Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1906-12-08
peport of Business rIanager of Pro-
duce Exchange.
To the President and Members of the
Eastern Shore of Virginia Pro-
duce Exchange.

Exchange. To those OF us VINO are
with the great difficulties
nnder which we have labored, oper-
ating as we do over such large ter
ritory and having such a marked dit
ference in what is supposed to be
like grade of goods, its success finan-
ciallY and otherwise must be reve- |
lation and proves clearly and unmis-
takably the wisdom of its promoters
in advocacy of centralized co-opera- |
ton. One of the most notable ad-
yantages of such cooperation has
been to reduce and in fact minimize
the cost of communication with many
of the great commercial centers as
well as with almost innumeraDle
smaller markets; thus insuring to the
producer intelligent action in thel
marketing of his produce.
In the report just made by your
Secretary and Treasurer one OF the
principal items of expense is the tele-
graph account amounting to about
IS, 500. 90. This item may appear large
but when we take into consideration
that it is for the dissemination of such
valuable information from Cape
Charles to New Church along the line
of the Railroad,' as well as to all OF
| the B. G. & A. points and in fact a
source of information to the people
generally, then we must realize that
| the expense is not burdensome to the
| individual grower. and | might say
without the possibility of contradic-
ton there is no other trucking sec
ton that receives such general infor-
| nation to day as do the truck grow
ers of the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
We must feel proud of the fact, that
the Eastern Shore Irish potatoes today
are recognized as among the most
desirable to be had, and it only re-
ouires little more painstaking or
rivalry on the part of the grower to
place them pre-eminently at the head
of the list of any to be had from any
section of our country.
Our potatoes are recognized as eX-
Telling in cooking qualities and when
properly handled are known as among
| the best keepers to be had. There
fore, we must strongly urge and en-
Ideavor to impress upon the grower
the necessity of intelligent action on
his part that this reputation may be
retained and if possible, improved
upon. Our Irish potatoes are solo
from Tampa, Florida, to Portland,
Maine, as far West as Chicago ano
| North to Canada.
| At this time, wish to call your at
tention to the needs with reference tC
the growing of the second crop OF
: seed Irish potatoes. We all mus
, realize that we have never under
: taken this work with any very grea
deal of confidence or enthusiasm al
though from the best information OBJ
tainable, great results might be &C
; complished along this line. The South
: ern planter is almost obliged TO have
these goods and. no doubt, they ar
the best to be had when properl.
| cared for and should be sought afte
t more and more each year, but w
. can never hope to handle the outpu
r successfully under our present rule 0
l working the deal; everybody as
: were, cropping around in the dark.
f therefore, recommend that imme
p date steps be taken looking to tn
erection at some central point, prob
ably Eastville, of large and suitabl
f warehouse through which to handl
a | these goods. Let us offer the trade
f grade of goods they cannot do with
out regardless of price.
With reference to the handling @
e sweet potatoes grown on the Easter
Shore of Virginia, which are toda
known almost over the entire coup
. try and the outlet for the same limit
:, led only by their carrying qualities,
: must think a tinge of shame mus
f creep over us when we realize wha
folly we are displaying in the market
ing of this important crop. AS
r have Just remarked, our outlet 70
y these goods is almost unlimited. The
r are now being sold in great quaint
6 ties in the extreme far West. w
u have sold on one day during the pre-:
: ent season 1000 barrels in one of tn
: lextreme far Western cities and tina
q rot large city. / call your after
ltion to these facts to impress you, tina
l. largely sought after, but for US to Sc
!, your goods is not all of the story
h There is another very important pal
of the deal. The jobber or dealer q
lyou please, who buys your produc
must be profited thereby, or else b
Interest will wane. The results frol
{ no one day, or week or month al
: sufficient. The handling of our Gro
V of sweet potatoes covers long perio
= land we must realize that there is
community of interest at stake. TIL
u dealer wants our goods so long as h
l. can profit thereby and we need til
d dealer so long as he can buy our gooC
and pay his bills. Therefore, it b.
hooves us to offer him something equa
9 ly as desirable or more so if possible
II than can be obtained from elsewher,
}. Now are we doing it-let us stop fC
II a moment and consider. Compare
you will the packages that we are III
e ing with those that are being used b
e our neighbors and very strong con
l. petitor, the State of New Jersey. o.
I packages as a rule the most inferiC
that can be made, under sized,
shaped, and altogether disgrace
us claiming be an up-to- date, INTEL
gent people. Theirs made stron,
IS uniform in size and all hat can /
e asked for. Our grading irregular an
o. theirs very near uniform--they reali;
Q good paying prices while we are oblii
ed to accept in many instances le
a than the cost of production. To col
If tinue our present slip-shod method
,e packing our sweets will mean to
great disappointment. Letus emery
u from our Rip Van Wrinkle existenc
1t accept the duties confronting US, in
Is prove the grading of our sweets ar
d the packages in which we mark
them and reap the reward that
Ill truly ours. 1t can be done and on
requires persistent effort on our pa
to accomplish this great result.
Your secretary has fully advised W
ID of the expenses itemized, cCnsequen
or ly l will not intrude upon your tin
&c to make mention of these facts exec