Rocky Ford enterprise., 1904-09-30

A FEW THOUGHTS
And sSgxestioas Ia Regard to the
cantaioupe B0sinsss 10 Rocky
Ford Couatry.
To the Editor Of tho Enterprise:
BY giving little consideration to the
situation we will come TO the conclusion
that Il does not take = very wise man 70
sec that there Is need Of radical change
In regard 10 the marketing Of the can't
aloups crop.
In the first place mon ought TO have
pride enough in their business to do
business In u business-like way. II we
could only get men to think and sec that
the men who furnish tho labor and skill
to produce crop Of any kind. should have
at least pride enough in their business
and interest enough in their families TO
demand enough TO subsist on. even II no
more. which many will not even got this
season.
As TO tho commission mamie is only
plying his trade. and Of course can find
ways and means TO excuse his part OF
tho business. but Il doesn't look right
that 400 or 500 growers should sit idle
and leave the dietation and management
TO 4 or s individuals. What we want Is
to lay politics. prejudice. and tho paid ON
ployss lwhose duty Il is To jolly the grow
ers) to ono side and consider this auos-
ton from tho growers side. Tho COM
mission man. jollicrs. hangers-on, tof which
thorc arc more than enough can take
caro- Of themselves. We have had this
season seven or eight associations doing
business In the field. with all the attend
ant jsalousiss. envy. rivalry and insane
desire TO beat each other in the markets.
resulting In tho sending Of carload after
carload Of stuff that was not ready 70 BE-
picked for from 10 days to two weeks.
with tho sure result Of arriving In the
market In bad condition: and with another
sure result. namely. that the person pur-
chasing ono crate Of that kind Of stuff
will not call for another soon. There 10
one thing sure. and that is that the mar.
kcts were not ruined by good ripe
Rocky Ford stock.
II may look to great many people
something ike this: Tho person who will
pull mo; pick eantaloupcs that they know
themselves arc not At for shipping. should
not complain too much. There weresome
men that were working in the interest OF
some OF the associations who rode out
over tho fields and told men to pull their
cants. and fetch them in as they were
ripe enough. whom tho grower knew 70
the contrary. and said so at tho time. but
to beat some other association in tho mar
ket, they would pull everything that was
netted. taking knife or their teeth TO get
the button out, and haul them in. while
some Of the joliers who were advising To
| pull them, never raised melon or packed
a crate.
It looks to some people as though all Of
the associations have more platform men
at high rate Of wages than are needed.
while the hangors-on arc too numerous
to count, some even trying to hang on to
two associations at the same time. and
they all get their price. Has any one ever
heard Of commission man leaving the
valley who had not made a good stake or
had lost money on the deal?
i We have many growers that have put
the whole summer in toiing and laboring
with their families, and some with hired
help. who were not able to realize one
dollar on the crop. and some even have to
borrow money at 2 per cent. per month
and give mortgage on horses. cattle and
tools to get the money to pay hired help
and procure something on which to live.
Surely this is not right. Let US be hon.
est with ourselves and lay political bum
comb to one side and admit that the great
wave Of prosperity is not tapping the
Y shores Of our Rocky Ford country at this
time.
Now what we want is remedy, IL we
can find II, that will do no wrong to the
grower or the shipper. In the first place
It is not right to pay commission on top Of
railroad charges, and this should not be
tolerated as it makes an inducement to
run out cars loaded with anything to fill
up. II they will only bring freight and
commission, working against the best
interests Of the growers.
We have had one man here in the field
for four years. that has been doing busi-
ness on the cash advancement basis, with
all Of the other shippers fighting him. that
is. Albert M. Travis of Pittsburg. fair
and square dealer handling on a 10 per
cent. commission and averaged Sl.l8 per
crate last season. and has always handled
them in such way that the growers
have received prices which compared
favoraby with other shippers. And while
he has been safe on the 4oc advance
proposition, the grower, receiving his 40
cents advance and the crate every day.
has always felt sense of security, to
that extent at least, and has had money
to conduct his business with. He has felt
that his commission man has had con-