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To renew call Telephone Center, 333-8400 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN LI6I O-I096 Contents PAGE THE ILLINOIS PEACH INDUSTRY 275 Production Is Concentrated in Three Areas 276 Elberta Is the Leading Variety 279 HARVESTING THE CROP AND MOVING IT TO MARKET... 280 Time of Harvest 280 Preparation for Market 281 Selling the ^Crop 284 Transporting the Crop 288 COMPETITION, SUPPLIES, AND PRICES . . . 294 Competition Between Illinois and Other States 295 Supplies and Prices 298 THE NATIONAL PEACH INDUSTRY 303 Total Production 303 Place of Illinois 305 Production in the Southern States 305 Changes in Tree Numbers 305 OUTLOOK FOR ILLINOIS 309 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 311 Marketing Illinois Peaches 311 Illinois and the National Market 312 TRANSPORTING THE CROP DURING WARTIME 312 Truck and Rail Shipments 313 The Tire Situation for Trucks Hauling Peaches 314 APPENDIX.. . 316 Urbana, Illinois September, 1942 Publications in the Bulletin series report le results of investigations made or sponsored by the Ex, .-riment Station Marketing the Illinois Peach Crop By V. A. EKSTROM, formerly Associate in Fruit and Vegetable Marketing |EACHES ARE MARKETED in the United States from late May to October in a series of more or less separate deals begin- ning in the southern states and extending northward thruout the season. Harvest in any one area lasts only a few weeks and, since the fruit is highly perishable and cannot be satisfactorily stored except for a very limited period, the deals follow each other in rapid succession. Except in California, most of the crop is sold for immediate con- sumption or for home canning. As the harvest progresses in the differ- ent areas there is an overlapping of shipments. Because of variations in production and ripening dates there are wide differences in supplies and prices thruout the season. The prices received for peaches at shipping points in Illinois will depend not only upon supplies coming from Illinois but also upon the crops ripening in other states at about the same time. For this reason peach growers must analyze the in- dustry from a national viewpoint as well as from a local one if they are to plan the most advantageous production and marketing programs. While this bulletin is designed to help Illinois peach growers obtain a broader understanding of the national peach industry and market, it also is concerned with specific problems of getting peaches to the wholesale dealer or market in the most economical way. It takes up the matter of sales outlets and methods of selling in order to help the grower decide which are likely to return the greatest profit. It also gives consideration to such problems as methods of handling the crop, transportation, grading, sizing, and packaging the fruit. THE ILLINOIS PEACH INDUSTRY During the ten-year period 1930-1939 Illinois ranked eighth among the states in peach production, having an average annual crop of 1,447,000 bushels (Fig. 1). In this same period the fifteen leading states produced more than 86 percent of the U. S. crop and each of these states had an average annual production of more than a million bushels. Following California, which is by far the largest producer, and Georgia, which raises about 10 percent of the total U. S. crop, the six states next in order are North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Michigan, Alabama, and Illinois. 275 276 BULLETIN No. 492 [September, STATf MILLIONS 1 Z 3 J 1 OF BUSHELS 5 15 9 25 CALIFORNIA GEORGIA 23.01 S.OS NORTH CAROLINA 92 PENNSYLVANIA .79 ARKANSAS 78 MICHIGAN .74. 1 ALABAMA .45 ILLINOIS .45 NEW YORK .43 B NEW JERSEY .25 PEACH PRODUCTION AVERAGE FOR 1930-1939 SOUTH CAROLINA .24 TENNESSEE .22 COLORADO .22 TEXAS .19 WASHINGTON .08 Fig. 1. Fifteen states produce peach crops of more than a million bushels a year, according to averages for 1930-1939. Illinois ranks eighth with an average annual crop of 1,447,000 bushels. Production Is Concentrated in Three Areas Altho peach orchards are distributed over the entire southern half of Illinois and are found to a less extent in the west and north-central sections, the bulk of the crop comes from three definite areas in the lower third of the state, commonly referred to as the Anna, Centralia, and Sesser districts (Fig. 2). The Anna district centers in and around Union county in the extreme southern part of the state. The Centralia district, 75 to 100 miles farther north, is concentrated in Marion, Jefferson, and Washington counties and includes small areas in sev- eral adjacent counties. Between these two large concentrated areas is the smaller Sesser district, which centers in Franklin county. Accord- ing to the 1940 U. S. Census, the ten leading counties in order of total tree numbers are: Marion, Union, Jefferson, Jackson, Washington, Johnson, Massac, Franklin, Pulaski, and Clinton. In the peach district in the southern part of the state there are many more small orchards than large ones, but the small units contain only a relatively small part of all trees. This fact was shown by a classification made of the orchards of 190 growers (Table 1). The orchards ranged in size from less than 500 trees to more than 10,000, or from less than 5 acres to more than 100 acres, estimating an average of about 100 trees to the acre. Seventy- four percent of the farms had 2,500 trees or less, but these farms had only 37 percent of the total MARKETING THE ILLINOIS PEACH CROP 277 number of trees. While more farms were in the group of 501 to 1,000 trees than in any other classification, these smaller units accounted for only 5.8 percent of the total trees. On the other hand, only 3.7 per- cent of the farms had more than 10,000, but these largest production units included almost double the percentage of trees in any other group. ONE DOT=5,OOO TREES 09*0 U.S. CENSUS) Fig. 2. Peach production in Illinois is concentrated in the lower third of the state, as is shown by the distribution of trees in 1940. The Anna district is located in and around Union county; the Centralia district, in and around Marion county; and the Sesser district centers in Franklin county. As the analysis of tree numbers would lead one to expect, the large farm units in Illinois produce the bulk of the peach crop even tho there are actually many more orchards operating on a small scale. This fact was shown by a survey made in 1939 of the records of 192 growers marketing 793,385 bushels of peaches (Table 2). Seventy- two of the 192 growers, or about one-third, selling crops of more than 278 BULLETIN No. 492 [September, TABLE 1. DISTRIBUTION OF 190 ILLINOIS FARMS ACCORDING TO NUMBER OF PEACH TREES PER FARM, 1938 a Farms Trees Trees per farm Percent Number of total Cumula- tive percent Number Percent of total Cumula- tive percent 300 to 501 to 1.001 to 1,501 to 2.001 to 2,501 to 3,001 to 3,501 to 4,001 to 4,501 to 5.001 to 5,501 to 6,001 to 6,501 to 7,001 to 7.501 to 8,001 to 8,501 to 9,001 to 9,501 to 1 10,001 or i Total 500 . . 27 14 18 14 14 12 5 3 2 1 1 2 1 1 .2 .4 .8 .2 .7 8 .7 .7 .0 .0 .7 .5 .0 14 32 47 61 74 80 83 86 87 88 91 92 92 93 93 93 94 94 96 96 100 .2 .6 ,4 6 3 1 .8 5 .5 ,5 .2 .2 .7 .7 .7 .7 .2 .7 .3 3 .0 11 27 36 46 54 30 22 19 9 9 26 11 6 13 035 393 296 972 470 350 865 490 150 350 165 800 250 690 2 5 7 10 11 6 4 4 1 2 5 2 1 2 i i 6 21 100 4 8 7 6 4 9 1 9 .0 6 5 .3 9 8 .9 .0 '.2 .0 2.4 8.2 15.9 25.9 37.5 43.9 48.8 52.9 54.8 56.8 62.4 64.9 66.2 69.1 69.1 69.1 70.9 72.8 78.8 78.8 100.0 1 000 35 1 ,500 28 2 000 . . . . . . 27 2,500 24 3,000 11 3 500 . . . . . . 7 4,000 5 4 500 2 5,000 2 5,500 5 6000 . . . . . 2 6,500 1 7,000 2 7 500 8,000 8,500 1 1 .5 .5 .6 8 8 28 99 470 500 800 200 544 320 9000 . . . . . . 1 9,500 3 10,000 nore 7 3 100 .7 .0 190 Of the 190 farms, 155 were in the Anna district and 35 in the Centralia district. In cases where two or more farms were operated by a company or a family under a single management they were considered as a single unit. 3,000 bushels, accounted for as much as three- fourths of the total volume. This means that the growers with crops of 3,000 bushels or less, who represented about two-thirds of the 192 growers, sold only about one-fourth of the total volume of peaches. Forty-two of these small-scale producers, who had crops of less than 1,000 bushels, sold only 3.5 percent of the total volume altho they represented about 24 percent of the growers included in the survey; and 42 producers with crops ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 bushels sold only 8 percent of the total volume altho they made up 22 percent of the growers. TABLE 2. DISTRIBUTION OF 192 ILLINOIS PEACH GROWERS ACCORDING TO NUMBER OF BUSHELS IN THEIR 1939 CROPS Bushels in crop Growers Volume in bushels Number Percent of total Cumula- tive percent Number Percent of total Cumula- tive percent 500 or less 17 8.9 15.6 21.9 16.1 15.6 13.5 3.1 3.7 1.6 8.9 24.5 46.4 62.5 78.1 91.6 94.7 98.4 100.0 4 704 22 929 64 726 77 522 119 760 188 129 70 894 124 653 120 068 .6 2.9 8.2 9.8 15.1 23.7 8.9 15.7 15.1 .6 3.5 11.7 21.5 36.6 60.3 69.2 84.9 100.0 501 to 1,000 30 1,001 to 2,000 42 2.001 to 3,000 31 3.001 to 5.000 30 5,001 to 10,000 . . 26 10.001 to 15,000 6 15,001 to 25.000 7 25.001 or more. .. 3 All crops 192 100.0 793 385 100.0 1942] MARKETING THI: ILLINOIS I'KACH CROP 279 TABLE 3. NUMBER AND PROPORTION OF PRINCIPAL PEACH VARIETIES AS REPORTED BY 168 GROWERS IN ANNA DISTRICT AND 38 GROWERS IN CENTRALIA DISTRICT, 1938 Anna district Centralia district Both districts Variety Number of trees Percent of all trees Number of trees Percent of all trees Number of trees Percent of all trees Elberta 1 322 984 86.6 6.7 4.0 2.7 100.0 91 428 30 4 282 3 883 99 623 91.8 ( b ) 4.3 3.9 100.0 414 412 25 044 19 301 13 588 472 345 87.8 5.3 4.1 2.8 100.0 Red Bird 25 014 J H Hale 15 019 Others' 9 705 . . . 372 722 Includes a few peaches of the Early Elberta and Gage varieties, which were not reported separately. b Less than .1 percent. 'Includes the following varieties: Heath Cling, Captain Ede, Georgia Belle, Candoka, Halehaven, South Haven, Diamond King, Carman, Mayflower, Slappey, and Golden Jubilee. Elberta Is the Leading Variety Altho twenty or more varieties of peaches are grown in Illinois, only a few of them are of commercial importance. In fact, in 1938 three varieties accounted for 97 percent of the 472,345 peach trees reported by 206 growers. Elberta comprized 87.8 percent of the trees ; Red Bird, 5.3 percent; and J. H. Hale, 4.1 percent (Table 3). The large proportion of Elberta peaches will decrease somewhat, for there has recently been an increased planting of other varieties. Of the trees reported in 1938, 93.2 percent of those 16 to 20 years old were Elberta, but this variety made up only 78.1 percent of the trees 1 to 5 years old (Table 4). At the same time Red Bird, a clingstone variety, comprized as many as 14 percent of the trees 1 to 5 years old but only 1 percent of the trees 16 to 20 years old. A considerable number of trees of the Red Bird variety were planted a few years ago because this variety ripens a month or more ahead of the Elberta and the crop came on the market when peach supplies from other sections TABLE 4. NUMBER AND PROPORTION OF YOUNG AND OLD PEACH TREES OF DIFFERENT VARIETIES AS REPORTED BY 206 GROWERS IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS, 1938 Variety Trees of all ages Trees 1 to 5 years old Trees 16 to 20 years old Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Elberta . . . 