The Dalles times-mountaineer. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1882-1904, 1899-06-17
NEED OF ORGANIZATION.
Fruit Growers should Combine to Ge
Living Prices.

NEED OF ORGANIZATIONS.
Fruit Growers should Combine to Get
Living Prices
| The following is an extract from a
paper furnished fruit growers by
Emile Schanno of this city, at meet
| ing held in Salem on Friday of last
week:
81 have long felt that if fruitgrowers
would realize the full market value Of
their crops they must abandon isolated
| and Independent methods of shipment
and organize themselves into unions
or associations for the express purpose
| of marketing their fruit. Tie principal
market for our surplus fruit is IN the
empire east of the Rocky mountains.
In the struggle to reach this market
the advantages are all on the side of
the large shipper. The smaller ones
are left out in the cold or confined to
precarioas and often glutted home
market. Hence thousands of bushels
of valuable fruit annually go to waste,
and orchards are allowed to go to
wreck and ruin, under pretense Of
overpr oduction, when the fault lies
gent business methods in marketing.
No industry responds more readily to
intelligent business methods than
fruitraising, and when these are suple-
mented Dy Intelligent business methods
in marketing there will be neither
over production or production at
loss. But the tendency of the times,
in every department of business enter
prise, is toward Capitalization. Com
binations under whatever purpose,
largely control the markets of the
world. We may deplore the fact, but
the fact remains, and must be met, II
met at all. by intelligent combination
on the part of the producers. Middle
men Fix the prices on fruit precisely as
railroad combinations fix the rates of
transportation. The agents of the
mlddlemen, as rule, trade only with
larger shippers, and the smaller pro-
ducers are either ignored altogether
or at best fail TO get the best shipping
rates or the best prices.
81 would never ship pound of fruit
to be sold on commission. Three
times OUT of four the fruit 50 shipped,
| especially if green, is practically a
total loss 10 the shipper. AS soon as
| it gets into the hands of the commits
sion men it gets into the hands of the
| enemies of the small dealers. 1t is
high time that the later should COM
bine for their own protection, not to
say salvation. The fruitgrowers in
all other states form com mbinations for
marketing their fruit, and the result
has always been better prices for the
producer. The fruitgrowers of Hood
River valley, in my own county,
through their Fruitgrowers' Union,
get better prices for their apples and
berries than any other locality in the
state. know of some growers who,
through this agency, obtained $3.50 a
box for their apples, while many in
other parts of the state realized little |
over so cents, and the better price was |
much more the result of intelligent |
business methods in disposing of it
than in the superiority of the fruits.
Other districts may profit by the ex-
ample of Hood River. Nay, other dis
tricts must, il the smaller growers are
to be saved from being driven to the
wall, and it is from the moderately
small orchards that the bulk of our
fruit CONFESS.
II would therefore, have the fruit
growers of each district or shipping
point, as may be most convenient, or
marketing and disposal of their pro.
duct. Let them place the business of
shipping and marketing in the hands
of an honest, intelligent. progressive
will undoubtedly be the best that can
be obtained under existing conditions.
To secure uniformity the fruit should
be packed at one place and under
the supervision of competent in
spector. Each union should have a
handsome and attractive label to place
on all boxes and packages, and no
effort should be spared to make the
label certificate of the character and
quality of the fruit it marks. Honesty
is the best policy in fruit packing as in
everything else, and simple business
policy, it has been demonstrated a
thousand times that honest, uniform,
careful and attractive packing, such
as can be easily effected through q
fruitgrowers' union, always pays
handsome dividend for the extra care
and aYnanae -