Relation between auction prices and supplies of California fresh Bartlett pears

Abstract does not appear. First page follows.

Introduction

A primary purpose of the present study is to present more factual information than heretofore has been available on certain characteristics of the price behavior of California Bartlett pears. Special attention is given to particular relations within the complex of pear prices, and various influences that enter into the determination of auction market prices are analyzed and discussed. A secondary purpose of the study is to present some analytical background that is necessary in order to view the recent development of the California fresh Barlett pear industry and understand its present status. Therefore this discussion of California Barlett prices, shipments, and relations to other fruits may be considered as a means of emphasizing and elucidating some of the problems that face the industry. To cope with many of these problems there has been enacted in recent years, state and federal legislation which has often resulted in marketing agreements. Here no attempt is made to determine the feasibility or success of the various pear marketing agreements that have been instituted. But in conjunction with additional information, the subsequent analyses and discussions may be helpful in evaluating some of them.

The wide scope of even such a limited subject as pear prices necessitates concentration, in a single study, on only a small segment of the whole.