414 412 87.8 5.3 4.1 .5 .4 1.9 100.0 103 988 18 725 4 257 500 25 5 641 133 136 78.1 14.1 3.2 .4 C) 4.2 100.0 93 160 1 057 2 480 1 872 335 1 000 99 904 93.2 1.1 2.5 1.9 .3 1.0 100.0 Red Bird 25 044 J. H. Hale 19 301 Heath Cling 2 497 Captain Ede 1 911 Others b 9 180 All varieties 472 345 Less than .1 percent. b lncludes Georgia Belle, Candoka, Halehaven, South Haven, Diamond King, Carman, Mayflower, Slappey, and Golden Jubilee. 280 BULLETIN No. 492 [September, were light. As a result Red Bird peaches sold for rather high prices. In more recent years, however, this variety has sold much less readily because of increased competition with Georgia freestone varieties. Also in the last few years newer improved varieties, such as Halehaven and Golden Jubilee, have been planted in increased num- bers, but as yet none of these is of any great commercial importance. HARVESTING THE CROP AND MOVING IT TO MARKET Time of Harvest The harvest of Elberta peaches in Illinois usually begins early in August and lasts three to four weeks. Red Bird peaches ripen the last few days in June and the first two weeks in July, and there are crops from varieties of less commercial importance at different times thruout the summer. Unless otherwise stated, any reference to the Illinois peach crop is understood to mean the Elberta crop, since it is by far the most important variety grown. During 1934 to 1939 and in 1941 the date of the first carlot ship- ment of Illinois Elberta peaches ranged from the week ended July 23, 1938, to the week ended August 11, 1934. The crop for 1940 was not considered because it was almost a complete failure. TABLE 5. WEEKLY CARLOT SHIPMENTS OF ILLINOIS PEACHES, 1934-1941 1934 1935 1936 1937 Week ended Cars Week ended Cars Week ended Cars Week ended Cars June 30 . . 1 June 29 .. 5 July 4... . . 1 July 3 . 3 July? ,. 4 JulyS July 11 .. 1 July 10 .. 6 July 14 . . 1 July 13 . . 1 July 18 July 17 .. 2 July 21 July 20 July 25 July 24 July 28 July 27 Aug. 1 July 31 . 4 Aug. 4 Aug. 3 . 17 Aug. 8 . 17 Aug. 7 . . 47 Aug. 11 . 71 Aug. 11 ..282 Aug. 15 .. 66 Aug. 14 . .389 Aug. 18 .168 Aug. 17 ..509 Aug. 22 . . 62 Aug. 21 ..432 Aug. 15 . 66 Aug. 24 . .939 Aug. 29 Aug. 28 ..494 Sept. 1 7 Aug. 31 434 Sept. 5 Sept. 4 83 1938 1939 1940 1941 Week ended Cars Week ended Cars Week ended Cars Week ended Cars July 2 July 1 . 14 Suly 6 . 5 JulyS... . 11 July 9 Julys . . 19 uly 13 .. 1 July 12 .. 5 July 16 July 15 uly 20 July 19 July 23 . 4 July 22 uly 27 .... July 26 July 30 . . 42 July 29 Aug. 3 Aug. 2 Aug. 6 ..448 Aug. 5 . 5 Aug. 10. . Aug. 9 . 18 Aug. 13 .309 Aug. 12 ..220 Aug. 17 . 6 Aug. 16 ..229 Aug. 20 . 55 Aug. 19 ..272 Aug. 24 .. 1 Aug. 23 ..341 Aug. 27 Aug. 26 . . 76 Aug. 31 Aug. 30 ..138 Sept. 3 Sept. 2 .. 2 Sept. 6 . . 17 1942~] MARKETING THE ILLINOIS PEACH CROP 281 In 1939 Illinois peaches ripened at about the normal date and rail shipments were made as follows: 5 cars in the week ended August 5 ; 220 cars in the week of August 6 to 12; 272 cars from August 13 to 19; 76 cars from August 20 to 26; and 2 cars in the week ended September 2 (Table 5). In 1938, however, the peach harvest was unusually early in both Illinois and the southern states. Four cars of peaches were shipped from Illinois in the week ended July 23 ; 42 cars from July 24 to July 30; 448 cars from July 31 to August 6; 309 cars from August 7 to 13 ; and 55 cars in the week ended August 20. Preparation for Market Illinois peaches are graded and packed largely by growers on their own farms. In some cases where two or more orchards are operated by a family as a unit, all grading and packing are done on one farm. While most of the peaches are packed by growers on their own Fig. 3. Large packing sheds like this one are owned and operated by many Illinois peach growers on their own farms. 282 BULLETIN No. 492 [September, farms, there are a few instances where companies operate a central packing house to handle the produce from a number of their orchards. One of the largest of these houses in the United States is operated at Cobden in Union county in connection with an extensive orchard hold- Fig. 4. The large central packing house shown above handles the peach crops from several orchards operated under one management. ing. Likewise peaches are graded and packed at central houses by two orchard companies in Massac county and by several other smaller companies in other counties. A smaller proportion of the Illinois crop is graded and packed by cooperatives, and there is also a limited amount of custom packing done by shipping associations and other organizations. Brushing. In Illinois it has rapidly become an accepted practice to brush peaches because the trade prefers brushed peaches and is will- ing to pay more for them. In 1938, 126 growers reported that 90 per- cent of their peaches were brushed. Packaging. The bushel basket is used for packaging peaches except in rare cases where growers cater to a select trade. The round- bottom type of bushel basket, altho employed extensively in the past, has now been replaced almost entirely by the tub type. Recently tub-type baskets that are ventilated have come into use. They made up one- fourth of the packages used by 126 growers in 1942] MARKETING THE ILLINOIS PEACH CROP 283 1938. Since the ventilated package permits more rapid refrigeration, it is very desirable when peaches are shipped by rail, especially when they are precooled. Rapid cooling of the fruit as soon as possible after harvesting improves carrying quality. 1 A few peaches are sold in bulk either as tree run or as graded fruit. In 1939 bulk sales amounted to 37,858 bushels, or 5 percent of the quantity sold by 192 growers, excluding sales made to consumers in small lots. Precooling. Illinois growers have shown increased interest in precooling rail shipments as a means of improving the carrying quality of the fruit. Even if the precooled peaches do not sell for higher prices, some growers feel that the added expense is justified because of fewer complaints and rejections on the receiving end. In 1938 the 126 growers reported that they precooled 80 cars, or about 10 percent of all cars shipped in Illinois. Some of the larger growers precooled practically all their rail shipments. In 1939 the 192 growers reported that they precooled 39 cars, or about 6.5 percent of the cars shipped. It is assumed that practically all precooled peaches were reported in these two surveys. Grades and sizes. Standards for peach grades issued by the Illi- nois State Department of Agriculture at Springfield include the follow- ing classifications: Illinois-U. S. Fancy, Illinois-U. S. No. 1, Illinois Utility. Peaches not graded in accordance with specifications for these classifications are known as Unclassified. Abbreviated forms of these grade designations are used for convenience. For example, U. S. No. 1 means Illinois-U. S. No. 1 and Utility means Illinois Utility. The Illinois law regulating the standardization and sale of fruits and vegetables requires that all closed packages of peaches be labeled with the grower's name and address, name of the variety, and the grade and minimum size or numerical count. A large proportion of Illinois peaches are marketed as U. S. No. 1 fruit and the 2-inch minimum size classification is most commonly used. Results of surveys show that about 70 percent of the peaches are graded U. S. No. 1 and from 80 to 90 percent of these No. 1 peaches are classified within the 2-inch size minimum. In 1939, 192 growers marketing 793,385 bushels of peaches graded 68 percent of them U. S. No. 1 ; 7 percent, Utility ; and 25 percent were Unclassified (Table 6). In 1938, 126 growers graded their peaches 71 percent U. S. No. 1 ; 7 percent, Utility ; and 22 percent were Unclassified. 'LLOYD, J. W. Precooling rail shipments of Illinois peaches. 111. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 455. 1939. 284 BULLETIN No. 492 [September, TABLE 6. GRADE DESIGNATION OF PEACHES REPORTED BY 126 GROWERS IN ANNA AND CENTRALIA DISTRICTS IN 1938 AND BY 192 GROWERS IN 1939 Year and district Number of growers reporting Bushels sold Percent sold as U. S. No. 1 Utility Unclas- sified 1938 110 372 485 87 517 460 002 401 073 392 312 793 385 74 58 71 68 68 68 5 18 7 7 7 7 21 24 22 25 25 25 Centralia district 16 Both districts 126 1939 107 Centralia district 85 Both districts 192 TABLE 7. SIZE CLASSIFICATION OF 540,134 BUSHELS OF U. S. No. 1 PEACHES FROM ANNA AND CENTRALIA DISTRICTS, 1939 District Bushels sold Percent sized at a minimum of inches inches inches inches inches inches Anna district 274 120 1.5 1 } .8 .2 81 } S Centralia district 266 014 .5 1 .5 88 4 .2 9 4 Both districts 540 134 1 8 () 84 , 6 () 6 4 Less than .1 percent. Of the 540,134 bushels of U. S. No. 1 peaches included in the 1939 survey, 8 percent were classified 2j4~inch minimum; 84.6 percent, 2- inch minimum; and 6.4 percent, 1 24-inch minimum (Table 7). In gen- eral, peaches from the Anna district were shown to average somewhat larger than those from the Centralia district. Selling the Crop Because large-scale peach production in Illinois is concentrated in a few areas relatively near large consuming markets, various whole- sale buyers, brokers, and representatives of sales agencies are attracted to the territory and maintain headquarters there during the peach movement. Some of these buyers are connected with city wholesale firms; others operate independently, traveling from one important producing area to another; still others are local men who make a business of buying or handling home-grown products. Large numbers of truckers appear daily seeking products for their trade routes or places of business. Consignment to city markets has always been a method available to peach growers and there are also local markets where products can be sold. Thus the Illinois grower is provided with a wide choice of outlets where he can sell either on a cash, consign- ment, or brokerage basis. MARKETING THE ILLINOIS PEACH CROP 285 Local markets. At Anna and Cobden local fruit and vegetable markets are operated by the city under the direct supervision of a market master. These two markets serve as meeting places for buyers and sellers, as well as convenient points at which to concentrate sup- plies. Covered space is provided, and there is room