The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1923-07-03
IT'S BIG JOB TO
FEED NEW YORK
Half Million Farmers Toll to Sup
ply Its Needs.
COMES FROM ALL OVER WORLD

. Day by day more than half million
farmers toll constantly to keep New
York's millions of people fed. Of fresl
0 fruits and vegetables more than 5000
U carloads are received in the city annu
? ally; the annual supply of meats to
' tails more than 1,OOO,0OO,OOO pounds; O.
0 butter, cheese and poultry, 100000, OOt
pounds; of eggs, 100000 cases, and O.
milk, more than 1,4O0, 100000 quarts
Poured into lower Manhattan, tn,
quantity of farm products that come.
into New York in a year would floo(
the entire financial district and engul1
the tallest building there, writes Frank
George of the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture in the New York
Times.
The food comes from all over the
world. Staples include the whole
range of products from apples to wa
termelons. Fancy fruits and vegeta.
bles to tickle the palate of the most ex-
acting gourmet arrive from remote cor.
ners of the nation and of foreign coun-
tries Peaches and rlums from South
Africa, Strawberries and dasheens
from Florida, melons from South
America, tomatoes from Mexico, and
even onions from Spain, Egypt and
Australia. An international meal that
represents the combined result of
thousands of years of progressive ag-
ricultural science all over the world is
laid down on the New Workers. table
for the asking.
Keeping New York fed is a tremen-
| dous job. Last year $500 cars of APP
pies, potatoes, cabbage, onions, toma-
| toes, strawberries, cantaloupes and
| peaches rolled into New York, in addi-
ton to the large supply of products
| trucked in practically all year round
! from nearby farms in New Jersey and
Long Island, and scld to farmers mar
kets, the Wallabout, Harlem and Ganse-
WORT markets. New York receives 10
per cent of all carlot shipments Of
fruits and vegetables for the entire
country
Approximately 10000 cars of pota-
toes, onions, cabbage and tomatoes are
received for consumption yearly, as
compared with 20,5O0 cars of apples,
peaches, melons and cantalOupes. Con-
sumption of vegetables in New York
comprises II per cent of all shipments
for the entire United States, and of the
four leading deciduous fruits about 10
per cent of all shipments.
Potatoes take the lead in volume OF
any one commodity, receipts averaging
1920 carloads for a seyen-year period |
This is about twO-thirtis Of the citys |
carlot supply of the leading lines of |
vegetables and only slightly less than |
the total annual carlot consumption of |
the four fruits. Receipts of APPLES are
next largest in volume, filing on the
average 1O,S5O cars and comprising |
about SO per cent of all cars of the four
lines Of deciduous fruits consumed.
Florida Potatoes and Virginia Cabbage.
Yearly receipts Of onions are about
twice those of cabbage, approximately
1900 cars Of onions entering into con.
sumption as compared with 1900 cars
of cabbage. Receipts of cantaloupes
exceed those Of peaches by about $50
cars annually. For the seven years the
yearly average consumption of peaches
was 3,S40 cars, as compared with 1890
cars of cantaloupes. Annual receipts
of Strawberries are about LAO cars,
and of tomatoes about 5000 cars. More
than 1850 cars of strawberries arrived
In each of the years 1917 and 1918, but
decreased production cut down the
1922 supply.
Practically 80 ger cent of New York
city's carlot supply of barreled apples
GENES from New York and Virginia,
while Washington and Oregon contrib
ute about 81 per cent of the boxed ap-
pies. California and Idaho are also
fairly heavy contributors to the boxed
apple supply. Comparatively few bar
-eled apples are received from Maine
Massa chusetts and Pennsylvania, al
hough these states produce large
Quantities of apples. Apple receipts.
10Th harreled and boxed, reach their
,eak in October, and fall off gradually
Until June.
Florida leads in the number of cars
# early potatoes shipped, with year
v average of LOO cars. South Caro-
ina is next, with go cars Second
arly potatoes come from Virginia and
Iaryand, and the bulk of the late po-
atoes from Long Island, Maine, west
I'm New York and New Jersey.
More than half the yearly carlot sup
ly of $4,000 cars of fruits and vege-
ables is handled at Hudson river piers
butting the wholesale produce dis :
rict below Canal street, known as
Washington market.
The cars are received at the Jersey
eight yard and ferried across the
yer on long fiat boats carrying eight 4
+ ten loaded cars. AT the piers the
ars are unloaded directly from the
pats and long before sunrise. The h
roducts are quickly unloaded on hand W
'ucks, stacked in rows on the piers e
nd inspected as to sizes and grades. v
Arous-Eyed inspectors. n
Prospective buyers appear at an n
,rly hour, inspect the co nmodities OF
~ dinIyor with tho rooofvorc In tragoc T..