The Delaware farm and home. (Wilmington, Del.) 1885-19??, 1894-05-24
Marketing Fruits.
j. L. BANNING.

In the meetings of the Peninsula Horticultural Society
that have attended the advanced methods of raising
fine fruits and produce have been ably handled by
ss and Impractical growers of arge experience that
is discussions aud annual publications f9regg2s rank
in importance among those OF the AGRICULTURAL socieeso
the day. R
If successful fruit raising alone we're the utmatum,
it is reached But practical grers who raise fruit
for pleasure alone but for its dollars and to be
obtained by it, and that part of the business e marketing
Of fruit has had minor place in our discussions on this
floor The time has been when the essential feature to
raise orchards; the marketing of the produce generally
took of itself pretty we'll and numbers Of had the
pleasure of easily obtaining satisfactory returns from sales of
fruit 1t is longer for during, the past five years.
the income fruit orchard has of precarious
nature that Teuneratve prices have prevailed only in
years of crop failure.
Our fruit crops have either failed or else have been so
abundant that production destroyed the markets. and
fruit prices has been the rule. In Short fruit
marketing rather than fruit raising has been the main issue
that aaed the growers who no better off to-day in the
aggregate than they had had orchards during that five
years. In the sppng season. the grower, by force OF
circumstances deyoes much of his time to correspondence
visiting the telegraph Office find day by day. if he had
better ship let the fruit rot and large amounts of fine
fruit allowed to rot for want of market that will net
anything expenses Not but that there have been
periods of depression before, when growers pulled up
orchards in disgust but think of SO long continued
depression the present Now may be our orchards will
bear regularly in future, and avoid the extremes
have expeenced but whether they do do not the condi
ton it stands and the should prepare ourselves
best we may meet is same that other branches of
agriculture have to contend with now that is overpro
duction.
Though the city newspapers pleased to note the
perty, it doesn't look like it. Production has increased
without regard to the laws of supply and demand Vast
quantities of fruit raised now in favorable localities
north south and vest rendering the Peninsula less factor
or power in the premises than it was.
There other difficulties that would not be so much
noticed but for productions such the shipping of
large quantities of inferior fruit that especially affects any
market that depends gey There also high
transportation charges and other expenses that often take all
the proceeds of consignment and occasionally more when
the grower mscalculates the market
Peninsula growers not alone in this condition of
affairs hear through private sources that much fruit
allowed in California during the past season. and
similar statements from other localities The question
of interest is what shall do prepare ourselves
market where production has been and very likely will
again be- the condition we must meet?
If owned all the orchards, he would quickly
find relief by curtailing shipments Excepting incidentally
do not propose here to refer the efforts by
bodies of the progressive growers to act in
in marketing fruit there plenty of gentlemen present.