Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-05-15
FRUIT MARKETING.
THE IMPORTANT PROBLEM TO ALL
+ U!T-GR9MERS.
Commercial PRINCIPLES Underlying
the Subject and applicable to
1.-THE Market for All.

The following letter upon the all-impoTt-
ant subject of obtaining profitable mar
ket for the vast and increasing quantity of
California fruit, will be read with interest
by all fruit growers and others interested
! directly or indirectly in the great industry :
SAN FRANCIsco May II, 1856.
! Hon. X. d. Stephens President Iiltis- Gro,C-
recently Il number of documents relating 10
your association, which | have read with
| instruction and pleasure. | think | under
| stand clearly the issue between your assC-
citation and the Fruit Growers Union and
while not disposed to enter upon any dis
cussion of the relative merits of the two as
| sociations, and believing both to be attu-
| ated by very earnest desire to promote
| the fruit interests of California. have some
suggestions of my own which | beg leave
| to submit for the consideration OF your SUI
perior experience and intelligence upon
| this subject. Just how the suggestions |
am about to present will apply 10 the prin
| ciples adopted by the two associations, or
| in other words, just how the plans proposed
| by the two associations will conform to the
principles propose to set forth, | lack that
familiarity with the sublet t-matter 10 en-
able me to judge with precision.
| There are certain underlying principles
| in commerce which may be relied upon as
possessing applicability TO every depart
ment of commercial activity. The basis of
such commercial relation is the exchange
of commodities between countries wherein
the soils and the climates and the produc-
tions differ Modern facilities of transpor-
tation bring all parts of the world into close
competition Hereafter, by reason of the
practical elimination of the cost of carrying
commodities from one country to another
all articles subject of commercial exchange
will eventually be produced in the climate
and soil best adapted to their growth be-
cause under such climate and in such soil
there is the greatest possible economy of
production. We of California can grow
fruit for the world, because the character
OF our climate is such as to eradicate GER
tain factors which constitute the hazard of
the business. Here we can produce the
maximum of result with the minimum Of
cost, both as to labor and expenditure of
capital. If this is not the truth, then We
may not hope to grow lrult for other por-
| tons of the world because il fruit can be
grown with equal facility, the Transports
ton account would stand against us, and
there would no longer exist any induce
ment for shipment We have intimate
communication with population of nearly
| forty million people living. in latitudes
where apricots may not be grown. Let us,
therefore, use that particular article for il
lustration. Apricots are desirable article
! of food, and since there is a market having
nearly forty million consumers, We may
hope to supply that market with our fruit
| We have here the first great clement OF
commercial exchange-that is to say we
can produce commodity which may be
Transported and sold at a profit over the
cost of transportation and the mercantile
| profits involved and the risk incurred as
| against the attempt to produce the same
fruit in the countries where we offer il for
| sac.
The second great underlying principle of
commercial exchange is the necessity for
the distributor, sometimes called the mid
| dleman who, for the purposes of this let
ter we call the merchant. Merchandising
| is the science of distribution. 1t is an in
dispensable factor in commercial exchange
1t is az Indispensable, as profitable, and as
! economical TO the producer and the con-
sumner as the division of human labor into
mechanical employments The merchant
is, therefore, natural! and indispensable
factor in the commerce of the world. He
can be eliminated only at great loss to
both producer and consumer. His occu-
patton rises to the dignity of a scientific
profession. He is benefactor in proper
ton TO his experience, knowledge, activity
| and skill. The distributor or merchant
performs great Office in the great world
| of commercial exchange, and is
| factor so important as not TO be
ignored when We approach the considera-
ton of the particular subject under exam
/ ination. The products Of a country which
DENY to the distributor any profit what
ever will necessarily be shut out of the
| markets OF the world. The distributor
exercises a very large influence upon the
selection of source of supply. He will
not handle the goods which yield no profit.
| He will therefore bring into the markets of
| the world, from the Localities where such
| goods may be obtained, those which will
| yield to him tie largest profit. | am not
| suggesting the idea of giving over to the
| distributor or merchant the sole control of
| these matters-no really scientific or sue
cessful merchant asks that at the hands of
| the producer or consumer. What |
am contending for is the very obvi-
Gus consideration that we are in in
| innate communication with all parts of the
| world, with all climates, and that the To-
| cality which refuses to allow a fair COM
mercial profit to the distributor of its COM
modities will sooner or later be shut cut of
| the markets by the competition, which
! will be brought to bear of similar articles
| i'll other parts of the world. A fruit-grow-
/ SIS DdSct upon INC lQcd OF XIV
| ing to single mercantile house the con-
, trol of the profit to be derived upon the
products of great industry in great com
| monwealth like California has built into
| its very foundations an element of unrest
and ultimate decay. To hand over to a
single mercantile establishment the liens
share of profit of a commerce equal in
magnitude to that of the fruit industry of
California, is at once to array all other
! merchants against that commodity-to
give those merchants the highest incentive
for finding other sources of supply and
| bringing the products from these other
sources into strong competition with our
own.
| The third principal l would urge upon
| your attention. relates to the fact of the
| perishable character of lhe article Of COM
merce under consideration. The problem
| is how to bring it within reach of the larg-
! est number of consumers within a time
limited by its perishable character. To ac-
| complish this requires the establishment of
system of distribution, and the most ex-
peditious and direct shipment from the
| source of supply to the point of demand
To return to our illustration Of apricots.
Suppose there are forty million consumers
residing in lattudes where that fruit may
| not be grown. scattered over region of
| country one thousand miles in extent east
and west, and five hundred miles in breadth
north and south, and having at least one
hundred points of natural distribution.
What L intend to convey by the terms
points of distribution is, points where chan
nels OF distribution are already established
for other articles of commerce, and to
which lines of transportation have natur-
ally accommodated themselves. Cities are
the basis of commercial exchange They
present to the consumers within their COM
merclal territory that advantage insepara-
6le from doing business in large way or
by wholesale. 1t is the natural desire, be-
cause 1t supplements the convenience of
man to purchaseany article where the main
purchases of necessaries are made, and
where the products of the purchaser are
sold. The distribution of the fruit will not
differ from that of other commodities-in
fact, 1t will accompany them. Its lines will
be parallel with them. A large city pre-
sents those advantages for purchase and
sale inseparable from metropolitan eonve-
nlence For instance, large area makes
Chicago its commercial center. Another
large area is naturally tributary to ST.
Louis; another to Cincinnati; another to
Pittsburg; another to New York. Within
these, there are subordinate centers TO
which other and still smaller centers are
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