Meade County news., 1917-09-13
USE ALL APPLES
YOU CAN TO SAVE
FOOD FOR ALLIES
Americans Should Eat Fruit and
Vegetables So Meat and
Wheat May Be Sent
Overseas.

OuT dlllCS Ill W III uSdlllSl lllC hiilhcI
are very much in need of meat and
wheat. If they are to pull through the
fall and winter successfully, we must
send them all of these staples we can.
1t will be necessary for Americans at
home to eat more perishable food ar
ticles-like fruit and vegetables that
cannot well be sent abroad.
For this reason Uncle Sans food
administration is taking the keenest
interest in this years apple crop. The
government wants us to eat more aP
pies than ever before so that the
wheat and meat supplies may go to
help win the war. A campaign of ed
ucatiOn along this line is soon to start.
This years apple crop calls for in
teDigent handling. The latest govern.
ment reports indicate crop Of about
190,000000 bushels. That is q little
below normal. Good prices are assured
for all honestly packed first quality
apples, and also for honestly packed,
selected second grades, which govern
ment experts say can be put into stor-
age. When the crop is big it does not
pay to store second grades, bat this
year, despite the fact that we cannot
ship our usual 100000 barrels of APP
pies abroad because shipping space is
precious, we should be able to get fair
prices for all good apples at home.
Careless packing of poor quality
fruit has always been one of the chief
causes Of market instability and un-
satisfactory prices to the growers.
This year the whole apple industry is
cooperating to remove this market
handicap. There has never been an
apple year such as this one is going to
be. Growers have never been able to
get together and engage and finance
q national educational campaign
among consumers to increase apple
consumption. This year the situation
makes 1t necessary for the United
States government, through the food
administration, to conduct consum-
er's campaign Of publicity on behalf Of
the apple. This campaign will begin
while the crop is being sent to market,
and will probably continue until the
last apple is eaten up late next spring.
So the grower has three great incen-
tives for grading, packing and storing
this crop with especial care.
1. 1t is a good crop and calls for
care.
2. The government will encourage
apple eating and apple storage and
will discourage speculation that raises
the price abnOrmally.
3. We must eat up at home more
than two million barrels Of apples,
which would ordinarily be exported.
To get the best of the crop to the
market in prime condition it must be
picked carefully at the time of ma
turity and promptly cooled in tenn
porary storage, and then skillfully
graded and packed. SecOnd-grade
fruit should not go into barrels or
boxes. If it cannot be marketed in
bulk in nearby consuming centers,
then it should be worked up into by
products along with the culls.
There has been a gratifying i'm
provement in apple marketing the past
two or three years. Western apples
are boxed to strictly honest standards,
by the great cooperative growers or
ganizations in Washington, Oregon,
California, Idaho and Colorado. The
eastern barrel apple has also been
wonderfully improved in New York
and other states. Because apples are
honestly packed and give the best pos
sible value for the money, there is an
increase in the consumer demand. Re-
tail merchants who were formerly al-
most afraid to buy apples in barrels,
because they were not sure of getting
marketable values for their money,
are now buying freely and in conf
dence. This good work makes it pos
sible for the government to go further
and encourage the use of apples as a
wartime food measure.
Because the bulk of the crop will be
picked by volunteer workers this year,
and put into common storage until the
grower can hnd time to grade and
pack, there will be an opportunity to
give closer personal attention to the
grading and packing than might be the
case If the crop were handled as in
peace times. For the grower who de-
sires instructions in apple packing, the
department of agriculture at Wash
ington has information in bulletin
form. These bulletins can be secured
free by writing to the department.
Growers will do well to obtain a few
copies for their piCkers and packers.