for incoming and outgoing trucks. Since various types of buyers, handlers, and truckers 1 Fig. 5. The local fruit and vegetable market at Cobden, as well as the one at Anna, is a center for marketing peaches from southern Illinois. maintain headquarters here during the peach harvest, a farmer can come to either of these markets and readily find a cash buyer or an agent who will handle his load or crop for a fee. If he wishes to con- sign to a city wholesale commission firm, trucks can be hired to haul his product. The total sales made in the markets at Cobden and Anna are greater than the amount of peaches passing thru them. Dealers here sell large quantities which are loaded directly into the trucks of the buyers or haulers at the farmer's packing shed or in railroad cars instead of being brought to the market place. At various points thruout the intensive peach-growing area numer- ous small privately operated local markets are maintained where peaches are concentrated and bought outright from growers or handled for a fee. 286 BULLETIN No. 492 [September, Sales at the farm or packing shed. Growers and their agents sell a considerable quantity of peaches to truck-lot buyers directly from the farm or packing shed. During the height of the harvest large growers pack the equivalent of several carloads in one day and in some instances the output is sufficiently large to justify the full-time service of a sales agent. When a sales agent is regularly employed at the farm, truck-lot buyers come directly to the packing shed to make their purchases. It is a common practice also for growers who sell thru a broker or an agent to reserve the right to make some direct sales usually at the farm or packing shed. Often the broker or agent handles all the packed U. S. No. 1 fruit and the grower disposes of the unclassified or lower grades mostly to merchant truckers who come to the farm. Soft and overripe peaches usually are sold at the shed to buyers of small lots or directly to consumers. Sales service of cooperatives and other organizations. The Illi- nois Fruit Growers Exchange provides state-wide sales service for growers. A cooperative grading and packing organization at Etherton also sells for a small number of growers in Jackson county. Limited sales service also is offered by the Cobden Fruit and Vegetable Ship- ping Association and other similar organizations. Roadside markets. A few growers operate roadside markets where peaches are sold either wholesale or retail. This is not a com- mon practice, however, in the concentrated growing areas. In some Fig. 6. Numerous privately owned small markets, such as the one shown above, are operated locally in the peach-producing territory. 1942} MARKETING THK ILLINOIS PEACH CROP 287 cases where orchards are located on roads that are little traveled or unimproved, growers who do their own selling have found it advan- tageous to operate roadside markets on the main highway primarily as a means of attracting truckers and wholesale buyers rather than as Fig. 7. Buyers of a large proportion of the Illinois peach crop truck the produce directly from the grower's shed. retail outlets. In the main, growers in the peach areas prefer to sell in wholesale lots whether they sell at roadside markets or by some other method. Sales outlets used by growers in 1938 and 1939. In marketing surveys made in 1938 and 1939 the sales outlets used by peach growers were listed to show the type of buyer or handler and whether the sale was made by the grower or was handled thru an agent (Table 8). The market and the place of sale were not considered. For example, peaches sold at local markets were reported according to type of buyer or agent and not as sales on the local market. In both 1938 and 1939 the sales outlets used most by Illinois peach growers were: (1) sales thru brokers or sales agents, (2) outright sales to merchant truckers, and (3) outright sales to wholesale dealers. More peaches were sold thru agencies than were sold outright in both years. Sales thru agencies made up 67 percent of all sales in 1938 and 56 -percent of the total in 1939. One reason for the decrease in the 288 BULLETIN No. 492 [September, TABLE 8. SALES OUTLETS USED BY 116 ILLINOIS PEACH GROWERS IN 1938 AND 192 GROWERS IN 1939 Percent of peaches sold Sales outlet thru outlet indicated 1938 1939 Outright sales, total 33.1 44.2 Merchant truckers 18.3 19.7 10.0 13.0 Chain-store buyers 2.3 3.0 Retail merchants 2.3 Consumers' 2.5 6.2 Sales thru agencies, total 66.9 55.8 Brokers 56.0 46.5 9.4 5.2 City commission merchants 1.5 4.1 Total bushels sold ... . . 454 449 793 385 Includes some small-lot local buyers not classified. proportion of sales thru agencies in 1939 was the lower price for peaches, which brought about an increase in the activity of merchant truckers who buy outright for cash. Deciding upon the sales outlet. In deciding which sales outlet is likely to be most profitable the grower must consider several things. The location of his orchard with respect to markets and traffic is important in deciding whether to sell outright to truckers. Then, too, a grower must consider his own knowledge of market conditions and his own sales ability. No general conclusion can be drawn as to the desirability of one kind of sales outlet over another, for this is an individual problem. There is a tendency for growers to prefer selling for cash at the time peaches are loaded. Some may find this highly desirable, but other growers who wish to devote all their time and at- tention to harvesting and packing the crop may find it better to sell thru an established agency. Intelligent selling requires much technical information regarding supplies in various parts of the country, movements to market, and supply and demand conditions in the various city markets. Because peaches are highly perishable, supplies are irregular, and production areas vary greatly in their distances from consuming markets, prices not only fluctuate frequently and sharply in the United States as a whole but they vary in different parts of the country. If growers are to assume more and more responsibility for selling their produce, a wider dissemination of market information is necessary. Transporting the Crop During the early 1920's when Illinois was rapidly coming to the fore as one of the important commercial peach-producing areas in the 1942} MARKETING THE ILLINOIS PEACH CROP 289 country, practically all shipments were by rail. Numerous shipping associations sprang up in towns located on trunk railway lines. Their chief function was to concentrate supplies and to pool shipments of small growers to make up carload lots. In the last fifteen years, along with the building of more hard-surfaced roads and the improvement of motor trucks, there has been a rapid change-over to motor trucks for transporting the peach crop. Trucks have made possible more direct marketing and have provided for more flexible routing, which makes possible the speedy delivery of small lots. This transition from rail to truck shipments necessitated many changes and brought with it many problems. Adjustments have been made and others remain to be made. Where shipping associations still exist, they now serve a different purpose. A new type of buyer, the merchant trucker, has come into being. Local concentration markets have been developed and growers sell more peaches for cash and ship less to city markets on consignment. Proportion shipped by rail and by truck. For more than twenty years the railroads have reported to the U. S. Department of Agricul- ture their daily carlot shipments of peaches, as well as shipments of other fruits and vegetables. To date no means has been devised to obtain a complete check on truck shipments. However, production minus carlot shipments gives some clue to the proportion of the crop shipped by truck, since the amount not shipped by rail was either trucked to market, used at home, or not marketed for some other reasons. 100 90 80 <060 O 20 PRODUCTION MINUS RAIL SHIPMENTS 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1936 1939 Fig. 8. The steady decrease in rail shipments of peaches from 1929 thru 1939 indicates the trend toward increased trucklot shipments. A crop failure in 1930 and a light crop in 1932 account for the small portions shipped by rail in these years. 290 BULLETIN No. 492 [September, TABLE 9. PROPORTION OF RAIL AND TRUCK SHIPMENTS OF PEACHES MADE BY 126 GROWERS IN ANNA AND CENTRALIA DISTRICTS IN 1938 AND 192 GROWERS IN 1939 Year and district Number of growers Bushels sold Percent of crop transported by Truck Rail 1938 110 364 540 84 167 448 707 374 889 371 638 746 527 61.1 69.2 62.7 71.3 87.8 79.5 38.9 30.8 37.3 28.7 12.2 20.5 Centralia district 16 Both districts 126 1939 107 Centralia district 85 Both districts . . . 192 In 1929 Illinois produced 2,864,000 bushels, or 7,232 cars of peaches; rail shipments amounted to 4,637 cars, or 64 percent of the total production (Fig. 8). A part of the remaining 36 percent was transported by motor vehicles. In 1939 the state produced 2,057,000 bushels, or 5,194 cars of peaches, and rail shipments totaled only 605 cars, or 12 percent of production. A large portion of the other 88 per- cent of the crop was trucked. Between 1929 and 1934, except in years when there was little need to seek distant markets because the crop was very light, shipments by rail ranged from 52 to 64 percent of production. Since 1934 carlot shipments have only ranged from 12 to 32 percent of production. The extent to which trucks have been used in transporting peaches to market has been shown by surveys. Back in 1929 only 17 percent of the Illinois peach crop reported was transported by motor vehicles and 83 percent was carried by rail. 1 Surveys made in the Anna and Centralia districts in 1938, when 126 growers reported, and in 1939, when 192 growers reported, showed a completely changed situation (Table 9). In 1938 there was a 63-percent movement by truck; in 1939, an 80-percent movement. By 1941, according to the estimates of the State Department of Agriculture, 85 percent of the Illinois crop moved by truck. Kind of truckers. Truckers who haul peaches in Illinois operate under various plans. In general, they come under one of these three classifications: 1. A merchant trucker, who buys a load of goods, transports it to market, and then sells it. His sales outlet might be a wholesale market, retail stores, open-air markets, or he might sell his goods direct to consumers. l lll. Agr. Exp. Sta. Ann. Rpt. 43, pp. 238-239. 1930. 1942\ MARKETING THE ILLINOIS PEACH CROP 291 TABLE 10. NUMBER AND PROPORTION OF 364 TRUCKLOADS (70,195 BUSHELS) OF PEACHES HAULED BY DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUCKERS IN 1939 Type of trucker Truckloads hauled Bushels hauled Number Percent Number Percent Merchant trucker 181 50 20 30 18 10 2 32 125 15 648 22 422 15 093 5 885 1 441 46 22 32 22 8 2 For-hire trucker 72 Private trucker, total 111 Wholesale dealer 66 Retail dealer 38 Combined wholesale and retail dealer . . . . 