_White Potatoes._—Wholesale prices of potatoes slumped considerably
during the week, probably as a result of liberal supplies. Although the
week’s shipments showed a decrease, arrivals on the New York market were
nearly 550 cars. Chicago received about 400 cars. No. 1 Irish Cobblers
from the Eastern Shore of Virginia reached a low point of $1.50 per bbl.
in nearby cities, a loss of $1 or more. At the same time last year the
jobbing price was $4‒$4.50. Car-lot sales in Chicago averaged about $3
last week. Kansas sacked Cobblers, many dirty, closed at $1.15‒$1.25 per
100 lbs. The Chicago range on partly graded Early Ohios was 85¢ for Kaw
Valley stock, $1‒$1.15 for Minnesota stock, and $1.25 for Nebraska
stock. New Jersey Cobblers, in 150‒lb. sacks, jobbed at $1.25‒$2 per
sack in important eastern markets.
Jersey shipping points were reported dull and slow at the close of the
week, although shipments from that section exceeded those from any other
State, having amounted to almost 1,400 cars, compared with 530 the
previous week. Eastern Shore of Virginia shipments filled only 1,100
cars, a decline of 400, and the Eastern Shore of Maryland marketed less
than 500 cars of potatoes last week. Movement from Kaw Valley declined
sharply. The season in the Kearney district of Nebraska was not yet in
full swing.
_Watermelons._—There was little change in the jobbing price of
watermelons. Georgia shippers handled 50% more business than during the
week ending July 22, but the season in that section will not last long.
As the movement waned in South Carolina it became more active in North
Carolina, about 275 cars having come from the latter State. Southeast
Missouri is coming along fast. From the Sulphur-Springs-Omaha district
of Texas about 1,000 cars of watermelons are expected, and the
Weatherford district may ship 600 cars. Texas melons will be most
abundant the first week of August, rainy weather having delayed the
season in north Texas.
_Cabbage._—New York shipped its first car of cabbage last week, as did
Michigan, also. About 80% of the week’s supply, however, came from Iowa
and the Roanoke section of Virginia, each of those sections having
furnished about 60 cars. Colorado cabbage also is becoming plentiful. In
five counties of southern Michigan the cabbage acreage is estimated at
1,285 acres, compared with 590 acres in 1921. About 1,400 acres are
reported from Saginaw County in northern Michigan.
Special Fruit Trains Bring Berries from Northwest.
Berries grown in the Puget Sound region of the Northwest are served on
breakfast tables in Chicago 80 hours after being picked as a result of
the establishment of a special express refrigerator train service
operating on passenger schedule between the Pacific Northwest and
Chicago.
Previously these fresh fruits were marketed in the locality in which
they were grown or they were shipped in single cars by express to
eastern markets; but in the last few years the development of the berry
industry has been so rapid in the Northwest that additional outlets had
to be found. The special train service which has been inaugurated is
meeting this situation very successfully. Berries of various kinds are
arriving daily in Chicago from the White Salmon, Yakima, Puyallup, and
Walla Walla valleys, from Vashon Island, Puget Sound, and from Lewiston,
Idaho.
In the production centers the berries are rushed by motor truck and
interurban car to the refrigerator cars on the railroad sidings every
afternoon. The cars are loaded, iced, and hurried on passenger schedule
to Spokane where they are united into a special fruit train. Early in
the morning the train pulls out from Spokane for the East. These trains
are iced five times between the Pacific coast and Chicago and make no
other stops. Recently train loads of red raspberries have been arriving
in Chicago every day. Loganberries also have been abundant, but the
larger part of the supply has been raspberries. Arrivals were at the
rate of two cars per day during the latter part of July.
Most shipments have carried through in fine condition, with only a few
packages showing decay or mold. The berries are all packed in 24‒pt.
crates which are only a single layer deep, instead of three layers deep
as are the Michigan red raspberries. The quality of the raspberries has
been fine, the berries being large and of a desirable red color. A few
black raspberries, blackberries, and red currants have also come from
the Northwest, but only as parts of cars. These have likewise been
attractively packed and were of good quality, having shown but little
decay.