Mountain Home maverick. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1906-1911, 1911-02-23

ed by 200 delegates. representing the
investment of s5O.ooo.OOO in or
chards and an annual output at the
present time of 10000 cars. The ex-
periences in the various fruit dis
trists in Idaho, Washington and Ore
gon, the three states which are en-
deavoring to form this combination,
are identical. Every fruit grower in
the northwest who has consigned his
fruit to Chicago has lost the larger
part of his crop. II was brought out
in relating their experiences that the
consumers throughout the east are
paying an average OF eight cents each
for extra choice apples grown in the
apple districts of the northwest, and
there same apples are netting the
grower only from so cents to $3.50
per box, the latter price bling OBJ
tanned only when sold f. o. b. home
track A car of apples is consigned to
a Chicago commission house and sold
at auction. The commission houses
and their silent partners frequently
being purchasers at prices as low
as possible. The fruit is then re-
turned to cold storage and held I'M
till orders come from interior towns
in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, etc, when
the apples are resold at a prifit of
from 20 to SO cents per box, and
in some cases as high as 81 box.
These apples are then sent to COM
mission house at some interior point
and there sold to fruit stands and
retail groceries at prices ranging
from $3.50 to IS per box and they
in turn retail them for 10 cents each
or three for % cents, and lower or
inferior grades at an average price
of 80 cents per peck. This places the
fruit of the northwest in the hands
of the consumer at an exhorbitant
price and naturally curtails con-
sumption and discourages the in
dustry throughout the apple grow
ing regions. Then again it was learn
ed that only a small proportion of
the country was using apples OF
the northwest to any extent at all.
This shows that the apple market of
the United States has not been ex-
! plotted; nor that of South Ameri-
ca, the Hawaiian islands, or the or
lent or Europe.
THE paramount object OF this
convention was to devise ways and
means whereby the grower could sell
his product to the consumer at low
er prices and at the same time in
crease the profits of his orchard. II
was the unanimous opinion of all the
delegates that fruit cannot be con-
signed to the Chicago market with
out loss to the growers. And If some
means are not adopted to avoid con-
signing fruit and force sales of fruit
on board cars at home, the fruit
industry is doomed to destruction
Every grower who sold his crop or
his home track made net profit
of from $500 to $1,000 per acre. Ana
it should be borne in mind that the
fruit from these orchards went into
the hands of the consumer at lower
price than the apples from the Chi
cago commission houses.
1T can afford the fruit growers
Of Weiser some satisfaction when il
was learned that the Moulton or
chard of Weiser headed the list OF
net profits, which were $11O0 pei
acre net, which was only obtained
by SLING (. o. b. Weiser. One export
er in the convention stated in an ad
dress before the convention that thu
fruit grown between Boise and Wei
ser compared favorably with AM
fruit grown in the world, and tina
the keeping qualities OF the pruneI
OF this district were beyond any
doubt superior to any grown on thu
Pacific coast"