7 2. A for-hire trucker, who does not take title to the goods as the merchant trucker does. He hauls the produce for someone else, either a grower or a buyer, and is paid for performing the service. 3. A private trucker, who buys the peaches and takes them to his own place of business, which may be a store, a warehouse, or any other place where large quantities of produce are assembled for sale, reloading, reshipping, etc. He uses a truck merely as a convenient means of transportation. The merchant trucker thus combines the business of trucking with that of merchandising. To the private trucker, trucking is merely a part of his marketing business, which he carries on at a permanent place. In 1939 out of 364 truck-loads of peaches, or 70,195 bushels, 50 percent was carried by merchant truckers ; 20 percent by for-hire truckers; and 30 percent by private truckers (Table 10). Markets where peaches are trucked. The most frequent outlet for peaches transported by truck in 1939 was thru the city wholesale market, according to the survey of 364 truckloads of peaches (Table 11). Of these peaches, 68 percent went to wholesale markets, 25 percent went direct to retail establishments, 1 percent direct to con- sumers, and 6 percent to unknown destinations. Most of the unknown destinations were so listed because the trucker was unwilling to divulge the information. TABLE 11. KINDS OF MARKETS RECEIVING DIFFERENT PROPORTIONS OF 364 TRUCKLOADS (70,195 BUSHELS) OF ILLINOIS PEACHES IN 1939 Kind of market Truckloads received Bushels received Number Percent Number Percent City wholesale market 218 60 27 6 7 47 813 17 396 874 4 112 68 25 1 6 Retail establishment 99 23 Unknown destination. . . 24 292 BULLETIN No. 492 [September, Peaches going direct to retail establishments, as shown in this survey, included those hauled by both merchant and private truckers. The private truckers were, of course, buying for their own retail outlets ; but the merchant truckers for the most part, operating on regular jobbing routes, supplied their customers with other seasonal commodities as well as with peaches. While some truckers do make it a practice to move peaches di- rectly from the farm to the consumer, relatively few peaches are handled in this way. The peddler type of merchant trucker, who sells direct to the consumer, is of little importance in the marketing situation because peaches are highly perishable, load costs are relatively high, and there is a great deal of risk due to a sensitive market. The peddler buys mostly small lots of soft and off-grade peaches, and in many cases trucking and selling are only a side line. Length of truck hauls. Trucked peaches are now hauled long distances and are distributed in a large number of states. Only 18 per- cent of the 364 truckloads of peaches included in the 1939 survey moved 200 miles or less to market (Table 12). About 60 percent moved between 201 and 450 miles, and about the same quantity moved each of the 50-mile intervals in that range. The 364 truckloads were distributed at various points in 16 states, the longest hauls being to San Antonio (900 miles) and to Dallas and New Orleans, which are each about 700 miles distant. The extensive use of trucks for hauling peaches long distances has developed only within the last ten or twelve years. At first the trucks took care of short hauls and the railroads continued to carry peaches to distant markets. Back in 1929 very few Illinois peaches TABLE 12. RADIUS OF OPERATION OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUCKERS HAULING 364 TRUCKLOADS (70,195 BUSHELS) OF ILLINOIS PEACHES IN 1939 Miles hauled from production point Percent of total hauls in radius Merchant trucker For-hire trucker Private trucker All truckers 50 or less .7 .9 2.6 1.2 7.4 20.0 15.8 18.5 6.0 15.1 5.7 1.3 4.2 1.3 6.6 9.0 8.5 13.4 13.1 11.4 3.6 7.3 6.9 2.8 7.2 9.3 .9 .5 4.6 6.2 6.7 12.6 12.5 15.1 10.1 11.2 8.0 3.3 3.1 4.5 1.1 .5 51 to 100 . 4.1 101 to 150. . . 6.7 151 to 200 . . . 5.2 201 to 250 8.5 251 to 300. . 10.6 301 to 350 15.9 351 to 400 . 16.5 401 to 450 12.2 451 to 500 10.0 501 to 550 4.6 551 to 600 1.7 601 to 650 .9 651 to 700 1.1 701 or more. . . 1.3 1942} MARKETING THE ILLINOIS PEACH CROP 293 were trucked 200 miles or more, as revealed by the survey made by Lloyd and Newell. 1 Problems caused by increased use of trucks. Some of the more acute problems which have arisen as a result of the increased use of motor trucks in marketing peaches are: 1. Lack of a complete source of information regarding shipments and arrivals in terminal markets. When shipments of fruits and vege- tables were made entirely by rail, any buyer or seller could keep ac- Fig. 9. Increased trucklot shipments of fruits and vegetables caused this traffic congestion in the South Water Market in Chicago. curately informed at all times as to market supplies. For years the market news service of the U. S. Department of Agriculture has made daily reports of carlot shipments as well as of arrivals in the principal markets. Now carlot-shipment information has lost much of its value because of the large proportion of the peach crop moved by truck. Except in a few city markets no records of truck receipts 111. Agr. Exp. Sta. Ann. Rpt. 43, pp. 238-239. 1930. 294 BULLETIN No. 492 [September, are made, and no satisfactory means has been devised for reporting shipment from the producing area. 2. Traffic congestion in large city wholesale markets. Most city wholesale produce markets were built to care for rail and boat ship- ments. With the development of motor-truck transportation, facilities for receiving and displaying trucklot shipments are inadequate in many markets. As a result traffic congestion has become a serious problem. As an aid in deciding what action might be taken to relieve some of the pressing problems created, by the increased use of trucks, a traffic survey in the South Water Market, Chicago, was made in June, 1940, by the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, U. S. Department of Agriculture, in cooperation with the Department of Agricultural Eco- nomics, University of Illinois. Causes of traffic congestion were in- vestigated and recommendations were made involving readjustments of methods and practices in the market. 1 3. State laws restricting truck movements. Variations in laws gov- erning motor-truck operations in different states have led to much confusion. In some states the regulations covering tonnage, equipment, speed, width and height of truck, hours of labor, mileage, and taxes can be regarded as trade barriers. The efficient marketing of Illinois peaches requires a free flow of trucklot shipments across various states. Consequently more uniform and reasonable state laws are needed. COMPETITION, SUPPLIES, AND PRICES The Illinois grower is primarily concerned with the volume of peaches which reach market from other sections at approximately the same time that his crop ripens. This volume determines the amount of competition he has to meet and is of much more importance to him than the size of the total U. S. crop or the average seasonal price paid to farmers. Because of variations in production among the different sections and shifts in ripening dates, supplies of peaches are 'unevenly dis- tributed thruout the marketing season. This irregularity in the flow of peaches to market presents one of the major marketing problems. When the crop does come on, it must be utilized within a short time after harvest because it is highly perishable. Hence prices will change frequently thruout the season in accordance with fluctuations in current supplies. 'Traffic survey in the South Water Market, Chicago. U. S. Department of Agriculture in cooperation with the University of Illinois (mimeo.)- June, 1940. 1942] MARKETING THE ILLINOIS I'K.U H CROP 295 Competition Between Illinois and Other States The size of the crop in the competing area, the time when this crop ripens, and the distance it must be moved to market, all affect the amount of competition between Illinois and other states. The time when the crop ripens and is moved to market is indicated fairly accurately by the records of carlot shipments, which are perhaps a clearer index than anything else to the competition among states. Carlot shipments, however, do not give the complete competitive pic- ture, for the proportionate amount of peaches shipped by rail varies from one area to another and in some sections trucks are used almost entirely to transport the crop. Carlot shipments from a group of eastern states, including Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey, coincide more closely with shipments from Illinois than those from any other state or group of states (Fig. 10 and Table 23, Appendix). Occasionally the Colorado and Illinois shipments coincide or overlap. Usually the Georgia crop has been shipped by the time the Illinois harvest begins, but the last shipments from North Carolina, South Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky often overlap those from Illinois. First arrivals from Pennsylvania sometimes compete with the last of the Illinois crop. The extent to which shipments from the different states overlap the Illinois harvest varies, of course, from year to year. For example, in 1934 the peaks of the Colorado and the Illinois movements almost coincided; in 1935 and 1937 a considerable movement from Colorado occurred before the peak was passed in Illinois ; in 1940 the ship- ments overlapped but the Illinois crop was almost a failure. In 1936, 1938, 1939, and 1941 no serious competition developed between Illinois and Colorado. In August, at about the time when volume shipments are made from Illinois, the total carlot shipments in the United States decline markedly. This decline in carlot shipments is probably somewhat mis- leading because a drop in trucklot shipment does not necessarily accompany it. In fact, trucks are used more extensively in marketing peaches from the Midwest and the eastern states than in handling the southern crop. For example, Michigan, one of the leading peach- producing states, ships little by rail. Some of the peaches trucked from this state early in the season compete with the Illinois crop, as do peaches trucked from Indiana and other nearby states. Each producing section has a more or less definite marketing terri- tory into which it sends most of its peaches, but the limits of this 296 BULLETIN No. 492 [September, WEEKLY SHIPMENTS OF FRESH PEACHES AND PRODUCTION DISTRIBUTED ON BASIS OF SHIPMENTS 1937 SEASON MAY JUNE JULY AUG. SEPT. OCT. Fig. 10. The weekly shipments of peaches and the volume produced in the United States during different weeks of the 1937 season show that Illinois enjoyed a favorable niche in the national market. (This graph is reproduced from one issued by the General Crops Section, Agricultural Adjustment Administration, U. S. Department of Agriculture.) 