The Florida agriculturist., 1884-11-05
DeLand, Florida, Nov. A, 1884.

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merchants, watermelons to fur houses.
and vegetables to those engaged in the
the tobacco trade and with no informa-
tion as toi the. standing and business
ability of those to whom they ship. In
point of fact, the question Of capital, in
tegrity and business. ability is not con
sidered, but any one can secure large
consignments of Florida products, by
simply the asking. As necessary con-
sequence, very large proportion of the
crop goes into the hands OF irresponsible
adventurers; men who have no money,
reputation or trade; with no restraint
whatever upon them, save the sole mo-
tive to secure further consignments.
Again, every man ships for himself,
with no knowledge as to what his neigh
bors are doing, or of the requirements
of the market. Thesnatural results fol-
low that every shipper is in compe-
tition with his neighbor and often with
himself. Some of tho markets are over
stocked and the products go to waste,
while others equally Important are left
entirely without supply. So, it is not
strange, therefore, that with such meth
ods the results are unsatisfactory and
disastrous, and that they grow worse
and worse as we go on As the produc-
tions increase, and the net results will
grow less and less year by year. And,
unless some remedy shall be devised, it
becomes simply question of time when
a large portion of the production will be
left to rot, because III viii not pay to
ship.
The question, therefore, Of the best
methods to be adapted for the market
ing of these productA becomes one of
vital importance. On its proper solu-
ton depends not onlyIthe value of the
crop, but the value Of the "pLdnt" as
well. In other wOdds,' whether the
large amount of money invested i'll or
ange culture shall hb wasted, thrown
away and valueless, oIlwhether it shall
become and remain profitable to the
owner.
1t is settled law ollpolitical economy
"that the cultivator 6f the soil should
lind a market for hiti products, as near
the place of prod kfion as possible .
His time and thou sc should be fully
occupied with the ~ 3Fction and prep
aration for market, y Sng. to others the
labor of transporting id distributing to
the concumer. This distribution is an
entirely different braneh of the business,
and one that requires bill the brains and
energies of those that Engage in it..
In brief, the prodtEer Should never
attempt to become tle speculator, but
he should leave to others the labors,
profits and losses of such ventures Es-
pecially should this be the case with
perishable products Ike ours. Our or
anges should be sole at home, and others
than the growers should attend to the
transportation and distribution to the
consumers. Many ol the growers will
say "that is just what we want to do;
we are ready to sell our crops, but there
are no buyers" Now, l am sorry to
have to admit that this is substantially
true-there are no buyers. There is but
very small portion, almost none of our
crops sold in the State. They are all
sent out for sale in the hap-hazard,
"happy-go-lucky" manner described
above. Can we reasonably expect that
business men-men of capital-men of
intelligence, win come hereto buy these
products, when they know that their
irresponsible neighbors and competitors
will receive them direct from the pro-
ducers on consignment to return or pay
for them any prices they choose? Can
they meet that sort of competition ?n 1t
is perfectly idle-nay, absurd, to expect
that men will come TO buy these products
with the business in it's present condi-
ton. If, in the earlier history of the or
ange culture the buyers had been en-
couraged, it would now have been the
method, but our early producers took to
the notion that they were "smart
enough" as they said, s'to do their own
business" and the present muddle is
the result.
The question then arises, Is it impos-
sible to correct the present methods and
put the marketing of oranges and other
perishable productions on a business
basis? reply, most emphatically, No!
But in order to do SO, there must be
concentrated action by the growers. The
present prevailing principle OF "every
man for himself and the devil take the
hindermost," must give way to some
plan or system that will bring order out
of chaos. These products must be con-
centrated and passed through a regular
system that will bring them under the
law of supply and demand-a system
that will send them where they are
wanted and when they are wanted
giving even supplies--not overstocking
one e-place while leaving another equally
important without supply.
TO accomplish this, there must be a
beginning Ii some Of the large produc-
ers would form themselves into an asso-
citation, exchange or corporation, agree
ing to pass their own crop through the
machinerNy thattthey themselves shall
crnata .pStahIiEh at central noinfc e11ch