The St. Lucie County tribune. (Fort Pierce, St. Lucie County, Fla.) 1905-1920, 1909-09-24

uie"i that they have come to q conp,r,
Where the growers have made . na,,
loss on crop that they depend upon
A merchant can tell them that be ho,
thousands of dollars on his hooks tha,
are perfectly good if we have anoth"r
gooa season but the prospects for
another good season are decidedly had
unless our growers take advantage If
the opportunities offered
Let me review the past a little.
In .9OS we had low seasons AVERAGE
net Tor our fruit, about ST. 46 some
growers Melted less than 81 90 soma
around Sl.75. At Sl.6O per crate nst
returns there is more than living
$l.25 gives a living, $l.OO means max.
Ing about expenses and IS cents a loss.
ms season many of us made net loss
Every. merchant and dealer suffers
heavily IN consequence, as credits must
De contracted, the volume of business
lowered and stock on the shelves de.
teriorate.
Many of our growers are high flyers
that Is, they have been so prosperous
IN past years, that they have practically
forgotten what economy means. and
consequently their standard of living
has raised.
Not being satisfied with spending
what thay had, they contracted debts
and now find themselves not only not
able to pay, but unable to get credit.
There must be some limit and the mer.
chant and dealer simply cannot stand
the pressure or he will go to the wall.
Under such circumstances the former
Booster turns to a knOcker.
The result is always disaster to the
country and its residents, as well as to
the business men and railroads, etc.
You are not the only man that has
bought property, intending coming
south this winter and planting.
| cannot blame you for feeling that
way as the growers in a strip of pine
apple country only three miles long
have knocked off, thrown away, over
a million slips, that would have been
planted this season had we assurances
of another good season.
Cuba, with prospective crop in
crease of half a million crates, Porto
Rico with prospective crop of three
times or more of her output last season,
coming in with no tariff to pay, no
fertilizer to buy, and an enthusiastic
American settlement there to raise the
fruit in an up to date manner where
IS cents net returns means as much to
them as 81 so to US.
Labor in the West Indies can be had
for less than l-3 what our labor costs.
do not know the cost of putting our
fruit in cans and getting it on the
market. it is something | intend look
ing into, however, in the near future.
There is canning factory at Delray
IN the East Coast that puts up a pro-
luct, said to be superior to the Hawaiian
product, and | have been informed that
he factory was failure until Mr..
Tlagler took it over and has made
success, this has been matter of phil ,
lnthrophy, no doubt on the part of Mr.. .
'lagler to help the growers out, in dis
posing of what otherwise would have i
,een dead loss.
The growers of Hawaii have been
heir own phlanthropists in appropriate {
ny over $4,000 yearly to advertise I
heir product and as 4 result this year,
low, they are going to sell IN the {
United States So, 600, 600 of canned pine {
ppe. They in turn have severe com
'etition in the United States from the t
straits Settlements the other side OF q
he world, from where the Singapore c
i .eapple comes. In Singapore the
wages are % cents per week ana no
utV ON cans ror sugar, nor machinery !
md the product is brought into the
United States by foreign vessels.
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