1942\ MARKETING THE ILLINOIS PEACH CROP 297 territory may change from year to year depending upon available supplies in different parts of the country. One year Illinois may have an outlet for peaches in the northeastern states and in another year this outlet may be almost closed. Year in and year out, however, a large portion of Illinois peaches are marketed in the Midwest, and the normal outlets for peaches grown in the eastern states are eastern markets. Generally prices received by Illinois growers are affected more by overlapping of shipments from Arkansas, North and South Carolina, and nearby states, which normally supply the same market areas, than by the overlapping of shipments from New Jersey, Penn- sylvania, and other eastern states. The time that elapses between the completion of harvest in a given area and the disappearance of the peaches from that area from the markets will also affect competition. In other words, accumulated supplies in city markets affect the price of the fresh produce coming in. Not until these accumulated supplies are disposed of can the market be adjusted to supplies from new sources. Often several days after harvests have been completed in the southern states the last of these crops are still competing with the Illinois peaches. Whether or not there are large accumulations of peaches in city markets when the Illinois harvest begins depends not only upon the size of the crop preceding the Illinois harvest but also upon the way in which these crops flow to market. A sudden large increase in ship- ments generally will result in piling up supplies in city markets until there is an equation of supply and demand. Should these increases occur just previous to the Illinois harvest, markets are likely to be weak when Illinois peaches arrive, depending upon the extent to which markets were previously supplied. Thus it can easily be seen that accumulation of supplies, as well as overlapping of shipments, affects the amount of competition between crops of the different areas. No serious overlapping of shipments from Illinois and the southern states occurred in either 1938 or 1939. Yet in 1939 the Illinois ship- ping-point price for peaches at the beginning of the season was $1.00 to $1.25 a bushel, as compared with $1.75 to $2.00 in the previous year. The higher price paid for peaches in 1938 can be accounted for, at least in part, by the readiness with which supplies were distributed previous to the opening of the Illinois harvest. The movement of the crop from the southern states was not so evenly distributed as in the following year, but a few weeks previous to the beginning of the Illinois harvest a peak in supplies and a corresponding decline in prices occurred. Because of the low price, the last of the southern 298 BULLETIN No. 492 [September, crop moved rapidly, so that when the Illinois crop was ready for market supplies were light and the market was strong. In 1939, on the other hand, supplies were evenly distributed thruout most of the Georgia deal and prices were maintained at comparatively high levels. As total supplies of peaches in city markets mounted with the increased shipments from Arkansas and the Carolinas, consumption failed to keep pace until prices were adjusted to a lower level. While the adjustment was being made, supplies accumulated and the market was weak when Illinois peaches were ready to move. Supplies and Prices As every producer knows, prices tend to be low when the supply of a given product is large and they tend to be high when the supply is light. With a crop such as late potatoes, which can be stored several months and distributed thruout the year in accordance with demand, the size of the total crop is highly important as a price-determining factor thruout the season. Prices of such products fluctuate within a rather narrow range, and these changes occur gradually. With a perishable crop such as peaches, supply and price often vary much from week to week and even from day to day. As a result there are wide and frequent fluctuations in prices at market centers, and prices paid to producers vary widely as harvesting progresses from one section to another. In twenty-one large peach producing states the supplies of peaches, as shown by weekly carlot shipments and production distributed on basis of shipments, varied greatly from week to week in the years 1938, 1939, 1940, and 1941 (Figs. 11 and 12). In each of these years two peaks were reached: the first one occurred in late July as shipments from Georgia, North and South Carolina, Arkansas, and Tennessee overlapped; and the second peak came in late August or the first of September when crops were harvested simultaneously in Colorado, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, and other states harvesting a late crop. In a typical year, 1939, estimated weekly supplies from these twenty- one states varied from less than 3,000 cars to more than 10,000 cars after the start of the Elberta season during the second week in July. The amount that supplies vary during the season and the time of heavy and light marketings change from year to year with differences in the size of the crop and the ripening dates. This irregularity in the move- ment of the different peach crops makes it difficult to make advanced predictions about the market with any degree of assurance and thus constitutes one of the major marketing problems. 1942] MARKETING THE ILLINOIS PEACH CROP 299 12,000 PEACH PRODUCTION AND RAIL SHIPMENTS Cl LEADING STATES EXCEPT CALIFORNIA) AND SHIPPING-POINT PRICES -IN STATES INDICATED . RODUCTION SHIPMENTS BY RAIL N. AND S. CAROL IN A. jtLLtNOIS WEEK ENDED U 1.00 ff u 2.50 1.00 JUNE 5 12 10 26l 2 9 16 23 30 1 7 AUG. SEPT. OCT. Fig. 11. The weekly volume of peaches for the twenty-one leading states except California was small when the Illinois harvest began in 1938. This situation was caused by a wider spread than usual between the crop in the southern states and in Illinois. As a result shipping-point prices in Illinois were high. In 1939 the volume marketed was large when the Illinois harvest began, and prices were low. (Shipping-point prices are weekly averages for U. S. No. 1 peaches.) Shipping-point prices. Average weekly shipping-point prices of peaches in general varied with the supply, as shown by the prices for 1936-1941 reported by the market news service of the U. S. De- partment of Agriculture cooperating with the state departments of agriculture in Georgia, North and South Carolina, Arkansas, Illinois, and Michigan (Table 13). The price pattern, as well as the supply pattern, varied from year 300 BULLETIN No. 492 [September, to year, as can be seen by a study of the U. S. Department of Agri- culture price reports for the different states (Figs. 11 and 12). In 14,000 12000 10000 PEACH PRODUCTION AND RAIL SHIPMENTS CZI LEADING STATES EXCEPT CALIFORNIA! AND SHIPPING-POINT PRICES IN STATES INDICATED .50 u U.WEEK OENDED 8 15 22 291 6 13 JUNE JULY 4,000 2,000 WEEK ENDED 1.00 .50 7 14 21 28 I 5 JUNE 12 19 26| 2 JULY 9 16 23 30 | 6 13 20 27 AUG. SEPT. Fig. 12. In 1940 there was a near failure of the peach crop in Illinois. In 1941 total weekly volumes of peaches for the twenty-one leading states except California were very large and prices dropped to low levels in the southern states. Shipping-point prices were higher during the Illinois harvest. (Shipping-point prices are weekly averages for U. S. No. 1 peaches.) MARKETING THE ILLINOIS PEACH CROP 301 TABLE 13. AVERAGE SHIPPING-POINT PRICES PER BUSHEL FOR PEACHES DURING DIFFERENT WEEKS IN ILLINOIS AND SOME OF THE IMPORTANT COMPETING STATES, 1936-1941* Week ended North Georgia and Arkan- Illinois. Michi- South sas gan Carolina Week ended North Georgia and Arkan- Illinois South sas Carolina Michi- gan 1936 1937 July 4 ... 11 40> July3... . $2 68 b July 11 1 96 b July 10 2 90 b July 18.. . 2.47 $2.28 July 17... 3 32 b July 25 1 23 $1 39 1 50 July 24 2 35 $2 30 $2 32 Aug. 1. 1.48 1.84 1.62 July 31... 1 72 1 70 Aug. 8... 1.90 Aug. 7. .. 1.31 1.49 Aug. 15. Aug. 14. . $1 35 \\\f. I'J Aug. 21 1 51 Aug. 29. Aug. 28 . . 1 46 Sept. 5 Sept. 4 $1 63 Sept. 12 Sept. 11. 1 50 Sept. 19 Sept. 18 1 28 Sept. 25.. 1 05 1938 1939 June 25 ... . $1.54 b July 2 . 1.19 ... $ .96 July 1... . $2.16 b July 9 1 06 $1 04 88 JulyS .. . 2 12 b July 16. . . . 1.05 1.12 1 06 July 15... . 1.98 .... $1.84 July 23 1 44 July 22 1 78 $1 97 1.70 July 30. .. 1.66 ... $1.87 July 29 . . 1.60 1.49 Aug. 6 1 70 1 15 1.16 Aug. 13... Aug. 20 1.40 Aug. 12.. Aug. 19 $1.04 1 05 Aug. 27. . $1 98 Aug. 26 . . 1.31 Sept. 3 1 54 Sept. 2 $1 04 Sept. 10. . . 1 60 Sept. 9 .81 Sept. 17 1 57 Sept. 16 1 12 1940 1941 July 6. . . . $1.28 JulyS.... . $1.38 b July 13. .. . 1.18 July 12 1 04 b July 20... . 1.62 July 19... . 1.47 July 27... Aug. 3... . 1.37 .... $1.29 $1.36 1.32 July 26. . . Aug. 2. .. . 1.08 $1.15* $1.28 .59 .65" .98 Aug. 10... Aug. 17... 1.47 Aug. 9... Aug. 16. . 72" .... $1.08 1.36 Aug. 24 ... Aug. 23 1.19 Aug. 31 ... Aug. 30. . 1.02 $1.11 Sept. 7.... Sept. 6 1.04 Sept. 14 $1 49 Sept. 21... 1.19 Sept. 28 . . 1 33 Unless otherwise stated, prices are based on quotations for U. S. No. 1 Elberta peaches of the 2-inch sise minimum. b Price per bushel is based on quotations for half-bushel baskets of Hileys of the 2-inch siie minimum. Prices for North Carolina only. 1939 shipping-point prices were above $2.00 a bushel during the second week in July; they declined to around $1.00 a bushel during the second week in August ; and reached a low point of 80 cents a bushel in early September. In 1938 shipping-point prices were around $1.00 a bushel in early July and advanced to $1.90 a bushel during the last of the month; then they reached another peak of about $2.00 a bushel three weeks later. 302 BULLETIN No. 492 [September, '4..00 3.00 - PRICES PAID TO PEACH PRODUCERS 1919 1940 1920 1925 1930 1935 1940 Fig. 13. The spread between the prices paid to peach producers in Illinois and in other states has narrowed in recent years according to yearly average figures for 1919-1940. 