DISTRIBUTION OF THE NEW YORK PEACH-CROP
In the past the great problems of peach-growers, as of those who grow other agricultural products, have been cultural in their essential character. Attention to problems of distribution have had to do with the opening up of new regions of production—the expansion of the agricultural domain; with developing means of transportation—railroad lines, steamboat service, canals; and in developing centers of consumption in the cities and towns which have been springing up everywhere in the habitable parts of America. Until recent years, little has been done in studying the commercial disposition of agricultural products. Now, however, studies are being made everywhere of the distributive systems by which products get to market and to determine what share of the consumer's price should go to the producer and what to the distributor. Everywhere the importance of these economic studies is recognized and no producer sees more clearly than the New York peach-grower the need of improvement in handling products to distribute risks, reduce risks, decrease the numbers in the vast armies of middlemen and in every way improve defective distribution. But these questions belong to specialists—economists. We wish here only to furnish a few fundamental data which may be of use to all concerned in the distribution of the peach-crop.
In the economic study of the peach-industry in the State it is essential to know the volume of the product in the State; what proportion of the total different sections produce; how the crop is distributed in consumption; and the movement of the peach-crop from competing peach-states. These data we undertake to furnish for the year 1915, a normal peach-year, taking the figures from the transportation lines handling peaches in New York so far as obtainable. The volume of the product for western New York is shown by figures taken from the New York Central Railroad[258] and the Lehigh Valley Railroad. Peaches were shipped from towns as follows:
| Adams Basin | 26 | Cars |
| Albion | 41 | " |
| Appleton | 108 | " |
| Ashwood | 19 | " |
| Barker | 261 | " |
| Barnard | 72 | " |
| Brice | 242 | " |
| Brighton | 3 | " |
| Brockport | 116 | " |
| Buffalo | 2 | " |
| Burt | 244 | " |
| Carlton | 25 | " |
| Caywood | 16 | " |
| Charlotte | 88 | " |
| Covert | 21 | " |
| E. Williamson | 52 | " |
| Elberta | 24 | " |
| Elm Grove | 1 | " |
| Fancher | 17 | " |
| Fruitland | 48 | " |
| Gasport | 108 | " |
| Geneva | 19 | " |
| Greece | 14 | " |
| Hamlin | 216 | " |
| Hector | 28 | " |
| Hilton | 314 | " |
| Holley | 27 | " |
| Junius | 61 | " |
| Kendall | 70 | " |
| Lewiston | 432 | " |
| Lockport | 119 | " |
| Lodi | 3 | " |
| Lyndonville | 171 | " |
| Medina | 76 | " |
| Middleport | 36 | " |
| Millers | 87 | " |
| Model City | 156 | " |
| Morton | 188 | " |
| North Rose | 2 | " |
| Ontario | 43 | " |
| Pittsford | 2 | " |
| Ransomville | 38 | " |
| Rochester | 214 | " |
| Rushville | 3 | " |
| Sodus | 126 | " |
| Spencerport | 91 | " |
| Trumansburg | 11 | " |
| Union Hill | 1 | " |
| Valois | 5 | " |
| Walker | 168 | " |
| Waterport | 15 | " |
| Waverly | 1 | " |
| Webster | 3 | " |
| Williamson | 371 | " |
| Wilson | 126 | " |
| Wolcott | 15 | " |
| Total | 4568 | Cars |
These figures include plums but the shipment of plums in 1915 was so insignificant as to be negligible and more than offset by shipments of peaches not accounted for by the carriers named.
In addition to the above the American Express Company took out of this territory about 175 cars, mostly in less than car-lot shipments.
Accurate figures could not be obtained from the Hudson River Valley and Long Island shipping points as so much of the fruit is shipped by water, but, basing the yield in 1915 on the census reports of 1909 as to yields and number of trees as compared with similar data for these years from western New York, a rough approximation of the number of carloads in eastern New York is 600. From reports received from the chief Hudson River navigation lines it would seem that they probably carried about one hundred carloads.
Practically all of the 600 carloads grown in eastern New York were consigned to New York City or nearby towns. From the above table we may assume that about 5000 carloads were produced in the rest of the State and we are fortunate in having a record as to where 4419 of these were consigned. The New York Central Railroad distributed the number of carloads named as follows:[259]
| No. of Cars | Percentage of Crop | Destination | No. Towns |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,628 | 36 | Buffalo and points west, including Pittsburgh | 96 |
| 906 | 20 | Pennsylvania and points south of Newberry Junction | 72 |
| 222 | 5 | Points east of Albany | 25 |
| 986 | 22.3 | Points north of New York City | 145 |
| 677 | 15.7 | New York City | 1 |
| 4,419 | 339 | ||
Analyzing these figures we find that the 4,419 carloads reached 339 destinations grouped as follows:[260]
| 9 | cities took 2,378 cars, over one-half of the crop, |
| 21 | cities took 3,018 cars, two-thirds of the crop, |
| 59 | cities took from 4 to 10 cars each, |
| 231 | cities took from 1 to 3 cars each, |
| 62 | per cent of the crop went outside of the State, |
| 22.3 | per cent went to points in New York north of New York City, |
| 15.7 | per cent went to New York City |
The nine cities which took over one-half of the crop are:
| New York | 677 | Cars |
| Pittsburgh | 555 | " |
| Philadelphia | 418 | " |
| Cleveland | 156 | " |
| Boston | 135 | " |
| Cincinnati | 116 | " |
| Syracuse | 109 | " |
| Columbus | 109 | " |
| Detroit | 103 | " |
| Total | 2,378 | Cars |
While these nine cities took over one-half the 1915 peach-crop, twenty-one cities took 3,018 carloads. In addition to those already named, these cities are as follows:
| Newark, N. J | 77 | Cars |
| Dayton, O. | 69 | " |
| Albany | 67 | " |
| Utica | 64 | " |
| Baltimore | 55 | " |
| Troy | 52 | " |
| Wilkes-Barre | 50 | " |
| Schenectady | 46 | " |
| Watertown | 44 | " |
| Indianapolis | 43 | " |
| Toledo | 37 | " |
| Providence | 36 | " |
| Total | 3,018 | Cars |