The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1913-03-13
FRENCH WOULD Use
NORTHWEST APPLES

lFrom report Of John Ball Osborne.
United States Consul at Havre, Franee)
While the wholesale dealers in Hayre
state that the French people do not
consume nearly as many table apples
as the English. the demand appears to
be fairly good and is certainly increas-
ing steadily. The better kind of
French apples command surprisingly
high prices. American table apples
are not in general evidence. The faeil-
tiles for importation from the United
States are excellent. The customs
tariff is reasonable. The wholesalers
are favorably disposed toward handling
the American product. These facts
furnish encouragement to the Ameri-
can exporters who desire to establish
direct business relations with this port.
For their benefit the following infdr-
nation has been gathered from reliable
sources.
While importations of Canadian and
American apples are occasionally made
at Havre, the apples of the country
are the main reliance. The sources of
supply are as follows: Auvergne ten
virons of Aurillace especially for the
very best class known as "Pomme du
Canada;" Payes de Caux, Normandy,
for the 'Reinette de Caux, the next
best class; Anglers, Nantes and Lower
Brittany for the "Reinette Grise,"
the next best class; Nantes and the
environs of Paris for the "Grande AL
exandre," a variety comparable to the
Canada" and for the "Rovere,
another good species, Brittany, Nor
mandy and Bordeaux furnish another
grade of table apples commonly known
as the "Pomme d Hospital. "
The prices paid by wholesale dealers
for French apples delivered at Havre
vary considerably. In 1912 the Can
ada" cost from $3.50 to 1923. l6 per 100
kilos 1920. 46 pounds). The same grade
is now worth from 1881 to 1854
per 100 kilos. The ''Reinette de Caux"
cost the dealer $9.65 to S1l.58. 1t is,
however, only the beginning of the
season. The crop is good and the
prices are likely to decline in the
course of month. The "Reinette
Grise" costs 1878 to S6.75 per 100
kilos, while the other kinds are worth
from $2.l2 to 1921. The prices for
table apples in their respective grow
ing centers are, of course. considerably
lower, as transportation rates are high
and all apples sent to Havre from Au
vergne, Brittany or Bordeaux are
obliged to pass through Paris. The
difference in prices is sometimes as
high as 10 or even Is per cent.
The wholesale dealers sell the pro-
duct in small lots to numerous retail
ers, principally to grocers. The num-
ber of shops dealing exclusively in
fruit is small. The average retail
prices of the better grades of apples of
the country are about two to three
cents apiece. 1t is the custom to sell
Is apples for the price of IL. The i'm
ported apples, particularly those from
Canada, often sell for six cents apiece.
American apples would command the
same prices. One of the largest retail
dealers claims that the current price
at Havre are so per cent higher than
those prevailing in Paris.
The finest apples of the country,
which come from central France and
Brittany, are shipped in cases contain
ing 100 or 200 apples, each wrapped in
tissue paper and separated by thin
layer of excelsior or straw. This is
known as packing in NESTS" The
approximate weight of the packing in
a box of 200 apples is three kilos (66
pounds). The high grade apples are
also shipped in light baskets, the fruit
being wrapped in tissue paper with a
thin layer of straw or excelsior at the
top and bottom of the basket. The
weight of this packing for 200 apples
is about two kilos (4.4 pounds). The
gross weight of the baskets or cases
varies from % to 80 kilos (48.5 to &C
pounds. There are therefore six to
eight apples to the kilo (2.2 pounds.
The cheaper grade of French apples
are packed in large boxes or baskets.
The boxes are in the form of close
crates covered in the interior on all
sides with paper aud straw for the
finer apples and merely with straw for
the "PCmmes d'Hospital. The bas-
kets contain 35 kilos (77 pounds) of
apples, packed tightly with little
straw on the sides, at the bottom and
at the ton