The St. Lucie County tribune. (Fort Pierce, St. Lucie County, Fla.) 1905-1920, 1909-10-01
OPEN LETTER
TO GROWERS
Manager Citrus Exchange Con-
dennis Shipping Green Fruit
WILL RUIN MARKETS
Sales Manager Burton Gives Object les
son from Last Year - Practice Must
Stop TO Re.tstablish Reputation

The following bulletin has been issued
from the general Office of the Florida
Citrus Exchange:
1--WE have had numerous letters from
R. p. Burton, our sales manager, while
on his trip appointing his selling agents,
in regard to shipments of green fruit
which are about to go forward.
In letter received from him, written
at Peoria, Illinois, Sept. 9TH, he makes
the following statement:
Everywhere | gol am told the same
thing, that Florida has destroyed her
business by shipping of green oranges.
| am emphasizing the fact everywhere
that we will ship oranges only when
they are ripe, and that we expect every
dealer who takes car of this fruit
will End it in such condition as to Gre
ate demand for other cars. When
those outsiders begin to move green
oranges our people are going to be
FESTIVE. 1t must be pointed out to them
that California still has more than
thousand cars of Valencias which will
be shipped into November" A car of
green oranges from Florida will be
business killer for Florida. 1t must be
impressed upon our associations that if
they ship any green oranges it will be
our duty to assist the Pure Food De-
partment in locating them, and leave
them to- their tender mercies. The
trade everywhere is unanimous in their
condemnation of this practice, and are
equally unanimous in assuring me of
their support, provided that we start
them out with good fruit. One dealer
in this town went to Plant City last
year, bought and sold six cars to other
dealers in this market. He says him
self that they were green and they
killed the business. The last car was
divided between three houses and jobbed
at 81. 90 per box. This fruit cost $l.55
at Plant City. There were no other
sales from Florida here the balance of
the season. This ought to be sufficient
evidence to thinking man that green
oranges sold at any price, however
high, are dear to the grower.
By the same mail ! received letters
from two growers in different sections
stating that shipments of green fruit
had gone forward on that date from
their stations, that the fruit was ahso-
lutely green, some of it not more than
half grown. Such action as this on the
part of growers would almost seem to
warrant a state of affairs which has
existed in Kentucky for some time,
where the night riders, unable to en-
force their demands in any other way, /"
took the law in their own hands. It,
would seem that community was
fully justified in socially ostracizing a =
grower and his entire family if;he per- =.
sisted in the pernicous practice Of shi pi
ping green fruit, thereby ruinipg the:
business of everybody, for the small
temporary gain which he expected to :,
get out of it.
MIR. Burton's letter explains fully
just what happens in the market. and
he tells me that the dealers everywhere !:
he has been land he has covered the
territory from Montreal to San AN
tonic Texas condemn the practice of .
green fruit. If our growers
would not ship their fruit until they
are willing to eat it themselves this
would never be made against
Florida oranges. M. E. GILLETT,
Manager Citrus Exchange.