Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1914-06-12
PLAN HAS MERIT
Representative Fruit Growers Of
Polk Listen to Addresses.
MAY JOIN DISTRIBUTORS UNION
Delegates to General Meeting in Port
land for Organization of Sub
Central Association Chosen.

The greatest central selling organi-
zation in the civilized world is the
North Pacific Fruit Distributors as
sociation, which is now effecting a
sub-central in the Willamette Val
ley and in which Polk county will
become an important factor. Mr.. H.
C. Sampson, treasurer of the organi-
cation, spoke to a small gathering of
fruit growers and business men at
the courthouse Wednesday morning,
comprehensively explaining the aims
and objects of the distributors I'M
ion, and forcefully illustrating the
necessity of Capitalization in placing
upon the markets of the world the
fruit products of the Pacific North
west. The keynote of his remarks
was that greater prosperity and sue
cess Of this country may be found in
farmers managing their own business
in their own way and in their own
interests. Affiliation would mean that
all fruits grown in Polk county would
be handled through one head office at
Spokane, and in this way sales could
be effected more advantageously and
at better prices. The headquarters
.of the association is in touch, through
its ten general and sixty-seven ex-
elusive agencies, with the entire civil
lied world, and receives accurate in
formation every hour during the seas
on from all sections, thus knowing
exact conditions. The business is talk
en- out of the hands of commission
men and put under the management of
a combination of brains and exper-
fenced men who have been engaged in
fruit growing from twenty to thirty
Years.
Mr.. Sampson, who occupied two full
hours in presenting facts and figures
to his audience, was preceded by
Mark Woodruff, who is interested in
the formation of the Willamette sub
central organization from shipping
point of view, he representing the
railroad interests. He wanted to see
the fruit industry prosper, for its fail
ure spells ruin to the railroads. Dur
ing his remarks he said 100000 was
now being spent by the railroads in
the Willamette Valley, and $l2,000,-
900 in the construction of road to
Coos Bay.
Following these talks Messrs. Harry
Wood, president Of the local Fruit
Growers association; H. G. Campbell,
r. M. Ewing, secretary and assist
ant secretary, respectively, Of the
same organization; N. L. Guy, vice
president of the Commercial club, and
H. C. Eakin, were appointed a com
mittee to attend the meeting of all
the Willamette towns interested, to
be held in Portland on Saturday,
June 20.
A Bit of History.
Just one year ago the fruitgrowers
of the Pacific northwest went into
business on a business basis and the
North Pacific Fruit Distributors came
into existence. On May 81, 1913, final
organization of the growers into one
great central marketing agency was
formally completed.
A desperate situation, severely i'm
pressed by the previous years disas-
trous selling experience, had confront
ed the growers. Thousands of cars of
apples had been sold for less than the
actual cost of growing, packing and
shipping, and all because there was
supposed to have been an oversupply,
the crop in full in 1912, however,
amounting to only about $4,000 cars.
Thousands of boxes had been dumped
into gulches or fed to hogs. The life
of the fruit industry of the northwest
was at stake.
Within the four states of Washing
ton, Oregon, Idaho and Montana horti-
cultulists had estimated that over
100000 acres had been planted to ap-
pie trees and about $4,000 acres to
other varieties of fruit, only a small
part of which had come into bearing
in 1912. In the face of this condition
the question in the mind of every
grower was whether 1912 was an over
supply year, or whether something
was wrong with marketing methods.
And what was to be done with the
crop when it should reach 25,000, So
900 and on up to 100000 cars became
a problem requiring immediate solu-
tion.
Fruitgrowers who gathered in Spo-
kane to attend the National Apple
show in the fall of 1912 were agitated,
but a few had been brewing plans for
protecting the industry against a re-
.currence Of the 1912 "failure" and
for placing it on a permanently sub
stantial basis.
A conference previously had been
called and the result of six days of
was the selection of Chair
man Robert E. Strahorn and Secretary
H C. Sampson of the apple show as