas.
Forster, 76-78 Park Place, N. Y.
=================================================================
| Ports of Import. |
| Figures given represent barrels. |
Date. |----------------------------------------------| Total.
|Liverpool.| London.|Glasgow.|Hamburg.|Various.|
--------+----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------
=1897.= | | | | | |
Aug. 7 | 168 | | 33 | | | 201
" 14 | 185 | | 47 | | | 232
" 21 | 455 | | 374 | | | 829
" 28 | 1,113 | | 495 | | | 1,608
Sept. 4 | 3,044 | | 580 | | | 3,624
" 11 | 7,605 | | 2,370 | | | 9,975
" 18 | 10,933 | 70 | 3,813 | | 143 | 14,959
" 25 | 12,960 | 2,494 | 6,425 | 657 | 250 | 22,786
Oct. 2 | 13,286 | 7,774 | 5,167 | 1,804 | 572 | 28,603
" 9 | 16,325 | 11,252 | 6,499 | 3,747 | 512 | 28,335
" 16 | 20,530 | 5,461 | 7,473 | 3,648 | 322 | 37,434
" 23 | 29,381 | 13,047 | 8,709 | 6,391 | 210 | 57,738
" 30 | 26,641 | 16,055 | 14,619 | 8,432 | 366 | 66,113
Nov. 6 | 39,615 | 9,449 | 18,897 | 8,371 | 1,791 | 78,123
" 13 | 33,631 | 4,338 | 7,579 | 6,650 | 566 | 52,764
" 20 | 29,167 | 11,226 | 18,288 | 13,755 | 1,113 | 73,549
" 27 | 26,308 | 7,169 | 3,588 | 7,686 | 1,886 | 46,637
Dec. 4 | 18,091 | 8,724 | 3,154 | 6,597 | 231 | 36,797
" 11 | 14,050 | 2,469 | 4,766 | 3,829 | 239 | 25,353
" 18 | 4,613 | 2,794 | 211 | 1,475 | 487 | 9,580
" 25 | 7,468 | 2,733 | 1,106 | 616 | 339 | 12,262
=1898.= | | | | | |
Jan. 1 | 11,949 | 2,196 | | 617 | 577 | 15,339
" 8 | 19,486 | 9,428 | 709 | 2,644 | 900 | 33,167
" 15 | 17,747 | 11,952 | 1,450 | 4,011 | 5 | 35,165
" 22 | 16,332 | 4,885 | | 1,316 | 567 | 23,100
" 29 | 11,974 | 5,174 | 1,539 | 3,601 | 142 | 22,430
Feb. 5 | 3,546 | 4,987 | 417 | | 718 | 19,668
" 12 | 12,584 | 3,709 | 1,101 | 673 | 294 | 18,361
" 19 | 12,320 | 5,160 | 521 | | 41 | 18,042
" 25 | 10,234 | 4,656 | 1,353 | 1,325 | | 17,568
Mar. 5 | 8,431 | 3,284 | 100 | 505 | 75 | 12,395
" 12 | 9,192 | 6,389 | 424 | 270 | | 16,275
" 19 | 8,671 | 5,026 | 117 | 160 | | 13,974
" 26 | 7,747 | 4,078 | 381 | | 191 | 12,397
April 2 | 9,788 | 4,187 | 271 | | 113 | 14,359
" 9 | 6,917 | 8,493 | 1,192 | | 185 | 16,787
" 16 | 5,049 | 2,091 | 60 | | 134 | 7,334
" 23 | 2,059 | 2,095 | | | | 4,154
" 30 | 543 | 2,436 | | | | 2,979
May 7 | 1,500 | | | | | 1,500
June 11 | 1,500 | | | | | 1,500
|----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------
Totals | 490,138 |198,281 |123,828 | 88,780 | 12,969 | 913,996
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I have just received the apple catalogue of Woodall & Co., of Liverpool,
England, giving a list of sales made by them of 2451 barrels of American
apples, from the 3d to the 10th of this month [December, 1897]. This
catalogue gives the mark, brand or owner's name on barrel, the name of
the variety, condition of fruit, and whether tight or loose in the
barrel, the name of the vessel on which the fruit arrived, the point
from which it was shipped, and the gross proceeds of the sales of these
2451 barrels--1047 were from Canada and 1404 from the United States.
Last year I sold for export 1000 barrels of apples. The buyer told me it
was very difficult to carry barreled apples across the water in good
condition. And that, owing to the peculiar motion of the ship, apples
which were tight when loaded would be loose and bruised on arrival at
Liverpool. You may judge of the correctness of this statement when I
tell you that, in the account of sales of 153 barrels, 142 are reported
as loose and 11 tight. They are not all that bad, for further on 212
are reported as 171 tight and 41 loose. Apples when loose lose from $1
to $1.75 in value; a lot of 12--8 Winesap and 4 York Imperial,
loose--were sold for 15s. 3d. or $3.80 per barrel; 43 Winesaps, loose,
brought 14s. 9d. or $3.68. Newtown Pippins bring the highest price,
ranging from $5 to $9 per barrel.
The apples are mostly from Canada and New York, the varieties being
principally Newtown Pippin, Baldwin, Greening, and [Northern] Spy; still
I find in the list such familiar names as Ben Davis, Genet, and Winesap.
On inquiry, I find the freight from Kansas City to New York is 63-1/2
cents, and from New York across the water, seventy-five cents per
barrel. A report of sales would read something like this: One barrel Ben
Davis, $3.80; freight, $1.35; commission, 20 cents; net proceeds, $2.25.
This is supposing they should reach the other side loose. If, owing to
superior skill in packing, they should reach their destination tight,
the net proceeds would be $3 or $3.25. The Liverpool quotation on
western Ben Davis, December 11, is $4 to $5 for tight; $3.50 to $4.38
for loose. I speak of one firm only; many others are in the same line.
