The daily sentinel., 1906-01-20

After the usual preliminary busi-
ness Manager Moore made his re-
port showing the business transact
ed by the association during the year
of 1905 ana a more satisfactory re
port could hardly be desired II was
enthusiastically received by the hun
dreds of growers present
Following the reading of the re-
port there was a general discussion
of various matters and then the
stockholders adjourned to meet again
on February 3rd for the purpose OF
electing nine directors.
Manager MoOre's report in full is
as follows:
To The Stockholders of The Grand
Junction Fruit Growers Associa-
tion.
I Gentlemen:
] II Is a pleasure for me once again
[ TO make you a statement of another
satisfactory season. but before do
/ ing so | wish TO make a fed remarks
that seem pertinent to our business.
Although our peach crop was prac-
/ tically failure except in the Pali-
sade district. and our apple crop only
about seventy-five per cent Of the nor
/ NAL yield. or to be exact, our ship
I Al'HAn lbA NAAh RtAot HihHbh NAAf AAilE'
! hundred cars less than for 1904,
yet we have paid to the growers $40
D 600 more money than for the year
1904. and our average on all kinds
of fruit has been highly satisfactory.
This is due largely to the short
crops in other fruit growing districts.
and the growers must not expect
these high prices every season. but
on the other hand, | am satisfied we
may always expect good prices for
good fruit, when correctly handled
/ graded and packed.
During the past few years our
peaches have been in nearly all the
large markets and have brought the
top price in every instance, prin-
I cipally on account of color and flavor:
but, to enable us to ship to the east
ern markets and obtain these results.
we must continue to improve our
methods Our greatest trouble Is in
the picking. some growers picking
their fruit at least a week nearer ma
turity than others, therefore some arc
picking too green while others are
picking too ripe.
There is no question but what the
nearer maturity peach is picked,
the better flavor it will possess. but
you cannot sell fruit that shows de
cay when reaching the market, at
any, reasonable price, therefore of the
two evils, the oyer-ripe peach Is the
1 greatest, and has caused us consider
able loss and this loss Is not always
against the growers that have the
ripe fruit, but very often on the en-
1 tire car.
This evil can only be remedied by
having "A competent man to inspect
the fruit before loading. also wish
to impress on you that only the Extra
and Fancy grades of peaches can be
shipped east of the Missouri river,
and the person who grove the choice
or los grade. Is compelled to take
whatever the western merchants will
pay.
And let me also impress ON you
that the output of peaches from Wes-
tern Colorado, ms well as Oregon and
| Utah-which reach the markets at
the same time-is Increasing each
year, and this necessitates our go
ing to more distant markets. and in
my opinion you will find in the very
near future, that II viii be unproflt-
able to ship small or poorly packed
fruit
Our peaches this season were all
sold f. o. b. and In all cases accept
ed except when showing decay on
arrival
Referring to pears our average on
both the Fancy and Choice grade is
the best we have ever made, and
may look and be very satisfactory to
the grower. but to us 1t has been
very unsatisfactory In our nine
years experience we have mover had
such splendid markets as in the mast
season and we should have realized
much better prices. Our best VA
rieties and fancy grades, except Keif-
ers We're all sold from Sl.4O to 5000
r. o. B. Grand Junction. but In near
~ every instance were refused as soon
as Inspected by the purchaser on ac-
count of the pack and grade. but usu-
ally on account of the grade. the pur-
chaser claiming that while our pacl,
was hNe tier pack, our pears were
six tier in size, and 1 am fully con
vinced that our pears this season
average entirely too small
We also have had great deal of
trouble with our pears reaching the
market showing color. and the trade
VIII not buy anything except strict
ly green stock
This condition was not entirely our
fault but lies partly with the grow
ers and largely with the transporta-
ton and refrigerator service. we have
say that we have the past season had
the most unsatisfactory trnnsporta-
ton and Refrigerator ervice. we have
ever had since have been manager.
II Our keifer pears were practically
all sold al Sl.25 f. Q. b, Grand June
ton for the Fancy grade. 1 believe
We did not have single rejection.
/ As to prices realized for different va
/ rieties. the D'Anjou stands at the
top, the =. Barry second and Bart
letts third, There is good demand
In the eastern market for the Dan
/ jou.
To sum IL up, We are too careless
ana indifferent in the packing and
grading OF our pears. and we may as
well go back to our old system of con
signing unless we improve ON oar
grading
keterrinE to apples we are more
than pleased with the results. Will. |
u". crop was light we certainly re.
ter NarieIins Morn nm snlh 1, ~ =