The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1908-08-15
Edited by F. Walden

Will Mr.. Walden tell me If the East
does not buy the apples, or if the ap-
pies from the West are not sent to
the East, can the West eat all of
them; and, if so, at what price? Poor
argument, Mr.. Walden.
It is quite true that the Eastern buy
ers went over your country last year
and bought thousands of cases of ap-
ples-the writer one of them-but /
venture to assert you will not see so
many anxious people this year as
there was last. At the present time
the growth of apples in Washington
is in it's infancy except to favored
few. Before the Portland Exposition
Washington apples were unknown. At
the present time hundreds of thou
sands of trees have been planted
yearly, and Washington apples are
taking up their position alongside OF
other states throughout the world.
l suppose Mr. Walden has heard of
the men who stovepipe their potatoes
and onions. l wonder if he has ever
heard of men in Washington who have
made the boxes to fit the apples, and
by cutting off half an inch from the
ends and sides they have produced a
box of apples to make tiers look
like fourteen fruit. I remember one
man last year that packed fourier
apples, tops and bottoms, and five-tier
fruit in the center, because the diff
ference between what he sold at tve
tiers and what he sold as four tiers
represented soc box. | suppose II
person went into shop and asked
for a pound of sugar, he would expect
to get 16 ounces of it, avoirdupois
weight, and not II ounces, troy weight.
The writer has been in the apple
business for number of years before
any apples were grown in Washington
to be sent out of the state, and knows
that the boxes have been gradually
getting smaller and smaller.
Mr.. Walden speaks about the pear
box. That is not sold as bushel,
and the reason that the box is not
larger is on account of the tenderness
of the fruit the skin of the pear being
more tender than the skin Of the ap-
pie; in fact, for pears to be exported
to Europe they are usually placed in
what is known as the half box, con-
tanning three layers of pears. In
WnlCu OuppllCo VI oihAOeSNS ~
pears every day to England, pears are
packed in layers, two, three and four
layers, with division between each
layer.
Mr.. Walden is wrongly informed II
he thinks that the bill now before
Congress has been sent there by any
grower in the East. The growers in
the East would stove-pipe their goods
and have done so, and it is to prevent
this poor and dishonest packing and
short measure that the buyers have
come together and have said, I'VE
want an interstate law" that where
we buy goods outside of our own state,
we shall know the size of the barrel
| or the size of the box. We shall know
what we are going to get for our mon
ey. The question of the amount Will
always be what can be agreed on be-
tween the buyer and the seller. The
seller if he does not like the price,
need not take it, but the buyer hav-
ing once made the price knows what
he should get by the standard meas
ure and the standard pack, and tnat
such a thing is required and is Tor
the benefit of the country, is proved
by the government regulations now
in existence in Canada and which
have been in existence there for the
past ten years. At one time Canadian
| fruit was a byword on the English
| market, and owing to the different
| styles of packing the good grower that
took particular pains with his fruit
to store and properly pack, found that
he was suffering from the bad habits
of his neighbor who was beginner
and who took no trouble with his fruit,
simply selling it as Canadian fruit,
but by so doing lowering the name OF