The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1913-09-26
Europe Has a
Food Problem

Il OOAl Il IOOlSlll
BY ). A. Lindsey, Chairman
o LUCERNE, Switzerland.-I wen
to Southern Italy and Sicily, where
vegetables, citrus and other fruits
: are grown, hoping to learn some
thing as to the marketing of those
products that would be of value tC
those people of Texas who are engaS
ed in the growing of perishabll
products. was disappointed, FOR
the people of these sections seemed
never to have had the problem OF
marketing perishable farm products
up for solution.
The territory of Europe adapted
to the production of fruits and vege-
tables is so restricted and unsuited
to large production that buyers come
from Northern Europe to the groves
and fields of Italy and Sicily and
purchase their products before they
are gathered. l learned the Cali
fornia growers are regarded as in
vincible in their methods, for they
! have driven the European oranges
almost practically out of the Amer
lean markets and are introducing
California wines into Europe in COM
petition with the wines of France,
Italy and Spain.
I think the methods of California
| growers are the ones for our people
to study.
Acres of Market Buildings.
Both Berlin and London have reg
ular city market places, being build
/ ings of great extent and magnitude.
! There are wholesale meat markets
and wholesale fruit and vegetable
markets in each city. An idea of the
size of these markets may be gained
when | say that in London 5000
tons of meat pass through the mar
kets daily.
This means the carcasses of about
100000 animals, besides fowls.
Acres Of buildings are required to
provide stalls enough to expose all
these meats for sale. The bulk Of
vegetables and fruits are even larger
than the bulk of meats sold daily,
and more space is required for these.
Then there is the milk market, the
butter and egg markets and fish mar
kets. I am speaking here of whole
sale markets.
The city of Berlin. being about
half the size of London, has markets
about half as large. The food prod
ucts in both Berlin and London are
sold at wholesale on commission, the
commission being 8 p per cent i'll the
case of meats and Z per cent in case
of vegetables and fruits. Eggs, but
ter and cheese take the same COM
mission as meats. In the Berlin
markets all the farm products are
from the German farmer, because a
tariff protects and preserves the Ger
man markets to the farmers of that
empire.
In the markets of England one sees
no English farm products, but there
are meats from Argentine, Australia,
New Zealand, fowls and eggs from
Russia and Holland, and large stalls
of meat. suppose from America, as
these stalls are occupied by our big
meat packers. In Berlin the whole
sale market is virtually made by the
producers. as the organized farmers
/ sell most always through their own
agents. Hence the German farmer re-
ceives all his produce brings, except
the cost of transportation and the
commission.
City of Berlin Owns Stables.
At the wholesale city market the
products pass into the hands of hun
dreds of retail dealers. In Berlin all
these dealers rent stalls and transact
business in the city's retail market
places. In London many of them do,
but many dealers carry on businesses
in privately owned buildings scatter
ed about the city, while others are
merely hucksters selling from the
wagon.
Now, note the difference in the
systems.
In Berlin the City owns an abbatoir
or Strengthening place. All animals
killed for the Berlin market must be
slaughtered there, by the permission
of the food authorities. In this way
the city is able to know the kind and
condition of animals offered for sale
Food Speculation Prohibited.
The German government prohibits
specializing in food products. 1t goes
upon the theory that the speculator
never boosts or depresses prices; if
he boosts the consumer is hurt, and
if he depresses then the producer
suffers. So the government has en-
acted laws prohibiting trading in flu
lures of food products. such as meat
and wheat, and providing a limit of
time which foodstuffs may be kept in
cold storage.
The city of Berlin regulates the
cold storage plants in that city. Ev-
erything which goes in cold storage