Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-11-11
THE FRUIT CROP.
Senator Stanford's Views on Its Shipment
and Sale.


In recent interview on fruit shipping
Senator Stanford said: 1.-The only way to
cooperate is to lump the shipment, and
each man receive share of the net pro-
ceeds commensurate with his shipment.
The objection as to pro-rating on good and
bad fruit is a fair point, but it can be easily
met. The Association must employ a
grader who has no interest in the ship
ments, and who will grade the quality of
each mans fruit. So much number one,
so much number two; and it would be a
good plan to reject all below number two.
for that would raise the reputation of the
Association. Then it would be simple to
make an equitable division. Let each
shipper receive his proportion of number
one receipts as he shipped pounds of num-
Der one fruit, and so as to number two.
The large dealers who have monopoly of
the trade now are opposed to the cooper
alive plan, and further, they are opposed
to any change. They say now that the
market East has had all the fruit it can
handle. l believe it has, too, at the high
rates that have been charged, for there are
mighty few of the 50,000,000 people East
who can afford to buy cherries at ninety
cents a pound. They don't desire any re-
duction in rates, but that is their affair.
The cooperative plan is distasteful to
fruit-growers on even terms with them
selves. The spectators are well advised
as to Eastern markets. They know where
fruit can be sold and about what for. This
information is great advantage to them
it is their stock in trade, and they speculate
upon it. If a cooperative society has
agents in the East to get this very inform
alton, the Spectator will cease to have
things all his own way. l am confident
that much Of the verbal opposition comes
from large dealers. They see in the CO.
operative plan a formidable competition,
and they see that it will, if worked out
properly, give the highest price to the Cali
fornia fruit-raiser, and the lowest price
possible to the Eastern consumer. If a
fruit-grower is so situated that he is forced
to sell at the nearest market for what his
fruit will bring, no plan in the world will
put him on an equality with the man who
can afford to look further for market. They
talk about quarter car and half car ship
ments, and a good deal of nonsense has
been uttered about that The men who
have been talking about promiscuous ship
ments in parts of cars don't understand
the subject. And let me say now, that the
company does not care cent how many
mems lots of fruit go to make up car,
provided the car has only one des-
tination. Suppose A, B, C and D
each take a quarter of a car. A
consigns to Nebraska, B to Chicago, C to
St. Paul and D to Cincinnati. This is
on fast train, remember, going through
on passenger time. We could not hold the
whole train to unpack a quarter car, but
would have to side-track the car at Omaha
and unload the Nebraska lot The car
would have to wait for the next train to
haul 1t up to st. Paul, and then more side
tracking and waiting before it could be
in what condition the lot for Cincinnati
would be when it got there, and I'd ask,
also, how G and D would like to have their
fruit side-tracked while A and BIS lots
were unloaded? We don't care how they
divide the cars up so long as the fruit in
one car all goes to the same point, but we
can't keep a train waiting to unload part of
car. and any suggestions that we can or
ought TO do so is nonsense. If the fruit
growers of California cannot afford to take
the risk of their own shipments East, it
Will surprise me to hear it, and if they can
so afford, it is surely better for them to
ship on plan of intelligent cooperation
than TO dump their products on the market
lndlscriminately and engage in a cutthroat
competition with each other The only
other alternative IS to leave the trade in
the hands of few large dealers, who will
not pay the grower any more than the
lowest figure, and take advantage of super
Tor information to grind him down and
have greater interest in increasing their
profits than in increasing the trade and
developing the State Individual ship
ments must often be ill-advised and cannot
fail to result in loss"