The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1908-19??, 1912-04-19


method Of preventing, entirely If pos
sible, the shipment of unripe citrus
fruits from the state. They figured
that a state law preventing such ship
ments could be passed that would be
effective. They therefore had pre-
! pared by attorneys of national repute
bill to present to the legislature of
the state of Florida in its session of
1911, calculated to have this effect.
The bill was bitterly contested and
when finally passed had been mate
rally amended from it's original form.
However, a bill was passed having
this object in view. Unfortunately
the bill was so worded that it could
not be effective without the sympa-
thy and cooperation of the commits
Florida. This is neither the time nor
the place to discuss the steps taken
to endeavor to enlist the sympathy of
the late Commissioner McLin to aid
the Exchange in carrying out this in
tention. 1t is sufficient to say that he
positively refused to lend either his
aid or encouragement.
"Poison Telegram"
Determined to at least curtail
green fruit shipments and driven
from one subterfuge to another the
now famous poison telegram was
found reasonably effective in that it
stopped the shipment of about one
half the contemplated green fruit to
the Northern markets and the other
one-half when shipped was in nearly
every case rejected ced. or arrival because
| it was unsaleable. Result: Instead
Of as confidently predicted, the kill
ing of the market for Florida oranges
they have enjoyed a demand all over
| the United States from Maine TO Tex
as and from Georgia to Washington,
which is unprecedented, and the in
crease in price this year over last
will be greater than that of last year
over the preceding one.
"a price of eighty-five cents box
on trees for oranges and a price of
| 81 a box on the trees for grapefruit
! makes the citrus raising very profit
able proposition A grower in Flor
ida who does not produce his citrus
| fruit for fifty cents box or less
should change his business, as he is
untitled for that of citrus growing.
Either he has mismanaged his prop
erty, or he has been incompetent in
| selecting his property to begin with,
and in either case he should change
his business. The prices that the cit
rus exchange has made it possible for
growers either in or outside the EX-
change to obtain this year for their
fruit are nearly double the profitable
price named for oranges and more
than three times the profitable price
named for grapefruit.
ITO the casual observer this would
seem to have so endeared the EX-
change and it's methods to the Florida
growers that they would have flock
ed in body into the Exchange. But
Just the contrary has been the re-
suit. The reason for 1t apparently is
this: The legitimate trade in citrus
fruits, having discovered during the
last few years that the Exchange in
stead of being a disturbing factor in
the markets unsettling prices by
naming ridiculously low ones, has
been the steadying factor in constant
ly raising prices. These legitimate
buyers, therefore, have been enabled
to offer to the growers higher prices
| for their fruit on the trees than they
| have ever before received and the
growers APPARENTLY feeling that this
condition if not too good to be true,
was at least too good to last, have
fallen over themselves in accepting
these prices, even though they were
from 20 to 40 per cent. below the
prices being obtained by the Exchange
for it's members.
Result: The Florida citrus crop
brings into the state of Florida this
year even with its short crop more
money than has ever been brought
into the state before, regardless of
the size Bf the crop preceding and
the Florida Citrus Exchange will han
die 100000 boxes less than it did last
year.
Conclusion Not a Theory.
"In the language of the late Grover
Cleveland a condition and not the
ory' now confronts the Exchange. 1t
costs money to operate properly a
marketing agency of the scope of the
Florida Citrus Exchange. Economic
as much as you will, an annual eX
pense in excess of 100000 year is a
minimum. This means that with $780,
900 boxes of fruit in the mere matter
of expense for marketing alone an Elk
change cannot operate for less than
fifteen cents box and it really should
be a minimum of fifteen cents box
for 100000 boxes, which should be
not less than 100000 a year in ad
dition. 1t is, therefore, safe to say
that the first million boxes without
advertising, marketed by the Elk
change can be marketed for fifteen
cents a box and each additional box
above this will cost six cents more,
which would make the total cost for
handling a 100000 box crop approx
imately seven cents a box without
advertising.
''In addition to the matter of ex-
pense alone a still more important
feature is that while the Exchange
can, with a million boxes of fruit,
protect it's markets and its distribu-
TOMS against three million boxes of
wild outside fruit, the Exchange can
withstand the attack of eight million
boxes hurled at it by incompetent or
malicious competition. And it does
not feel inclined to try it knowing