The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1920-08-26
SUGAR Il FALLS
FRUITS RAISE

Ihe canning season" OF 1871 Is
marked by two strange and anoma-
5lous circumstances the falling price
Of sugar and the persistently nigh
B price of fruits. X;
In all previous seasons within the
smemory of the writer the reverse
has been the case. Sugar has ris-
en- in price as the canning season
created a greater demand, while
fruits have generally been lower in
the height of theSz season than they
were when the. earliest fruits made
their appearance in the market. 1t
would doubtless be interesting # we
could know the real reasons that lie
, behind the extraordinary conditions OF
the present year.
A few months ago granulated sugar
retailed in Fargo at prices as high as
35 cents a pound. It receded soon
to 80 cents, then to % and now it is
selling. at some Of the stores as low
as 22 cents, while in hundred -pound
quantities it is offered at $19.95 for
the cane sugar or $3.50 for the beet
product. t Is
The fact that sugar falls in price
at the season of greatest demand,
instead Of rising in price as it always
has before at this season of the
year, is pretty conclusive evidence
that the prices we, have been com;
peeled to pay in the past sixrmonths
have been artifcially fixed and were
not the result Of the natural laws
Of supply and demand.
It is not so easy to explain = why
fruits at the very height Of the fruit
crop continue to command prices as
high, and in some cases higher, than
the same sort Of fruits commanded
when the earliest specimens were re-,
ceived in the local market, but such
is the case.
The first red raspberries on the
market this season in Fargo sold at
IS cents for q pint box. They have
steadily remained at just about that
figure ever since.
The first blueberries sold at As.
cents quart, and local fruit deal
er, basing his prediction on past ex-s
periense, said that they would prob
ably retail at about ,25 cents when
the main crop began to come to mar
ket. That was several weeks :, ago,
but blueberries have persistently
stayed in the neighborhood Of 40 to.
so cents quart. Il
Some of the earlier shipments Of
Rocky Ford melons retailed at Is
cents each or two for a quarter, for
fair-sized and good quality fruit. You
canDot buy decent Rocky Ford
melon now for less than Is cents
and If any are offered at lower
price It is either because they are
undersized or 50 nearly over-ripe3
that the dealer is afraid they will
spoil on his hands.
A similar condition exists with
respect to nearly every other kind Of
fruit. As a result, there is probably
much less canning being done byl
Fargo housewives than in past sea-
sons and what is. true Of Fargo is
likely to be true Of communities
generally over the country. It is
possible that this condition is a part
of the explanation for the fall in the
price Of sugar. in the midst of the
canning season. Less that the usual
activity in canning means Of course
less than the usual seasonal demand
for sugar, making it necessary for
the sugar over-lords to cut the price
in, order to find q market for their
product.
Grocers tell US that the prices of
canned fruits are soon to 60 up to
correspond with the present prices
of fresh fruits, so that those Of us
who think the prices now too high
to warrant canning, will have to go
without fruit the coming winter, or
else revise our estimate as to what
we can afford to pay.-Fargo Cour-
ier-NeWs.