The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1911-07-06
GREISEN TELLS
ABOUT TRIP
DISTRIBUTION GROWERS PROBLEM
Hood River Apples on New York Market
Pleasing Sight Red Apples Will
Have Better Demand.

Better Fruit makes the following |
interesting report of apple marketing |
conditions: (
81 visited about So large cities
throughout the United States, which |
covers all the prominent fruit distrib-
uting centers. | found that the cry of l
overproduction is entirely without |
foundation. The thing to be worked |
out is distribution. In cities through |
out the Middle West, such as Denver, |
Kansas City, Omaha, Dss Moines, |
Minneapolis, st. Paul and Milwaukee, |
there were very few apples and the |
few that were there were selling from |
81. rs to $4.00 per box. The same con-
ditions were found in every city except
Chicago and New York Chicago and
New York were month ago and are
still overcrowded with box apples.
And any amount of apples could be
bought at Chicago on the street from
$l.25 per box up. However, Chicago
has got storage in transit privilege,
which gives them the chance of re-
shipping throughout Indiana, Ohio and
the Southern states at the same rate
as to Chicago, which works great
hardship on cities like the following
St. Louis, indianapolis, Detroit, Cleve-
land and others which naturally should
be distributing points for surrounding
territory, as it seems reasonable to
expect that they should be able to
supply the territory at a better advant-
age than Chicago. For that very
reason St.LOuis which should be equally
as good distritu uting point as Chicago,
is handling very few box apples.
at was certainly delightful for me,
or would be to any Hood River man,
to see the wonderful apples in Chicago
and New York, especially the apples
from Hood River. However, the
Valley must keep up the splendid pack
that has made it famous. as all Of the
fruit sections in the Northwest are
putting up fine pack. The New
towns ON the street in New York
looked as handsome as any apples in
any exhibit Hood River has ever put
| up.
"There are several ways for the
fruit dealer to handle western apples
on the other end and they are as fol-
lows: buying out right, on account
from associations or shippers with a
| guarantee, on account to. be sold at pri-
vate sales, fruit sent on consignment,
or to be sold at auction.
Fruit sold at auction is in many in
stances all right, if the firm is doing
auctioneering business entirely, thatsis,
catering to 1.-The bidders Eand large
crowds of buyers. However, | found
also this condition: in some cities if
the dealers could not get fruit on con-
signment, they would form among
themselves an auction company and
ask growers to ship fruit or produce to
this .auction company. And as there
was really no competition among
bidders they are in this way enabled
to buy 'atItheir own figures at auction.
Of course, such auction companies are
nothing more or less than a humbug.
However, | am glad to say this con-
dition is not common. There are
many good auctions. However, there
are in many cities number of auction
companies that get the highest price
that the market will stand.
"Another good way of shipping the
apples is to send them to up to date
dealers to be sold at private sales. At
such,a sale invitations are sent TO all
up to date fruit dealers to come and
view an exhibit of fruit, which is
probably the same as grand opening
of store. The fruit is then exhibited
to its best advantage.
"Of course, the best way to dispose
of fruit is to ssel out right. AS the
production of apples is getting larger
and larger and a continuous unsteadi-
ness of the.price of the fruit prevails
throughout the apple season, the
buyers make their purchases for the
most part on speculation. However,
if apples were shipped up to date con-
Germs Throughout the country on
account for the shipper or association,
the concern would endeavor to get the
highest price possible.
81 have found that up to date con-
Germs are very anxious to keep the high
rating Of the different credit agencies,
such as Bradstreets, Dunns, and Pro-
duce Reporter, and if the fruit shipper
would insist to inspection at the other
end by one of the credit agencies he
would get a square deal at all times.
All of these agencies have branches at
all the large ditributing points and all
claims to the disadvantage of the fruit
shippe T, such as ''out of order car con-
ditions, ''too ripe, etc, will be
quickly and honestly reported and a
record kept, and if any fruit dealer
claims car out of condition and it is
not so, his rating at these different
agencies will be cut down, so that it
can readily be seen that the up to date
fruit dealer is very anxious to keep
his high rating. Now in every city
| Ts,ta aF hnF1agf frf1ifHa a IapC
who will be glad to be distributors Of
box apples, and unless apples are be-
ing brought into every city, he will
not be able to increase the demand for
them and that is what we are after.
"Box apples are becoming more and
more popular. The fruit dealer, who
conducts a stand, and the grocery man
desire them for the following reasons ::
if western box is marked fancy and
he looks at the top layer, he can figure
on finding the same apples in every
tier. That is not the case with bar
relied apples, If the dealer buys a
barrel, all he can reasonably expect is
to find one third of the barrel good,
Zone more point is this: the box is
easier to handle. The men working
for the different dealers along the
street like to handle boxes better than
barrels, as they are not as heavy and
can be piled on top of one another, no
matter which way the box is put.
While d barrel must be carefully
braced. Of course, the East is more
and more packing apples in boxes.
However, the quality is not that of the
Western apple and as long 1as the
Western fruit grower packs his apples
true to name he does not need fear an
overproduction of Western box apples.