The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1913-05-08

heads together and succeeded IN buying
the car at 90 cents box. lhere "eIe
46 cents Dox freight charges Que, pc
sides commission. Within an hout
those same apples were plaeaFded go
ing at 81. rs box bargain while they
last.
1t is. however. the retail dealer who
comes in for the lions share OF "hs'
the consumer pays for apples ne a.,
most never sells apples at less thah oo
per cent profit, and that only when re,
failing by the box. But at a heeLaI
estimate, not over Is per cent OF the
apple crop of the United States is re-
tailed by the box. The other 90 per
cent is sold by count, by the pounu OF
IN small baskets put up BY the grocets.
On such sales grocers and fruit STANDS
make from IS to $50 per cent.
For example. | saw extra lancy
Wenatchee Delicious, which were be-
ginning to decay. SO that the whole,
sale dealer had to get rid Of them, sen
for 81. rs a box. Two days latter saw
the same apples in the grocery selilng
at eight cents pound, in spite Oh the
fact that they were in bad condition.
On the basket and stand trade the
profits are higher still ! was IN Dig
South Side grocery today where they
sell a great many apples IN baskets;
The proprietor said he could not AFFORD
to handle western boxed apples, as
there was nothing in that trade. Look
ing over his prices, one wondered why
he could not afford to handle western
apples. His display was anthyng but
fancy, yet his three-pound baskets
were marked from II to % cents each.
The apples probably cost him from hve
to seven cents basket.
The last man gave as his reason ior
not being able to handle western ap-
Piles the high cost Of transportation.
The railways" he asid, get every
thing you people make out there.
This we know is ridiculous as far as
the apple trade is concerned, and yet l
found that there is a real freight prob
lem to be solved, at least so say the
big wholesalers.
The opinion of my friend, N. 6. Glib
son, president of the Gibson Fruit
Company, voices the general sentiment.
The railroads have got to come
down" said. ..he. This blanket rate
of a dollar .hundred to Gall eastern
points is entirely unfair. The present
rate is fair enough to Atlantic seaboard
and southeastern points. But they
should haul apples to such points as
Omaha, st. Paul and Kansas City at gu
cents hundred pounds.a To Chicago
and st. Louis, the rates per hundred
should not exceed rs cents. A charge
of S5 cents hundred should carry APP
pies to points in the Detroit, Cleveland
and Cincinnati zone; while to Buffalo
and Pittsburg points the rate per hun
dred weight should be 80 cents. " In
other words. the big dealers of the
middle west are ready to put up fight
for the application of the zone system
to freight rates on apples. This is
question which the new Northwestern
Exchange should examine carefully.
In conclusion | may say that the
western grower should confine himself
to certain standard varieties, and of
these he should ship east only his two
best grades. While the majority of
wholesale dealers are not making ex-
cessive profits, | believe Fthe North
western Exchange should follow the
example of the organized citrus fruit
growers of California, and establish its
own auctions in certain large market
ing centers. Besides, it should have its
regular field men to look after trade
among wholesale men. As for freight
rates, a strong organization can secure
whatever readjustuent is necessary.
The excessive nrofits OF the retailer
presents the big problem to grapple
with. believe the solution lies be-
tween markets.muuicipally owned and
operated, and similar markets owned
comparatively by city consumers.
The difficulty, even this year, was
not so much over production as the i'm
possibility of getting our apples to the
consumer at prices he could afford to
pay. This was abundantly proved by
the experiment of the Chicago Wom-
ans club last winter. During the week
in which the Chicago women held their
apple sale the people of the city bought
20, 600 barrels of apples more than
would have been sold had there been
no sale. The women bought at regu-
lar wholesale rates and sold at prices
sufficient to pay the cost of distribu-
tion.
How long would it have taken few
live women's clubs to market our sur
plus apple supply