COMPARISON OF SEASONS, 1881 TO 1898.
========================================================================
| Ports of Export.
| Figures represent barrels.
|---------------------------------------------------------------
Date. | New | | Mont- | Port- |Halifax|Phil-|Bal- |Anna-
| York. | Boston. | real. | land. |and St.|adel-|ti- | pol-
| | | | |Johns. |phia.|more.| is.
--------+---------+---------+--------+-------+-------+-----+-----+------
1880-81 | 599,200| 510,300| 145,276| 39,908| 24,250|9,872| |
1881-82 | 75,889| 65,093| 56,433| 6,497| 13,805| | |21,535
1882-83 | 169,570| 102,409| 64,390| 16,890| 18,542|3,900| |19,893
1883-84 | 53,048| 7,145| 7,445| 9,811| 3,758| 325| |
1884-85 | 256,314| 307,130| 84,487| 71,460| 41,207| | | 8,612
1885-86 | 466,203| 221,724| 68,716| 87,301| 37,982| 186| | 3,161
1886-87 | 175,595| 303,479| 106,713|100,569| 94,606| | |26,965
1887-88 | 275,696| 163,916| 93,058| 25,215| 32,652| | |17,884
1888-89 | 474,337| 382,199| 291,307|145,825| 94,691| 860| |18,190
1889-90 | 169,557| 132,589| 162,526|122,433| 53,627| | |37,030
1890-91 | 76,503| 23,123| 182,095| 80,365| 89,190| | |
1891-92 | 537,247| 339,964| 320,457|163,145| 87,379| 550| 72|
1892-93 | 218,037| 204,138| 429,243|235,395|116,725| | |
1893-94 | 29,396| 4,796| 56,255| 49,344| 35,058| | |
1894-95 | 221,398| 523,123| 273,353|155,878|264,410| | |
1895-96{| 230,705| 84,771| 128,027|141,955|165,797| | |
{|[A]13,610| |[A]1,861| | | | |
1896-97 | 570,327|1,015,029| 700,274|221,350|409,733|3,133| |
1897-98 | 361,894| 176,322| 163,313|126,261| 82,208|3,943| 55|
Additionally in 1891-92, 1,337 barrels were exported from Newport News,
and 215 from Norfolk.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Ports of Import.
| Figures represent barrels.
Date. |------------------------------------------------------------
|Liverpool.| London. | Glasgow.|Hamburg.| Various.| Total.
--------------+----------+---------+---------+--------+---------+----------
1880-81 | 839,444 | 177,936 | 216,391 | | 95,036 | 1,328,806
1881-82 | 133,784 | 46,147 | 59,266 | | 55 | 239,252
1882-83 | 253,432 | 46,975 | 81,269 | | 13,318 | 395,594
1883-84 | 46,661 | 4,843 | 29,685 | | 343 | 81,532
1884-85 | 491,898 | 123,081 | 137,631 | | 16,590 | 769,210
1885-86 | 537,695 | 147,102 | 176,445 | | 24,031 | 885,273
1886-87 | 468,553 | 187,840 | 138,756 | | 12,775 | 807,924
1887-88 | 346,557 | 104,072 | 139,517 | | 18,275 | 608,421
1888-89 | 790,502 | 279,374 | 272,068 | | 64,465 | 1,407,409
1889-90 | 418,850 | 128,248 | 116,449 | | 14,115 | 677,762
1890-91 | 252,548 | 116,705 | 80,772 | | 1,260 | 451,285
1891-92 | 917,535 | 224,356 | 282,553 | | 25,892 | 1,450,336
1892-93 | 798,291 | 174,405 | 220,790 | | 10,052 | 1,203,538
1893-94 | 101,205 | 32,581 | 38,524 | | 2,530 | 174,841
1894-95 | 853,198 | 388,535 | 173,312 | | 23,110 | 1,438,155
1895-96 {| 410,596 | 196,184 | 127,942 | | 16,533 | 751,255
{|[A]11,342 |[A]2,458 |[A]1,771 | | | [A]15,471
1896-97 |1,581,560 | 716,771 | 411,575 | 117,105| 92,835 | 2,919,846
1897-98 | 490,138 | 198,281 | 123,828 | 88,780| 12,969 | 913,996
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[A] Boxes.
During the week ending December 11, 1897, there were exported from the
United States to Europe 25,447 barrels of apples; of these, Liverpool
got 3335, London, 2580, Glasgow, 3567, Hamburg, 5264; equaling 14,756.
The total export to Europe this year from the United States, up to
December 11, is 586,906 barrels bringing this country over 1-1/2 million
dollars. Last year we had a much larger crop, and up to this date had
exported 2,087,573 barrels. Owing to the liability of getting loose in
the barrel some shippers use boxes. We packed, last fall, 1000 boxes of
Willow Twig and Ben Davis; these were packed in pear boxes, each apple
wrapped in paper; the boxes (filled) would weigh about forty pounds. The
apples are placed in layers six long by four wide and four layers deep,
ninety-six apples to the box, putting the finest apples on top. The
covers are put on with a lever press that presses on the ends of the
boards and springs both the bottom and top of the box; the extra size in
the middle is protected by cleats on the ends. The sides are of thicker
boards and do not spring. If the apples should shrink in size, as apples
do, the spring in the box will take up the slack. In loading on the car
or ship, the boxes are placed on their edges. One thousand boxes make a
good car-load, weighing about 40,000 pounds. A barrel will make about
4-1/2 boxes. These cases of selected apples are expected to sell readily
for eight shillings (or $2) per box, and packed in this careful manner
should go through in perfect condition. If they bring satisfactory
prices, I predict that next year more than one Kansas orchard will be
packing apples for foreign export.