The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1911-10-18
EARLY SHIPPERS AND THE
CITRUS FRUIT EXCHANGE

| not strange that some things done by
| the Citrus Fruit Exchange are open
| TO criticism, and there are many allie
cations that il is trying 10 use the
| law as club TO beat down competi-
| ton.
However, there is no getting around
the fact that in suppressing the ship
ment of green fruit it is doing Florida
| a great service To the writer's pos
tive knowledge. the shipment of un-
ripe oranges has been a scandal and
| a black mark on the name of the state
for a quarter Of a century.
| We all know that green oranges
are not fit TO eat, and there il no ex-
cuse for anyone shipping them. A
man who ships green oranges swindles
| the buyer and hurts his entire state,
which Is something worse than simply
tstealing ar amount of money equal 70
| that the unripe fruit would bring
| him.
| The following remarks from the
Florida Grower are pertinent, well
/ as rather interesting:
| an the days of graft in Cincinnati,
| the bride takers were brazenly open
regarding what they were doing The
| councilmen would greet one another
with "Ah there. my jail bird, did you
tyet yours?" They afterwards got theirs
all right. So now with the green
fruit shippers. One man said to an
other this week, We'll, you've not
| been arrested yet" NO the other
answered, mot this week, but maybe
next, I'm packing a car today
I'VE saw some of the fruit that he
| was packing and certainly trust that
he will be arrested and it is certain
that an attempt will be made to have
the law enforced. The fruit was green
and so understood that it would have
been shame to ship il under any con-
ditions. He was robbing the cradle.
iThose interested in having the law en-
forced can congratulate themselves on
the fact that they have greatly reduc-
ed the output usual to this time. Up
to October 10, 1910, the \. G. l. r. r.
alone had shipped 800 cars, while to
this date this year they have forward
ed but IL cars.
: "Said one excited angry outside ship
per recently, 81 feel like wishing that
one devil of a big frost would come in
December this year and wipe out every
orange in Florida. That'd be one way
, of getting rid of this damned Florida
I Citrus Exchange and Hells Bells Tenn
pie at the same time, and I'd like to
sneaking back with their tails between
their legs looking for new jobs What
. business have they to come here and
tell Florida growers how to run
! things? We were doing all right and
nobody was complaining, all We asked
wa sto be let alone"
There is one thing certain, and that
5 is that If there is any virtue in the
: new conditions they were brought
{ about by the Florida Citrus Exchange
: by cooperation No big things can
be brought about otherwise. No move
ment looking to freight reduction; to
2 improvement in service; to the eff
t cient collection of just damage claims,
can hope to succeed without combined
effort. 1 believe that a number of the
big outside shippers of Florida citrus
fruits have been against the practice:
, deplored existing conditions, but We're
swept along by the tide and were fore
ed to frantically ship everything in
the shape of an orange as early as
possible, in order to get a small slice
of the market before it was complete
: ly wrecked.
Or P. Phillips, of Orlando, who
4 handles upwards of 10000 boxes of
citrus fruits, states that he was at one
time against the practice. He sends
an article he wrote to the Florida Ag-
riculturist in 1907, and accompanies it
| with a letter in which he says: You
can from this what my sentiments
are, and it cost me thousands Of dol
!, lars to stand out alone and not ship
green fruit. After l found that I was
the laughing stock of all Florida I
, turned in and shipped the green fruit.
Thanks to the Florida Citrus Exchange
for the law
"In his article to the paper named
land under the head of The Evil of
Shipping Green Oranges DR.. Phillips
wrote follows: L don't know of any
thing that hurts the reputation of
, Florida oranges more than shippin z
them green. Did it ever occur to you.
brother orange grower, that the very
oranges you sell to some packer to go
north are not fit to eat; that these very
green oranges go into a hot house and
are made to look yellow, and are then
offered upon every fruit stand in the
/ city, with a big sign Florida Oranges
, then when a man takes dozen home
for his family to eat, or one is being
served in a hotel or restaurant, what
do you think he says when he puts 1t
in his mouth? L really don't think it
would look good in print to repeat it
-
The consumer shuns Florida oranges
like a burnt child: hotels and res
taurants stop serving them, and the
result is Florida oranges are not
wanted in the market until after
Thanks giving or nearby Christmas.
have asked several shippers and grow
ers how they expected people to eat
Those green things? The answer they
gave me was: oh we'll, they do some
thing with them Yes, / will agree
that they do something with them.
They remain in the retailers hands
until he is disguised with them, and
he makes it a point not to touch Flor
l ida oranges until he is almost com
PEELED to do so. We all know that Or
; anges are not like other fruit-when
! not fit to eat can be used otherwise,
for preserving, making pies, stew, etc.
: We, therefore, should not ship the fin
est oranges the world has ever produc-
ed in a green state. to disgust the lover
and patron of our fruit. The only ar
gument 1 have heard in favor of ship
ping green fruit was that to dispose
of that much it is out of the way: the
first and the last cars bring the best
f prices, and the trade wants il. But
how long does that trade want it?
Also, how long do those big eastern
or western cities get in a few cars
L they say, No Florida oranges for me- "