The St. Lucie County tribune. (Fort Pierce, St. Lucie County, Fla.) 1905-1920, 1910-04-08
hOR|DA IS ON
|Thf UPGRADE
Nv the Orange Industry is Being
IIo.Iifted in the Peninsula State
|Hf CITRUS EXCHANGE
k..~ IN Florida Writes His Impressions
of the Crea, Benefits to State by
Organization Of Growers

Come one wintering in Florida ha
ssn studing the business side of life il
. land of sunbeams to good account
n is responsible for the following
rte-up of the fruit situation here:
Florida is on the Upgrade. in spit,
The first impression of the man from
j north. that it is composed of pin,
rren, swampy hammock" ant
|astps of sand sand so boundless ant
white that to see it from a car win
~ at night is to VOW that the whole
buntry was a foot deep in snow. There
future for any country that has
nee or twice struck bottom, hard, and
far enough on the upgrade to be
eeIng cheerful.
Florida is on the upgrade at last,
4re is no doubt about that. The most
bnspicuous sign Of it just now is the
rht gong on all over the state to or
bnze the fruit-growing industry on a
|odern business basis. 1t may seem
r.fetched to describe this hard-headed
tactical undertaking as a fight but
il very much that. after all. There
and has been the keenest opposition,
very step of the way; opposition from
bmmission houses, orange brokers,
bcking houses, individual growers
no cling to the old order, dstrusting
Be new, and dissatisfied members of
be movement itself, here and there,
whom the harness does not at first
II easily. The campaign has been
bdef way now about half year, with
ksuIfs enough to justify the faith and
termination. practical ability and
ide-spread cooperation are actually
ping to put Florida fruit growing. at
bA, on something like terms with
alifornia AS a business enterprise.
| For it is on the business side only
bat the advantage lies so heavily with
|alfornia today. What tirsthand ex-
erience have had "on the ground
both sections accOrds with the quite
eneral preference, think, for the
|orida orange in respect to quality
I'D flavor when picked not too early
fd delivered in good condition, How
yer. the California navel, right from
be tree after the shipping season is
bactically over. is a very different pro-
pct from anything sold in eastern
(arkets during the winter months.
lany Calfornians will not deign to eat
ranges at all until March or April
kriua lemons are negligible factor,
VI her grapefruit, hopelessly out
asses California's whatever the sea-
)n
Never the less California has made
! Der fruit raising highly profitable
"a staple enterprise, brought the rail
ads to terms and won a commanding
's'tlon in practically every desirable I
arket in the land. Last winter orange
owes in the Redlands- Riverside dis
lct were selling at from $1,000 to 81,
peracre, some even higher, while |
orIda are hard to sell at half these
'ures Yet it was not so many years ,
. that California fruit interests We're .
deep in the dOldrums as Florida 5
er had been expect perhaps in the
81 few seasons after the big freeze
Organization il the secret of the
lfvellous change out there and the
q who are working up thenew Florl-
Citms Exchange believe organiza
v viii do the same for the hitherto
phazaid fortunes of the industry here
ars ago there was a somewhat SINH
.eeH0rt, resulting in a loOsejointed
NJ exchange which managed to
az some order out of chaos on the !
nmcrcial side of the business, hut it
ted on the old foundation of consign-
DIS Of commission men, and was a
* corporation, paying dividends to
'reholders. The present undertaking
strlckly cooperative distributing
'sn,cy, on the California model, and
inmates all middlemen. handling and
iKetlng the fruit direct through its
salaried agents.
fedlt for starting this new move
nt must he given to DR.. +. W. In
,. Of Winter Haven, perhaps the
aeer of orange growing on a large
y IN the southern Florida, and found
the we'll known Florence Villa
nation and hotels. A year or two
W. lnman. on a trip to California.
e partial investigation of the
: Growers business methods. On
return he brought the matter up at
eeting held during the state fair IN
apa and in due time seven repre-
'stlve Florida fruit men were select
J 60 to California and make q care
study of the conditions. BY the
this committee WAS ready1to start
much interest had been aroused
instead Of seven more than thirty
. the trip. giving their time and !
ng their own expenses. They came
enthusiastic propagandists OF the
IDEA. A large convention WAS
IL Tampa on the first of June,
committee Of thirty appointed =
etails Of q plan Of organization :
ke0 out Yha uponoasad cOiitr8Ct/