Milford chronicle., 1932-03-25

Many lines of produce have mad,
rather sensational price gains since
the spell of cold, stormy weather
earlier in the month. Combined eff
fects of bad road conditions, wea
ther damage to crops, and holding
for higher prices tend to reduce
available market supplies. Lish
stocks, of onions, cabbage and car
rOts led to further sharp advances
Prospect of limited arrivals of pO-
tatoes and reported damage to the
early southern crop strengthened
the price moderately. Many kinds OF
southern green produce, also straw
berries, sold higher because of storm
and cold injury, which was expected
to reduce or delay shipments. Daily
carlot volume of fruits and Vege-
tables dropped nearly One-third for
a week or more, but some products
are fast coming back to normal
movement. Holdings on track in
large cities have been decreasing.
Onions Much Higher
Prices of onions have been ad-
vancing since the first of the year
and recent sharp gains brought the
market to a level which seemed high
even in comparison with other years
of onion crop shortage. Carlot ship
ments are usually less than % cars
a day and holdings on track in city
markets are by no means large.
Most of the eastern markets report
light supplies and fairly good Ge-
mand. The tone of the market was
, strong the third week Of March.
Philadelphia quoted top of $3.50 per
so pounds of New York yellow
stock. Other markets quoted ad-
vances of 25 to so cents, with a job
bling range of $3.50 to $4. Spanish
onions brought $3.50 per crate. A
few early onions from Texas are on
the market with top prices near So
per crate. The Texas crop is report
ed somewhat delayed by cold wea-
ther and not likely to appear in vol
ume until April, thus giving nor
thern storage stocks opportunity for
full clearance. Foreign competition
has not been serious yet, although
there is some prospect of much more
liberal arrivals of Egyptian onions
during the next few weeks.
Prices in producing sections shar-
ed the advancing tendency in city
markets. The range in western New
York and western Michigan was
1915 to $4 per so pounds the third
week of March and demand good
from buyers who feared still higher
prices. Local reports from the Ro-
chester district indicated that about
200 more cars were available in wes-
tern New. York producing sections
and these were mainly in possession
of three or four large operators. In
Michigan, it was locally estimated
that only about 100 carlots remained
available. Supplies for eastern mar
kets have been coming mainly from
these two States lately. The cold
weather helps strengthen the posi-
ton by increasing the demand and
delaying the maturity of Texas stock
a week or so. Onions are one of the
farm products which have been able
to advance persistently in the face
of depressed business conditions
and declining markets.
Cabbage Prices Jump
Too. late in the season to do much |
good to the majority of producers, |
came a very sharp advance on what |
little remained of the old cabbage
crop. Best lots sold at tops of $50 |
per ton soon after the middle of the |
month and demand was fairly good
in eastern producing sections be-
cause of the limited supply available
and the rather light shipments ex-
pected from the South. Texas cab
bage sold as high as S65 per ton in
sections. Heavy frost was
reported in the lower Rio Grande
Valley. Shipments of old cabbage
for the season have been about the
same as last season but new cab
bage is falling behind one-fourth.
The main cause of the sudden jump
in prices seems to have been the
Door condition of the crop in Flori-
tla and Texas, which are responsible
for most of the fresh supply at this
time. Shipments from both States
have tended to increase during the
past few months, with the result of
the strength of the gem
eral market. The output from wes-
.ern New York is expected to be
light for the rest of the season. Sup
plies of new cabbage are reported
moderate in nearly all markets and ]
demand fairly good. Florida stock
brings 1925 to $2.75 per 11s bushel
hamper in New York, Philadelphia,
Baltimore and Washington. s
Carrots are another vegetable that !
las profted by light production this
ear. Prices have been advancing