The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1913-03-09

ohe uoeS HOT go TO the frult stand or
grocery store to personally make her
selection, but goes to the telephone.
calls up her grocer, and says: Send
me a box of eating apples,' or Send
me a box of cooking apples" Do YOU
Know what she gets? If you don't,
90. n ordinarily gets a box of an
pies that are good for just two pur-
p~oses-vlnegar or feeding the pigs.
we must educat people about quality
80 lhey wall order certain varieties.
ouf pest qualities at the right time,
me results obtained by intelligent
advertising in building business are
beyond the comprehension of the aver
age individual. The firm who placed
sunny Jlm on the market spent 81, O0O,-
900 in advertising and contracts before
they offered a package for sale. You
know the results. A man from Yer
mont went down to Boston and started
a patent medicine business with a
capital OF $l25. In a short time he was
dolng mNions per year.. He built that
business by advertising. His advertis-
ing bills in the Sunday papers alone
amounted to $4,000 per Sunday, or
S95b,e0o per year, almost a million. If
a man should build up a business run
ming into the millions on a patent
medicine with a capital of $125 to start
with, by advertising, what can we do
IN the apple business with millions to
spend on advertising to sell an article
OF merit. the apple; the best, in fact,
the kind of all fruits?
1t is the housewife that purchases
our food supplies. Therefore, in adj
Vert1sing, we should use mediums
which reach the greatest number of
women in the most influential sort Of
a way. There are many such journals.
and among the best known NAV be
mentioned the Ladies' Home Journal.
Home Companion, Good
Housekeeping and the Saturday Even
ing Post. The Saturday Evening Post
has a circulation of about 1000. 900.
Our advertisements in such publica-
tons could be small, but should be
educational; they should give the
names of the best apples, where grown,
the proper description, their rating as
to quality for eating, the period which
they were best to eat, and in addition
should state the apples especially
adapted for baking and other cooking
| purposes.
In addition to this, we can stimulate
an increased demand for our apples by
using the right kind of a brand in
addition to the present label that we
are placing on the end of the box. A
brand will create AN extra call for the
good apples from any particular dis
riot fhnf coJaot~ 49, ~;,l,4 ,.-1 r
brand to use. This is no theory, it is
a practice n a custom that has been
tried out and proven successful.
10 convince you, it is only necessary
to mention just a few of the catch
names that have been instrumental in
building UP "a great business for the
various articles they represent. Among
them are U-Needa Biscuit, Nabisco,
Keen Cutter Cutlery and Sunkist
oranges.
Another evil has existed in the past
and still continues to exist, which un-
doubleday has been the greatest bar
rier in preventing consumption of
anything I know anything about. 1t
is the eXorbitant retail price. You
know the prices we are receiving to-
day. To my positive knowledge apples
are retailing today at the same retail
prices as they have in the past. A
few days ago I received a letter from
a friend in Boston, who advised me
that our apples We're retailing at 60
cents per dozen and some as high as 81
per dozen, which is equivalent to Sc
per box and up. We growers are
lucky this year to get $3.50, the freight
will be so cents, the dealers profit 20
cents, making a total maximum cost
to the retailer of 1920, yet the retailer
lis selling these same apples at So per
box n up, a. profit of 900 per cent.
I know of a dealer in Washington,
D. c., carrying only about $50 in stock,
who, after paying all business and
living expenses, sent 5000 to Italy in
one year. In other words, he made
5000 on a $50 capital, and we, gentle
men, permit it and remain content
with $4,000 profit on a 100000 invest.
ment.
Again, gentlemen, / say "there is
remedy That remedy is public sen,
timent. Public sentiment reduced
street car fares from 6 Id cents to
cents; public sentiment reduced rail,
ROAD 1dTeS IN eastern states to : cents
per mile, and in western states to
cents per mile; public scntimen'
created the railway commission, ant
the actions of this commission estab
lished ar equitable and a reasonable
rate on all traffic without interfering
/ with the success or prosperity of an,
railroad in the United States. / hav,
5 talked with many fruit dealers ant
3 commission men in reference to retail
) prices, and while they all realize ant
? admit that retail prices are the great
est barrier to consumption, they do no
suggest a remedy or take the initia
l tive. Therefore, gentlemen, it is up tt
the fruit growers. We can create
public sentiment thai will be so stron.
!. that it will be successful in bringin,
: about reasonable retail prices on ou
apples.
Q We can do it through the press. I
| fruit growers associations and com
!. mercial clubs in the different fruit
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