1942] MARKETING THE ILLINOIS PEACH CROP 303 Prices paid to producers. From state to state the annual aver- age prices paid to producers vary widely (Fig. 13), but the range is not so wide as in the variations of the average shipping-point prices from week to week. During the early 1920's the yearly average prices paid to producers in Illinois were consistently above those in Georgia and Arkansas. Often the difference was as much as a dollar or more a bushel. In recent years, however, Illinois growers have .not had this price ad- vantage. In fact, the Georgia price often has exceeded the Illinois price. This change has occurred because Illinois and its competitor states are producing more peaches than they did in the early twenties. Consequently supplies are relatively larger when the Illinois crop is marketed. In recent years Michigan rather than Georgia prices have more nearly coincided with those for Illinois peaches, but there were considerable differences in some years. The average annual price paid to the producer in the United States, however, has been consistently lower than in Illinois because the California price brings down the national average. THE NATIONAL PEACH INDUSTRY Total Production About 40 percent of the peaches in the United States are grown in California, where they are utilized largely for canning and drying. The other 60 percent of the crop is about equally divided between the southern states and the remaining states. From 1923 to 1941 the size of the crop in states other than Cali- fornia varied greatly, the largest crop in these states, 52.9 million bushels, being produced in 1931 and the smallest crop, 20.5 million bushels, in the following year. In the five-year period 1933-1937 the average annual production in all states except California was about 30 million bushels, as compared with 33.4 million bushels in 1928-1932 and 32.7 million in 1923-1927. Production during the five-year period 1938-1942 will probably exceed the 1933-1937 average of 30 million bushels. Since 1932 the production trend has been upward, altho there have been wide variations in the quantities produced from year to year. With the exception of a light crop in 1929, production in California increased rather sharply from 15.8 million bushels in 1923 to a peak of 33.2 million bushels in 1930. From 1930 to 1935 the production trend in this state went down, but from 1935 to 1939 it turned slightly upward. In the five-year period 1933-1937 the average production of 304 BULLETIN No. 492 [September, 16 12 PRODUCTION IN ILLINOIS AND 6 OTHER STATES PRODUCTION IN ILLINOIS 12 PEACH PRODUCTION IN ILLINOIS AND 6 OTHER STATES 1923-1941 1923 '2* '25 '26 *27 '28 *29 '30 '31 *32 '33 '34 '35 '38 '37 '38 '39 Uo 1941 PEACH PRODUCTION IN GEORGIA AND 5 OTHER SOUTHERN STATES 1923-1941 PRODUCTION IN GEORGIA AND 5 OTHER SOUTHERN STATES PRODUCTION IN GEORGIA |4.50 4.00 3.50 3.00 2.50 2.00 1.50 1.00 .50 4-50 4.00 3.50 3.00 2.50 2.00 1.50 1.00 .50 38 39 4O 1941 Fig. 14. Production of peaches in Illinois and six other states which ripen crops at about the same time (New Jersey, Virginia, West Virginia, Mary- land, Delaware, and Indiana) is much more irregular than in Georgia and five other southern states (North and South Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky). In the twelve-year period 1930-1941 Illinois had four crops which were near failures and one very light crop. 1942} MARKETING THE ILLINOIS PEACH CROP 305 peaches in California was 21 million bushels ; whereas it averaged 23.8 million bushels for 1928-1932 and 16.6 million bushels for 1923- 1927. Little change is anticipated during the next few years. Place of Illinois Since 1925 Illinois has occupied a much more important position in the commercial production of peaches than it did before this date. The average annual production for the ten-year period 1928-1937 was 1,545,000 bushels, or three times the amount for 1919-1925. Altho there has been this very definite change in peach production in Illinois, the size of the crop is quite irregular from year to year. In the ten years 1932-1941 there were six good crops and four which were very poor or near failure. Four of the good crops were 2 million bushels or more and two were close to the ten-year average of 1,545,- 000 bushels. Near failures were recorded in 1932 and 1940 ; a light crop was produced in 1934; and a very light crop in 1936 (Fig. 14 and Table 24, Appendix). Other areas which ripen crops at about the same time as Illinois have much the same irregularity in production. Production in the Southern States In the six southern states there has been much more uniform production than in Illinois and other states ripening crops in August. During the same ten-year period when there were six good crops and four poor crops in Illinois (1932-1941), the six southern states had a light crop only in 1932, except Georgia, where production was also light in 1937. Otherwise the crops in the southern states were either average or above. In 1941 there was an unusually big crop, the largest since 1931. Changes in Tree Numbers Plantings of peach trees are never evenly distributed over a period of years. A few years of relatively high prices result in a marked expansion of acreage, and such expansion is followed by excessive production and low prices, which in turn result in losses to growers and the consequent neglect of orchards. During such a period of low prices and poor returns very few trees are planted. When the num- ber of bearing trees is thus reduced production is of course lowered and prices begin to go up again. Trend in the United States. Following this pattern of alternate increase and decrease, the number of peach trees in the United States advanced from 87 million in 1920 to 89 million in 1925 and then 306 BULLETIN No. 492 [September, TABLE 14. TOTAL NUMBER OF PEACH TREES IN PRINCIPAL PEACH-PRODUCING STATES AND IN UNITED STATES IN YEARS INDICATED; PERCENT INCREASE 1935 TO 1940; AND PERCENT NOT OF BEARING AGE IN 1940 (Figures are from U. S. Census) State Total number of trees Percent increase ( +) or de- crease ( ) 1935-1940 Percent not of bearing age in 1940 1920 1925 1930 1935 1940 12 047 14 969 1 453 4 117 4 344 3 799 1 994 30 676 4 139 2 047 2 196 1 043 1 789 501 2 426 7 954 3 753 3 229 3 297 3 655 13 935 666 408 622 148 1 844 13 151 89 035 (thousands) 9 220 1 435 3 310 4 298 3 666 2 166 24 095 4 027 1 929 2 125 894 1 675 497 1 783 6 975 3 447 3 181 2 469 3 818 12 915 760 789 698 118 2 364 11 856 79 046 7 525 1 569 3 123 4 111 2 699 1 671 20 698 3 165 1 335 1 753 658 1 381 441 1 397 5 630 3 051 2 897 2 143 3 319 11 411 727 758 547 112 2 144 8 856 67 069 8 588 3 608 3 610 4 613 2 434 1 610 24 463 1 949 659 2 055 662 1 220 466 1 065 5 467 2 412 4 007 1 901 1 831 10 151 800 1 044 550 173 2 568 8 336 68 867 + 14.1 +130.0 + 15.6 + 12.2 - 9.8 - 3.6 + 18.2 - 38.4 - 50.6 + 17.2 + .6 - 11.7 + 5.7 - 23.8 - 2.9 - 20.9 + 38.3 - 11.3 - 44.8 - 11.0 + 10.0 + 37.7 + .6 + 54.5 + 19.8 - 5.9 + 2.7 22.3 38.5 34.6 32.2 26.8 33.5 29.5 30.5 44.1 33.1 36.7 32.7 32.5 35.0 33.8 29.2 44.0 31.7 33.9 36.4 23.7 38.1 26.1 29.3 30.5 20.3 31.5 South Carolina . . 1 208 North Carolina . . 3 071 Arkansas . . 4 331 Tennessee 3 040 Kentucky . . 2 362 Total . . 26 058 Illinois . . 1 851 1 428 Virginia 2 362 Maryland 1 283 West Virginia . . 2 702 Delaware 558 New Jersey . 2 821 Total . . 9 725 Pennsylvania , . 4 798 Michigan . . 2 775 New York . 3 697 Ohio . . 3 894 Total 15 159 Washington , 699 Colorado 479 Utah 583 Idaho 205 Total . 1 966 California . . 10 425 Total for United States , . . 87 264 declined at the average rate of 2 million trees a year until it reached 67 million in 1935. In 1940 there were 68.9 million peach trees, an increase of nearly 2 million trees, or 3 percent, over the number in 1935 (Table 14). While there was a net gain of 3 percent in tree numbers in the country as a whole from 1935 to 1940, during this same time some areas showed a decrease and others a very much larger increase. Some of the biggest increases in tree numbers occurred in certain of the southern states, in Colorado, and in Michigan. During this five-year period South Carolina increased its tree numbers 130 percent; North Carolina, 16 percent; Georgia, 14 percent; Arkansas, 12 percent; and both Michigan and Colorado, about 38 percent. Five eastern states which ripen crops at about the same time as Illinois showed a decline of 3 percent in tree numbers, the increase in Virginia being offset by a greater decrease in New Jersey. Tree numbers in the combined states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, New York, and Ohio showed a decline of MARKETING THE ILLINOIS PEACH CROP 307 11 percent, the 38-percent increase in Michigan being offset by decreases in the other states. In 1940 there was a larger percentage of peach trees in the United States not of bearing age than in any of the Census years since 1920. Of all trees reported in 1940, 31.5 percent were not of bearing age, whereas 19 percent were in this group in 1935, and 25 percent in 1930 and 1920. Individual states showing the largest percentage of trees not of bearing age were Michigan, Indiana, Colorado, and South Carolina. Trend in Illinois. The Illinois peach acreage expanded rapidly from 1920 to 1924, changed little during the next five years, and then declined. According to U. S. Census reports there were 1,851,000 peach trees in Illinois in 1920; 4,139,000 trees in 1925; 4,027,456 trees in 1930; 3,164,541 trees in 1935; and 1,948,935 trees in 1940 (Table 15 and Fig. 15). In 1940 Illinois had 51 percent fewer trees than in 1930 and 38 percent fewer than in 1935. From 1935 to 1940 decreases in tree numbers amounted to 41 percent in the Anna district and 18 percent in the Centralia district. 5,000 PEACH TREE NUMBERS IN ILLINOIS l20, 1925, I83O, 1935, 1940 Z.OOO I.OOO | NONBEARINC ^H BEARING Fig. 15. The number of peach trees in Illinois, including both bearing and nonbearing trees, was reduced more than one-half from 1930 thru 1940. 308 BULLETIN No. 492 [September, TABLE 15. NUMBER OF PEACH TREES IN LEADING PRODUCING COUNTIES IN ILLINOIS AND TOTAL FOR STATE, 1920-1940 (Figures are from U. S. Census) Percent District and county 1920 1925 1930 1935 1940 decrease 1935-1940 Anna district Union 269697 418085 541349 441499 271721 38.5 Johnson 75364 190100 196473 129662 108500 16.3 Jackson 97815 200374 268408 209473 119137 43.1 Massac 7240 31446 82634 80932 53868 33.4 Pulaski 12407 99190 145418 91644 49764 45.6 Williamson 45553 242980 212392 124037 29528 77.0 Total 508076 1182175 1446674 1077247 632518 41.3 Centralia district Marion 149182 423363 357010 289575 276204 4.6 Jefferson 99605 334739 261777 225449 174741 22.5 Washington 19233 65924 112080 113097 108807 3.8 Clinton 16212 51163 55176 53238 32444 39.1 Clay 29875 71402 94349 62553 30469 51.3 Wayne 25097 65798 66911 42618 22634 46.9 Total 339204 1012389 947303 786530 645299 18.0 Sesser district Franklin 24627 106857 141310 96075 47789 50.3 Other leading counties Fayette 31617 51987 56217 45929 37723 17.9 St. Clair 25875 46682 56728 51430 32228 37.3 Madison 30592 61441 56383 52067 22883 56.0 Randolph 15496 27811 43487 40816 22444 45.0 Total 103580 187921 212815 190242 115278 39.4 Total for Illinois 1851037 4139100 4027456 3164541 1948935 38.4 The marked reduction in tree numbers in Illinois during the ten- year period 1930-1939 was brought about by a number of conditions. From 1930 until about 1937 plantings were light because (1) the crop failed in 1930; (2) losses were sustained on the record-breaking 1931 crop; and (3) in general low prices were received during the early thirties; (4) in addition, drouths in 1934 and 1936 and the severe winter of 1935-36 took a heavy toll of peach trees in Illinois. TABLE 16. AGE GROUPING OF PEACH TREES OF 206 GROWERS IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS, 1938 District and county Number of farms Number of trees Percent of trees that were 1 to 5 years old 6 to 10 years old 11 to 15 years old 16 to 20 years old 2 1 years old or more Anna district 103 229 787 54 125 57 024 31 786 372 722 99 623 472 345 21.7 33.2 18.7 17.3 22.5 49.4 28.2 17.1 3.6 19.9 30.9 16.8 5.3 14.3 33.3 8.7 47.3 38.5 32.3 17.8 29.2 18.2 54.5 4.6 12.5 20.9 22.0 21.2 9.7 9.5 .8 7.5 5.5 7.1 13 Jackson . . 