Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1910-03-24

!
less than eight days.
Reviewing the charge that the rates
on refrigeration are too high, when
| is the fourth proposition contained IN
! the complaint, Mr.. Call said that the
carriers are paying from 81 to $45O
ton for ice at their icing stations
when it can be obtained for 81 and
| 81. 25 per ton without difficulty. Wheth-
err this is done through ignorance of
| the value of ice or to make show
| ing of great cost, Mr.. Call said ne
did not presume to say.
Asked as to who owned the pre-cool-
| ing plants Mr. Call stated that there
are but two and they belong to the
growers at Redands and Pomona.
| The growers have contracts with a
Los Angeles company to furnish the
| dee and the railroads charge the
growers $25 car more for ice than
the growers would have to pay If they
| furnished their own ice-vhich they
have demonstrated. he said. because
they furnish much of their own ice and
| have already iced more than 100 cars,
I because many Of them preferred to do
their own icing, because they get better
results.
The question Of the ownership of
the Pacific Fruit Express here came up,
and Attorney G. W. DurbrOw of the
Southern Pacific denied that his cor
poTation owned the company. although
he admitted some Of the stock may
be held by the same interests"
Woodford on Stand
B. A. Woodford general manager of
the California Fruit Growers eX-
change, was here called to the stand.
He explained that the exchange is
composed of about 5000 citrus grow
ers. organized into 100 local associa-
tions, which in turn are composed of
district associations orga nized in four
teen districts. The exchange handles
the marketing Of the product and at
tends to all business transactions for
the growers. but acts entirly on or
ders from the growers. 1t handles co
per cent of the states citrus fruit
output and of this amount auctions
about 30 per cent.
Mr. Woodford said that the country
was divided into three districts. the
western, lying this side Of the Missis-
sppi; the eastern, lying between the
Mississippi river and the Allegheny
mountains and the Atlantic, which en-
braces the Atlantic seaboard and in
cludes the Gulf coast of Texas and
Louisiana.
At present. said Mr. Woodford. CALI
fornta growers market the most Of
their products, except in the fall of the
ID
fornta produces twice as much citrus
fruit as can be consumed in this terri
tory. The best prices are obtained in
the west however. although in many
recent instances the Sicilian product
has entered into severe competition
with the California product as far
west as Oklahoma.
The Florida product prevents much
business Except in certain off years.
in the Atlantic division, and also fire.
quently shuts the California product
out of Denver. California citrus prod
ucts are sold the cheapest. he said. on
the Atlantic seaboard. including the
Gulf coast cities. About half of the
California product is sold in the west:
two-thirds of the remaining half is sold
in the eastern district. and one-third in
the Atlantic. only at certain periods
of the year. when the Sicilan and Flor
ida products are declining and the
market in New York is far from at it's
best, is the California product able to
enter successfully into the Gotham
markets.
Lemons Unsurpassed
He said there is about % or 80 cents
difference in the selling prices in Chi
cago and New York, the best prices
being obtained in Chicago. He de-
clared as did other experts that Cali
LOllllt IllOuuOtS SOIlle Ol the DtSI lElll-
ons in the world, and that one grade
of its lemons has no superior, although
In the Atlantic states, where push-cart
and other peddlers and most fruit mar
kets are operated by Italians, the Sicil-
ian product is boosted, and a prejudice
has been formed by consumers for the
Sicilian lemon. Wherever the Califor-
MIA product is known, however, it is
recognized as the equal of any. There
are, however, several grades, and the
grades vary in different seasons. one
tree win bear the best of lemons this
season and a poorer quality next.
California sells third of the lemons
consumed in Cleveland, he said, and
about half the lemons consumed in
Chicago. The further east the product
goes the more difficult it becomes to
compete with the Sieilian product, and
this difficulty threatens to be seriously
increased by the advantage given to the
Sicilian product, in spite Of the in
creased duty, because of the freight
rates from west to east on California
products
Recently California has sent its sur
plus product TO the Atlantic markets at
a loss, but the growers now ask that
they be permitted by the railroads 10
dispose of this surplus at a profit.
This would be possible if the old rate
was restored. Conditions this year,
sad Mr. NO0QIOfu, are not normal.
There has been a shortage of SEQ cars
shipped from California, and the equiv
alent of about 100 cars shipped from
Sicily.
Resumng the witness stand at the
afternoon session Mr.. Woodford said
the law of supply and demand reSu-
lates the orange market. The con-
sumption of oranges i'm the United
States, he said, equals about 20G00,00O
boxes a year, of which California pro-
duces about 1880, 600 boxes and Florida
about 5000, 900 boxes. The competition
from Florida is severe, he said, only
from November to February The Flor
ida product now remains on the market
in lesser quantities until April l, longer
than formerly, but CALIFORNIA; ship
ments are at their prime when the
Florida shipments are far on the de-
cline.
Would Increase Market
Mr. WOodford estimated that a re-
duction of 20 cents a box would in
crease the consumption one-third. He
based this theory on the fact that the
reduction of 20 cents a box in 1908, UNI
der the price of 1907. increased the con-
sumption % per cent.
The price OF oranges to retailers
now is about 81 per box less than it
was ten or twelve years ago, said Mr.
NVop6ford This ie dine 10 the fact that