Los Angeles herald., 1905-12-07
FRUIT GROWERS
HEAR APPEAL
COOPERATION IS STRONGLY
URGED
Speaker Before state Convention at
Santa Rosa Shows California
Producers Weakness Of Pres.
ent System Of Selling
BY Asaocialed Press.

| SANTA ROSA, Dec. 6.--The second
/ days session of the state fruit grow
] ers convention convened this morning
/ at 10 o'clock President Blwood Cooper
, in the chair. The greater portion of
! the session was devoted to consdera-
/ tion of the market problem
Marketing California Products and
Exposition Work from q California
! Standpoint" was the subject Of an in
! teresting address by j. A. Filcher, one
of the commissioners in charge of the
Portland and st. Louis exhibits.
Marketing Outside of Transporta tion
Lines" was the subject assigned to A,
~ Judd. He spoke in part as follows:
| 'In marketing farm and orchard
| products the difference In the methods
| of presenting them to the consumer
| from those followed by the manufac-
turer is most marked. A mighty army
of agents and statesmen travel to the
| ends of the earth, debating the prices
of manufactured goods for the con-
| sumner to take or reject, as he ple8ses.
| This work is done at the enormous an
nual cost of more than $20,0O0,000 Yet
| the farmer and the fruit grower, with
their products of the almost inconceiv-
able yearly value of five billion dollars,
never yet dreamed of fixing the price
on their products, but wait patiently
Il
to take or make no sale.
Shows Injustice Of System
"The farmer or fruit grover appears
| to think that his business is not of
sufficient Importance to justify his maxi
ing his own markets. This Is the case
in the whole United States; it is even so
in the Pajaro valley in regard to the
apple industry. The apple grower
there, with few exceptions, turns his
product over to an agent and often
times to an agent of an agent, who will
not buy even If the name of the grower
or the name of the place grown is on
the box.
"rhis results in our having received
this season from S5 cents to $1.15 per
box for fancy four-tier belleheurs and
Newtown pippins, equal of which does
not exist as regards quality.
II wish to impress upon the grower
the necessity of marketing his own
products, If for no other reason than
to correct the vagaries of apple buyers,
and this is true in all fruits The taste
Is the growers test of the quality of
an apple, while the city man is influ
enced by the eye wholly and in conse-
quence seldom eats good apple. But
as the city buyer represents our mar
ket we should try to influence him to
buy by taste, for apples and all other
fruit must be consumed in greater guam
titles in order to sell in greater guam
titles.
Urges Co-operation
who but the grower should show the
buyer the difference between those
kings of the royal family of fruits, the
yellow bellef1eur, the Newtown pippin
and the plebeian Lauver and Ben
Davis?
ITO show how serious this question
Is, at the Louisiana Purchase expoSi-
tion apples were judged on 100 per cent
basis, and only 10 per cent was given
to taste, while 81 per cent was given to
looks. In fact, all awards In all kinds
Of fruit, the dye awarded at least 75
per cent of the honors and the taste less
than 25 per cent. This calls for action
on the part of the grower, and further
illustrates the necessity Of attending to
at least a part of our own business.
1.-THE Hood river grower of Oregon
has shown US the way to cooperate.
Shall we follow his lead and go him
one better, or shall we accept half price
for our products?"
England AS a Market for Our Fruits"
was discussed by Edward Berwick, and
Packing Prunes in Tin Cans in Their
| Natural States was proposition dis
cussed by J. D. Luther Bowers. This is
something new, and Mr. Bowers paper
brought out considerable discussion and
occasioned much interest. He showed
that prunes can, be canned like any
other fruit, although little has so far
been attempted in that line. Finding
market for the California prune crop
is one of the most serious problems con-
| fronting the fruit growers of this state,
and heretofore the entire output has
been shipped dry. If market can be
developed for canned prunes it will have
an important effect upon the prune in
dustry.