31 Pulaski 21 Total . . . 168 Centralia district* . . 38 Both districts . . . 206 In the Centralia district 10 reports were from Washington county, 14 from Jefferson county, and 14 from Marion county. 1942-} MARKETING THE ILLINOIS PEACH CROP 309 During the latter part of this ten-year period, in 1937, 1938, and 1939, the Illinois peach crops were near average or above, prices were fairly good, and no severe tree losses occurred. As a result, plantings were increased, and at present there is an upward trend in tree numbers in Illinois. The fact that peach tree plantings are unevenly distributed over a period of years is illustrated by the survey made in 1938 of 206 farms in seven southern Illinois counties. Of the 472,345 peach trees AGE OF TREES ANNA DISTRICT YEARS 20% 40% Fig. 16. The distribution into five-year age groups of the peach trees of 206 southern Illinois growers during 1938 shows that plantings have not been evenly spaced over a period of years. Note the large proportion of trees 1 to 5 years old and the small proportion 6 to 10 years old. reported, it was found that trees 1 to 5 years of age comprized 28 per- cent of all trees; those 11 to 15 years old, 29 percent; and trees 6 to 10 years old, only 14 percent (Table 16 and Fig. 16). The small per- centage of trees 6 to 10 years old reflects the light plantings in the early thirties. In the Centralia district as many as 49.4 percent of the trees were 1 to 5 years of age, while in the Anna district only 22.5 percent of the trees were planted that recently. OUTLOOK FOR ILLINOIS Altho the Illinois peach acreage is smaller today than it was five or ten years ago, Illinois growers face increasing competition from areas where peach crops overlap the beginning and the end of their harvest. In other words, the favorable niche which Illinois has enjoyed in the national market is being crowded at both ends. For a number of years the U. S. Department of Agriculture has warned growers that 310 BULLETIN No. 492 [September, TABLE 17. NUMBER OF PEACH TREES OF BEARING AGE AND THOSE NOT OF BEARING AGE IN ILLINOIS AND PRINCIPAL COMPETING STATES, 1930, 1935, AND 1940 (Figures are from U. S. Census) Percent in- Increase (+) or crease (+) State 1930 1935 1940 decrease () or decrease 1935-1940 (-) 1935-1940 Trees of bearing age Illinois 2 989 997 2 841 878 1 354 686 -1 487 192 - 52.3 South Carolina 1 161 006 1 176 708 2 220 539 + 1 043 831 + 88.7 North Carolina 2 674 922 2 428 063 2 361 334 - 66 729 - 2.7 Arkansas 3 238 090 3 571 003 3 128 178 -442 825 - 12.4 Tennessee 2 747 078 2 226 245 1 781 880 -444 365 - 20.0 Virginia 1 443 789 1 279 126 1 373 801 + 94 675 + 7.4 New Jersey 1 463 108 1 127 483 691 977 -435 506 - 38.6 Michigan 2 007 743 1 956 917 2 242 298 4-285 381 4- 14.6 Colorado 454 101 621 128 645 736 + 24 608 + 4.0 Trees not of bearing age Illinois 1 037 459 322 663 594 249 4-271 586 + 84.2 South Carolina 274 134 391 812 1 387 769 +995 957 +254.2 North Carolina 634 733 695 425 1 249 051 +553 626 + 79.6 Arkansas 1 059 834 540 249 1 484 710 +944 461 + 174.8 Tennessee 918 892 472 667 652 233 + 179 566 + 38.0 Virginia 681 027 473 580 681 120 +207 540 + 43.8 New Jersey 320 021 269 555 372 924 + 103 369 + 38.3 Michigan 1 173 238 940 506 1 764 623 +824 117 + 87.6 Colorado 334 565 136 979 398 309 +261 330 + 190.8 more peach trees were being planted in states already producing large crops, and that subsequent danger of overproduction was arising in certain sections. This was substantiated by the 1940 U. S. Census. Altho the net gain in peach-tree numbers from 1935 to 1940 was only 3 percent for the country as a whole, a large proportion of the increase occurred in southern states where the crops compete with the first of the Illinois crop, and in Michigan, where the harvest dovetails the last of the Illinois harvest. During this period peach trees not of bearing age were increased by nearly 1,000,000 or 254 percent, in South Carolina alone; in Arkansas nonbearing trees increased nearly 1,000,- 000, or 175 percent; and in Michigan the number of nonbearing trees was increased more than 800,000, or 88 percent (Table 17). These figures show that, since potential producing capacity in competing areas has been greatly increased, larger supplies may be expected for several years, particularly from competing southern states. 1942} MARKETING THE ILLINOIS PEACH CROP 311 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Illinois produces an average annual crop of about 1,500,000 bushels of peaches; in the ten-year period 1930-1939 it ranked eighth among the states in production. Commercial peach-growing in Illinois is con- fined largely to the Anna, Centralia, and Sesser districts in the southern half of the state. Orchards range in size from 5 acres to more than 100 acres, but the bulk of the crop is produced in orchard units of 25 acres or more. Altho there are more small growers than large ones, the large-scale producers control the volume of the peach crop. Marketing Illinois Peaches The following facts regarding the marketing of peaches in Illinois were shown by surveys based largely on sales records provided by growers: 1. As a rule, peaches are graded and packed largely by growers at farm packing sheds. Exceptions to the rule are the packing done by the central packing houses of a few orchard companies and a small amount of cooperative and custom packing. 2. Between 85 and 90 percent of Illinois peaches are of the Elberta variety. This proportion will probably decline somewhat in the future, for there have been increased plantings of some new and improved varieties. 3. The Illinois grower has a wide choice of outlets for selling peaches on either a cash, consignment, or brokerage basis. Growers sell more peaches thru agencies than they sell outright to cash buyers. The most important intermediary who deals directly with the grower is the broker or agent who operates in the producing territory. He handled 56 percent of the crop reported in 1938 and 46 percent in 1939. The two important types of outright buyers are merchant truck- ers and wholesale dealers. 4. In the last fifteen years, along with the construction of better highways has come a rapid change-over from rail to truck shipment of peaches. In 1938 there was a 63-percent movement by motor truck and in 1939 a movement of 80 percent, according to surveys made of 126 growers in 1938 and 192 growers in 1939. Of 364 truckloads of peaches surveyed in 1939, 60 percent moved 201 to 450 miles and the trucklots went out to as many as 16 different states. Along with the change in methods of transportation has come the development of local cash markets, an increase in sales made at the farm, and a decline in consignment sales. 312 BULLETIN No. 492 [September, 5. Transition from rail to truck shipment has created many problems in marketing peaches. The chief problems are: lack of infor- mation regarding supplies ; trade barriers restricting free movement of products from state to state; traffic congestion; and lack of suffi- cient facilities to handle truck shipments in city markets. Illinois and the National Market The following comments regarding the national market and the way in which Illinois fits into it are based largely on an analysis of produc- tion, shipment and supply, and price data for the country as a whole: 1. The instability of the market is a source of the chief prob- lems in marketing peaches. Wide variations occur in the supply from week to week thruout the season. Consequently there are sharp and frequent changes in prices both in city markets and at country points. In order to meet the situation, marketing machinery must be set up that can be adjusted easily and quickly. Because the market changes rapidly, intelligent selling requires wide technical knowledge of the market and constant alertness. It is well for a grower to consider these requirements when he is deciding whether to sell his own crop or employ an agent. 2. The quantity of peaches harvested varies less from year to year in the southern states than it does in Illinois and the other states which ripen crops at about the same time. In the ten years from 1932 to 1941 Illinois produced four large crops of more than 2,000,000 bushels, two crops which were close to the ten-year average of 1,500,000 bushels, and four crops which were very poor or were near failures. 3. Illinois growers have long enjoyed a favorable niche in the national market. According to the present outlook however, this niche will be narrowed by increased production in competing states both at the beginning and the end of the Illinois harvest. This conclusion is based on the fact that acreages have been increased in Michigan and in the southern states, particularly in South Carolina and Arkansas. TRANSPORTING THE CROP DURING WARTIME 1 In August, 1942, a survey was made to determine how the shortage of tires affected the shipment of Illinois peaches. During the move- ment of the crop from August 6 thru 20, truck operators were inter- viewed in the peach-producing areas of the state and data were secured 'This supplement is based on data collected and summarized during August, 1942, by R. A. KELLY, Assistant in Agricultural Economics, under the direc- tion of J. W. LLOYD, Chief in Fruit and Vegetable Marketing. 19421 MARKETING THE ILLINOIS PEACH CROP 313 TABLE 18. NUMBER AND PROPORTION OF 567 TRUCKLOADS (134,144 BUSHELS) OF PEACHES HAULED BY DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUCKERS IN 1942 Type of trucker* Truckloads hauled Bushels hauled Number Percent Number Percent Merchant trucker 195 34.4 25.2 40.4 25.6 3.7 11.1 47 839 35 692 50 613 36 744 2 380 11 489 35.7 26.6 37.7 27.4 1.8 8.5 For-hire trucker 143 Private trucker, total 229 Wholesale dealer 145 Retail dealer 21 Combined wholesale and retail dealer 63 Definitions of the types of truckers are found on pages 290 and 291. on 240 trucks hauling 567 loads (134,144 bushels) of peaches. The merchant truckers hauled a distinctly smaller proportion of the loads in 1942 than in 1939 (Tables 10 and 18). Truck and Rail Shipments In 1942, in spite of the tire shortage, many more Illinois peaches moved by truck than by rail. Trucks carried about 60 percent of the crop from the Anna district and as much as 85 percent from the Cen- TABLE 19. RADIUS OF OPERATION OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUCKERS HAULING 567 TRUCKLOADS (134,144 BUSHELS) OF ILLINOIS PEACHES IN 1942 Number Percentage of total hauls in radius Miles hauled from production point of loads Merchant trucker For-hire trucker Private trucker All truckers 50 or less 10 1.5 8.2 8.7 17.0 8.7 12.3 12.8 7.7 10.3 3.1 1.5 4.6 3.6 1.4 7.0 3.5 2.1 4.2 11.9 32.1 23.1 5.6 4.2 1.4 2.1 1.4 2.2 30.2 8.3 9.6 9.2 8.3 2.6 8.7 1.8 1.3 8.3 3.5 3.9 1.3 .8 1.8 16.8 7.2 10.2 7.8 10.6 13.6 12.0 5.6 2.6 4.2 3.0 3.3 .9 .4 51 to 100 95 101 to 150 . . . . 