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Show USE ALL APPLES YOU CAN TO SAVE FOOD FOR ALLIES Americans Should Eat Fruit and Vegetables So Meat and Wheat May Be Sent Overseas. Our allies in war against the kaiser are very much in need "of meat and wheat. If they are to pull through the fall and winter suecessf ally, we must send them all of these staples we can. It will be necessary for Americans at home to eat more perishable food articles ar-ticles like fruit and vegetables that cannot well be sent abroad. For this reason Uncle Sam's food administration is taking the keenest interest in this year's apple crop. The government wants us to eat more aj-ples aj-ples than ever before so that the wheat and meat supplies may go to help win the war. A campaign of education ed-ucation along this line is soon to start. This year's apple crop calls for intelligent in-telligent handling. The latest government govern-ment reports indicate a crop of about 190.000,000 bushels. That is a little below normal. Good prices are assured for all honestly packed, first quality apples, and also for honestly packed, selected second grades, which government govern-ment experts say can be put into storage. stor-age. When the crop is big it does not pay to store second grades, but this year, despite the fact that we cannot ship our usual 2,000,000 barrels of apples ap-ples 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 unsatisfactory un-satisfactory prices to the growers. This year, the whole apple industry is co-operating 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 n national educational campaign among consumers to increase apple consumption. This year the situation makes it necessary for the United States government, through the food administration, to conduct a consumer's 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 np late next spring. So the grower has three great incentives incen-tives for grading, packing and storing this crop with especial care. 1. It 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 maturity ma-turity and promptly cooled in temporary tem-porary storage, and then skillfully graded and packed. Second-grade fruit should not go into barrels pr boxes. If it cannot be marketed in bulk in near-by consuming centers, then it should be worked up into byproducts by-products along with the culls. There has been a gratifying improvement im-provement in apple marketing the past two or three years. Western apples are boxed to strictly honest standards, by the great co-operative growers' organizations 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 possible pos-sible value for the money, there is an increase in the consumer demand. Retail Re-tail merchants who were formerly almost 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 confidence. confi-dence. This good work makes it possible pos-sible for the government to go further and encourage the use of apples as a war-time food measure. Because the bulk of the crop will he picked by volunteer workers this year, and put into common storage until irfiS grower can find 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 ns in peace times. For the grower who desires de-sires instructions in apple packing, the department of agriculture at Washington 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. |