The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1906-04-15
COMMISSION ROW TALK.

wondering whether it will prove as
Good a year as was 1905. Nearly all
tbo commission men are inclined to
no optimistic. and say that while they
do not look for as good prices on some
l[inds of fruit, apples especially, yet
the outlook is a very bright one for
all concerned. They do not seem to
think that the recent cold weather has
hurt the crops of fruit much, unless 1t
might be that the apricot crop will be
slightly affected. During the height OF
the cold snap it was feared that the
entire fruit crop would be injured,
and. in fact, it became pretty generally
circulated that much harm had been
done. and that the crop for 1906 would
he materially affected. representa-
five was sent by the Northern Pacific
railroad at that time to look into the
matter thoroughly, and, after making
q careful examination, he reported that
none of the fruit would be harmed, ex-
cent. perhaps, the crop of apricOts east
of the mountains, and that would not
he reduced more than 5 per cent.
commission men also looked into the
matter themselves, and believe that
the crop of all kinds of fruit will be
az good this year as last year, al
though in some instances the cold
snap may have set it back trif1e,
which would cause some varieties TO
ho week or so late in reaching the
market.
One thing is certain, and that is that
the number OF producing orchards Will
be greatly augmented during the COM
ing season. Settlers were pouring In
by the thousands last year and the
year before, and the orchards OF
many of these should become good
producers during the coming season.
This year the homeseekers have been
coming through st. Paul at the rate
of five or six thousand week, and IL
is estimated that the larger portion
of these have settled or will settle In
the Inland Empire, a great many on
irrigated lands, and that thousands
will become fruit-groWers. Many 9TH
ers will take lands on the west
slope of the Cascade mountains ana
set them out in fruit and berries. A
well-knoWn commission merchant es
timated that within five years from
now there would be two or three
lines the present fruit crop harvested
nnually.
The coming of new growers always
has one disadvantage in the minds
of the commission men. For them IL
means large cOnsignments OF poorly
packed fruits. The new and mex
perienced grower is the one that
causes the most trouble in this way
He does not take the trouble to con-
suit his more experienced neighbor
and find out how to pack fruit prop
erly. If he did he would save himself
money and the commission men much
loss of sleep. The Seattle fruit
brokers say that the Washington
growers are gradually getting more
experienced about the matter OF
fruit packing, but they are still lar
behind California growers. Even
some of the older growers are careless
about their consignments, although
several experiences which they have
had should have taught them bet
ter. The most of the old growers,
however, are fairly good packers. The
trouble is from the new rancherS VINO
have never learned a lesson. They do
not consult with people who know,
and as a consequence their fruit
reaches the market in a poorly-packed
and unmarketable condition, and both
themselves and the commission man
to whom it is consigned lose money
So many new ranchers will begin
shipping fruit this year that commits
sion men are looking forward to con
siderable evaporation of this kind.
They wish to advise the new grower,
through the columns of The Ranch,
that the proper packing OF fruit is as
important matter, almost, as the
proper raising of it, for it invariably