41 151 to 200 58 201 to 250 44 251 to 300 . . . . 60 301 to 350 77 351 to 400 . . . . 68 401 to 450 32 451 to 500 . . . . 15 501 to 550 . . . . 24 551 to 600 17 601 to 650 . . . . 19 651 to 700 5 701 or more 2 tralia district, according to estimates. 1 The total rail shipments for the state during the Elberta season amounted to 365 cars. While trucks carried a large proportion of the 1942 Illinois peach crop, the average length of their hauls was less than in 1939 (Tables 12 and 19). The territory over which the peaches were distributed by rail and 'Marketing Illinois peaches, 1942 season. Federal-State Market News Service (mimeo.). U. S. Dept. of Agr. August 21, 1942. 314 BULLETIN No. 492 [September, TABLE 20. SHIPMENTS OF ILLINOIS PEACHES SENT TO DIFFERENT STATES OUT OF A TOTAL OF 567 TRUCKLOADS SURVEYED AND 359 CARLOTS SUMMARIZED BY THE U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE," 1942 State Carloads Truckloads Number Percent Number Percent Missouri 84 23.4 18.6 13.4 11.4 4.5 4.5 4.2 4.2 3.9 3.6 1.9 1.7 1.4 1.1 .8 .8 .3 .3 180 167 25 24 5 26 2 3 60 2 42 4 10 2 3 2 3 7 31.7 29.4 4.4 4.2 .9 4.6 .4 .5 10.6 .4 7.4 .7 1.8 .4 .5 .4 .5 1.2 Illinois 67 Nebraska 48 41 Minnesota 16 Wisconsin 16 Michigan 15 Texas 15 Iowa 14 Louisiana 13 Indiana 7 Ohio 6 Kentucky 5 Oklahoma 4 South Dakota 3 North Dakota 3 New York 1 Mississippi 1 Arkansas Alabama Tennessee Marketing Illinois peaches. 1942 season. Federal-State Market News Service (mimeo.). U. S. Dept. of Agr. August 21. 1942. by truck was similar in 1942, but truck shipments predominated in the shorter hauls. Destinations of 359 of the 365 cars of Illinois peaches shipped during the Elberta season were summarized. 1 Distri- bution of the 359 cars extended to markets in 18 states, as did also the distribution of the 567 truckloads of peaches surveyed (Table 20). Altho 15 of the 18 states reached by rail shipments were also served by truck, shipments by truck tended to predominate within the state and to states close to the producing area, especially Missouri, Iowa, and Indiana. Shipments by rail to more distant states, particularly Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Michigan, Texas, and Louisiana were proportionately larger. The Tire Situation for Trucks Hauling Peaches Percentage of rated load capacity of tires utilized. The load capacity of the tires was determined by the number, size, and ply of tires. This was done according to the formula prescribed by the Office of Defense Transportation. The weight of each truckload of peaches was calculated on the basis of 53 pounds per bushel. Approximately 72 percent of the loads ranged within 75 to 120 percent of the estimated tire capacity. Only 16 percent were below 75 percent of capacity and about 12 percent were above 120 percent 'Marketing Illinois peaches, 1942 season. Federal-State Market News Service (mimeo.). U. S. Dept. of Agr. August 21, 1942. 1942] MARKETING THE ILLINOIS PEACH CROP 315 TABLE 21. PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL RATED LOAD CAPACITY OF THE TIRES USED IN HAULING 567 LOADS OF ILLINOIS PEACHES IN 1942 Type of trucker Number of loads hauled Percentage of loads using Under 75 percent 75 to 99 percent 100 to 119 percent 120 per- cent or more Merchant trucker 195 9.8 5.6 27.9 10.3 47.6 61.9 52.8 45.4 38.9 49.0 19.1 22.2 21.5 42.0 20.5 29.0 19.1 1.6 15.9 7.0 12.7 11.7 14.2 i i ; For-hire trucker 143 Private trucker, total 229 Wholesale dealer 145 Retail dealer 21 Combined wholesale and retail. . . 63 Total 567 16.0 45.3 26.3 12.4 Load capacity of the tires was calculated according to the formula of the Office of Defense Transportation. (Table 21). Very few of the truckers hauled pay loads of any kind on the trip into the peach-producing region. Altho no data were obtained regarding load capacity in relation to the size of the truck body, it is believed that practically all loads which were above 75 percent of rated tire capacity filled the volume capacity of the truck body. Probable service of present tires. The truck operators inter- viewed were asked to estimate the unused mileage in each of their tires. From such data was calculated the probable mileage the truck could be operated without recapping or renewal of any tires and the probable length of time the truck could remain in service under these conditions. The total mileage the truck was operated during the calendar year 1941 was used as a basis for estimating the period of service. One-third of the trucks could be expected to stay in operation for less than 3 months before the poorest tire would need to be replaced (Table 22). Only 18 percent of the trucks will probably be in con- dition for hauling Illinois peaches in 1943 if the tires are used mean- while at the same rate as in 1941 and are not replaced. TABLE 22. ESTIMATED PERIOD OF SERVICE OBTAINABLE FROM THE TIRES ON 240 TRUCKS USED IN HAULING ILLINOIS PEACHES IN AUGUST, 1942, BEFORE REPLACEMENT OF THE POOREST TIRE Is NECESSARY Number Percentage of trucks that will last Type of trucker of trucks Under 3 3 to 6 6 to 9 9 to 12 1 year operated months months months months or more Merchant trucker 103 23.3 28.2 17.5 8.7 22.3 For-hire trucker 52 36.5 26.9 7.7 19.2 9.6 Private trucker, total 85 44.7 21.2 11.8 4.7 17.6 Wholesale dealer 59 52.5 20.3 11.9 5.1 10.2 Retail dealer . . 17 23.5 23.5 11.8 5.9 35.3 Combined wholesale and retail dealer 9 33.3 22.2 11.1 33.4 Total... 240 33.8 25.4 13.3 9.6 17.9 316 BULLETIN No. 492 [September, APPENDIX TABLE 23. WEEKLY CARLOT SHIPMENTS OF PEACHES MADE DURING JULY AND AUGUST IN PRINCIPAL PEACH-PRODUCING STATES, 1934-1941 (For week ended on date indicated) State or state group June 30 July July 7 14 July 21 July 28 Aug. 4 Aug. 11 Aug. 18 Aug. 25 Sept. 1 1934 Georgia 307 29 15 695 1 014 6 16 11 19 850 156 9 2 755 175 193 31 1 941 674 580 417 566 748 706 311 16 97 99 54 126 27 6 134 70 109 389 66 801 1 5 313 14 115 7 454 North and South Carolina Tennessee and Virginia, West Vir- ginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Washington, Idaho, and Utah 2 6 2 1 025 47 1 1 202 366 1 3 979 539 195 71 3 152 275 1 182 168 2 001 Colorado 1 352 4 1 716 1 052 Total June 29 July July 5 13 July 20 July 27 Aug. 3 Aug. 10 Aug. 17 Aug. 24 Aug. 31 1935 644 8 45 805 2 080 18 105 3 80 2 239 366 234 4 1 064 1 160 126 78 126 1 002 37 37 North and South 119 10 1 Tennessee and 43 26 32 327 18 258 12 42 94 939 1 364 199 137 175 864 434 1 809 Virginia, West Vir- ginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania Washington, Idaho, and Utah 1 8 2 282 480 25 1 509 904 5 702 1 826 2 266 2 843 2 428 17 1 220 Total July July July 11 18 July 25 Aug. 1 Aug. 8 Aug. 15 Aug. 22 Aug. 29 Sept. 5 1936 680 2 4 623 955 40 115 4 140 2 420 280 525 5 1 234 590 363 86 North and South 862 70 127 1 289 2 36 109 9 451 221 44 796 1 061 2 122 38 40 531 315 924 Arkansas Tennessee and Kentucky Virginia, West Vir- ginia, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey Washington, Idaho, and Utah 1 4 32 7 17 1 116 48 3 66 553 326 452 62 1 300 Colorado Illinois 1 687 1 668 1 210 3 231 2 277 Total (Table is continued on next page) 1942} MARKETING THE ILLINOIS PEACH CROP 317 TABLE 23. WEEKLY CARLOT SHIPMENTS OF PEACHES MADE DURING JULY AND AUGUST (Continued) State or state group July 3 July 10 July 17 July 24 July 31 Aug. Aug. 14 Aug. 21 Aug. 28 Sept. 4 1937 Georgia 206 181 276 623 392 83 North and South 27 48 165 336 990 797 49 5 Arkansas 68 52 10 279 572 148 13 Tennessee and Kentucky 1 3 28 96 325 143 59 g Virginia, West Vir- ginia, Maryland, Delaware, and 4 3 3 59 411 410 136 258 Pennsylvania 1 32 317 Washington, Idaho, and Utah 1 17 15 77 1 7 2 381 1 176 Illinois 3 6 2 4 47 389 432 494 83 Total 309 293 453 1 266 2 057 1 460 1 013 926 1 066 1 911 July 2 July 9 July 16 July 23 July 30 Aug. 6 Aug. 13 Aug. 20 Aug. 27 T 1938 Georgia 1 200 1 536 844 193 72 North and South 162 315 802 993 385 15 1 Arkansas 447 1 032 254 4 Tennessee and Kentucky . . 2 55 44 15 Virginia, West Vir- ginia, Maryland, Delaware, and 6 20 201 213 213 45 5 Pennsylvania 3 30 122 40 Washington, Idaho, and Utah 4 1 3 72 236 374 Colorado 2 4 342 911 Illinois 4 42 448 309 55 Total 1 809 2 885 1 955 1 244 538 665 531 374 745 1 330 July July 8 July 15 July 22 July 29 Aug. Aug. 12 Aug. 19 Aug. 26 Sept. 2 1939 Georgia 472 324 633 671 445 157 5 North and South Carolina 9 144 220 231 1 101 804 16 1 Arkansas 100 125 115 415 339 172 3 Tennessee and Kentucky 7 65 106 42 13 Virginia, West Vir- ginia, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey 1 1 77 257 136 115 52 Pennsylvania 30 94 Washington, Idaho, and Utah 1 3 33 55 169 270 Colorado 3 3 585 846 Illinois 14 19 5 220 272 76 2 Total 595 613 969 1 327 1 951 1 321 579 480 975 1 264 (Table is concluded on next page) 318 BULLETIN No. 492 [September, TABLE 23. WEEKLY CARLOT SHIPMENTS OF PEACHES MADE DURING JULY AND AUGUST (Concluded) State or state group June 29 July 6 July 13 July 20 July 27 Aug. 3 Aug. 10 Aug. 17 Aug. 24 Aug. 31 1940 Georgia 358 607 989 980 1 395 549 150 108 9 North and South Carolina 5 4 40 128 115 331 1 579 725 52 Arkansas 41 71 22 24 440 207 16 13 Tennessee and 2 Virginia, West Vir- ginia, Maryland, Delaware, and 6 2 2 1 180 213 2 Washington, Idaho, and Utah 2 1 2 59 155 351 337 Colorado 250 1 439 447 5 1 6 1 Total 404 687 1 058 1 136 1 951 1 091 1 805 1 262 2 036 997 June 28 July July 12 July 19 July 26 Aug. 2 Aug. 9 Aug. 16 Aug. 23 Aug. 30 1941 Georgia 427 882 855 798 1 945 1 361 291 North and South Carolina 38 46 353 247 437 1 727 2 082 269 52 55 3 83 78 13 276 690 101 5 Tennessee and 2 68 104 38 17 Virginia, West Vir- ginia, Maryland, Delaware, and 5 1 5 10 102 222 221 1 113 Washington, Idaho, and Utah .... 1 2 1 2 26 221 244 Colorado 2 1 244 11 5 18 229 341 138 Total 468 1 027 1 292 1 059 2 662 3 852 2 608 671 855 1 015 June 27 July July 11 July 18 July 25 Aug. 1 Aug. 8 Aug. 15 Aug. 22 Aug. 29 1942" Georgia 416 857 922 788 1 111 913 247 26 North and South 15 104 401 334 653 2 423 1 718 80 37 3 Arkansas 16 113 72 54 315 278 51 6 Tennessee and Kentucky 1 9 18 4 Virginia, West Vir- ginia, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey 1 1 2 1 32 402 573 94 76 126 Washington, Idaho, and Utah 1 1 5 22 6 64 85 3 366 Illinois 3 2 41 265 59 Total 448 1 078 1 395 1 179 2 081 3 631 2 129 792 827 656 Preliminary data. Subject to revision. 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