The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1908-11-05
GREAT PROBLEM
FOR THE FARMER
HOW To GET CROPS TO PEOPLE
WHO WANT THEM AND HAVE
MONEY TO BUY.
There Are Always Consumers Able
and Willing to Buy, While Fruit or
Truck Rot In Wrong Markets
What Are We to DO About It?
"A way Out of it.
To The Herald:

"A way Out of it.
To The Herald:
Harrington Texas, Nov There
are two reasons why / can get my
consent TO offer you my ideas on the
extremely important subject of mark
citing the produce of this valley. The
first is that l have for seven years in
| Oklahoma been in a modest way en-
gagged in raising and selling produce
and, while l do not know much,
there are probably many in this valley
who know even less than l do The
second reason is that l do like for the
l1aborer to get the price of his hire.
Normally all articles of commerce
have their price regulated by supply
and demand. Mark you, ! said:
Normally" And yet l have seen
thousands of bushels of apples rot
ting in the orchards of Kansas when
one-half the housewives in the ad-
joining state OF Oklahoma were with
out apples for winter preserves and
we're both willing and able to pay a
reasonable price for one to five bush
els And there is not a season
passes but some crops-peaches, ap-
pies. cabbage, onions, etc, go to
to waste, an entire loss to the grower,
in one part of our country, while
consumers able and willing to pay for
it, so hungry in other places. Under
present conditions that is normal.
cannot forebear to give one more
illustration: Last year / had liberia
peaches. The news went out from
Kansas City that peaches were worth
1913 per bushel. | loaded a car
as soon as possible and made a rush
for Kansas City. 1t seemed to me
when l got there that about one
fourth of the population of Texas,
Arkansas, and Oklahoma were there
with peaches. All had heard the
same news and all went to the same
slaughter house with their stuff Re
suit: I sold mine for sufficient TO pay
for freight and crates. Others
dumped. I afterward found that, if
I had shipped to Waco, Austin or San
Antonio, l would have received fancy
prices.
DistributiOn-that is the problem.
California has cipheTed, Florida has
figured. the press has lamented. the
farmers have resolved they all
realize that problem All make their
statement. Let Y equal the I'M
known quantity: then they waste
pencils, spit, scratch their heads. go
around in circle and come right
back where they started.
If Mr.. Roosevelt will station his
Farm Commission at some central
point, and they viii become fully
conversant with the subject, so that
they can tell farmers who have corn
where corn is wanted; who have
oranges and who wants oranges;
where cabbages and onions are going
to waste and who is hungry for cab
bage, and onions. notwithstanding
they have the price; then station an
officer at every concentrating city
in the United States to protect the
shipper so ne viii not be compelled to
let a car of perfectly sound stuff be
reported as unfit for sale: then he
viii have accomplished a great work
for the farmer He will have done all
that is now necessary, for if the farm
er is prosperous and makes money
and has not sense enough to provide
comforts at home for himself and
family, he is hopeless and does not
deserve any further attention. But
we have no such commission. nor are
We likely to have soon. That leaves
the subject up to the individual and
to the different localities.
As to us of this valley-what are
we going to do about it? We have
the soil, we have the water; we have
the climate; and some Of the people;
and what these people lack in knowl
edge OF growing stuff they are going
to learn. / know that from the num-
Der of questions I have to answer or
try to answer everywhere I 20. Ne
can raise the stuff. we viii deliye- the
goods. and there are big dollars al
ways ready somewhere-if We can
couple up. or make connection.
The soil. climate, water and ener-
gy-fOur essentials we haze. But the
greatest of ala market or any Ger
tainty of it's yet lacking. Er Land
owne-. if YOU can conjure c3nJura tor
a market Help US to connect with
the needy gent who has the price.
Then buy your agent a camera and
send him out TO take the smiling
faces on the farmers. Just write on
the picture A Brownsville Farmer"
and send it abroad Then prepare
for the rush They will buy all your
and They will force you to sell your
homestead and rent out all the
Neutral zone in Mexico contiguous to
your Property Colony
Now, Mr.. Editor have made a
short story long and noted important
questions. / will give you my answer
to them next week.
J. +. FERGUSON.
LAND BARGAIN.