The islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1891-1899, 1897-10-28
FRUIT GROWING AND PACKING.

EAST SOUND, Oct. 26, 1897.
! EDITOR IsLANDER:-As per your re
quest, / write you few facts regard
ing the fruit industry of this state, ant
more especially of Western Washing
ton. The writer having had seven
teen years experience in the fruit ship
ping business believes he can speak in.
diligently on the subject. In the first
place the fruit of Washington far excels
that of Oregon or California. both in
appearance and eating properties, facts
that are readily acknowledged by east
ern consumers and dealers who have
had years of experience in handling
fruit from the Pacific slope. We quote
you from letter we are just in receipt
of from F. G. Wintwoode 81 Co., of
Chicago, in which they say in reference
to a car load of prunes shipped by us
from Skagit county: "As to your fruit
we will say that it is the largest we
have ever seen, and the finest in quail
ty, both as to appearance and eating
properties" Further on the writer
says: "Some of the fruit was the finest
we ever saw. and it would have easily
brought from ninety cents to one dol
lar per crate had it been in good sound
condition, as it should have been, had
it been shipped at the right time.
Some of the fruit was fair; in fact none
OF it was as poor as most of the fruit
received from the Willamette valley In
Oregon, or the Walla Walla district in
Washington, and / cannot see why
your section cannot in time become
the best in the northwest. The writer
has had the pleasure of visiting your
country, and will say that your fruit
is the largest that he has ever seen and
the eating is the best"
In justice to the shippers Of the car
load mentioned, I will say that the
fruit was entirely too ripe when ship
ped and was not fair sample ofquali-
ty raised in this section, having been
packed in the latter part of September,
by inexperienced packers, and delay
in getting the proper kind of crates
delayed the shipment too long to reach
the market in good condition. The
largeness of it attracted buyers, and
the car load was sold for much more
UA0h pO1SCS1 piONIuS LOU CStu NC
done with Washington fruits when
handled properly and at the right time
in the eastern markets, which are more
fornia. The shipping must be done
similar to that of California, as the
individual growers, unorganized, are
powerless, but combined under the
oft of 10 I'M wi n
ual grower has the advantage of car
load rates on his five, ten or twenty
boxes of fruit to all markets in the
country equally with car shippers.
This is the only means by which the
California growers have been enabled to
place their products in all markets of
the world Before the organization of
the union in California, the growers
were laboring under the same disad-
vantages as are the growers at the
present time of this state. When the
fruit industry was In it's infancy there
was even then an enormous surplus
of fruit, as they had but one market,
viz San Francisco, which was only a
dumping ground, as are Seattle and
Tacoma at the present time. The
growers, realizing that something had
to be done, determined on the fruit
organization. That was prior to the
refrigerator car system, and they were
compelled to ship to eastern points in
the old box car, which was very risky
ard often disastrous. Yet, under these
adverse conditions, they kept pegging
away until the present time they have
perfect refrigerator car system by
which they can ship as easily to all
eastern point as they can to one of their
home markets. We have said enough
about California and their union and
turn to our own state.
In the first place it is unnecessary for
us to say that the fruit growers in this
state put out large orchards without
ever figureing upon what they were
going to do with their fruit. In the
next place after the trees begin to bear
few years they discover they have no
home market. They grow discouraged,
neglect their orchards and in some
cases destroy them by digging them
up, and in many cases neglect spray
ing and allow them to become infested
with insects and fungOus diseases.
There are no thanks due the grower
for the fine quality of fruit grown in
this state as nature has done it all,
and all it requires on the part of the
grower is intelligent action and proper
care, and the state will become famous
for it's fine fruits throughout the world
and they will become a source of great
revenue to the growers. The system
of organization entails much hard labor
and expense and often times becomes
discouraging, though, as rule, we find
that the growers realize the import
ance of organization but fails to realize
the equally great Importance of pack
ing, grading and the kind of packages