Imperial Valley press., 1915-07-20
tro pictures are being shown in every
city and hamlet in the country, and
this is their first appearance here.
VALLEY IDEAL FOR
GRAPE INDUSTRY
EXPERT BELIEVES

That Imperial Valley climate Is
ideal for the grape industry; that,
while as a whole, the grapes grown
here are only average, there are some
places in the valley where the highest
type of grape can be grown and that
the industry is destined to become one
of the growing industries of the val
ley, is the opinion of C. c. Brownless,
dealer in grapes and who, with George
+. Johnson, acts for the grower in
the capacity Of brokerage agent di-
rectly in that they buy the grapes
from the grower while they are yet
on the vine. The grapes are removed
from the vines, packed as they are
picked and then removed to iced cars
destined for eastern points.
"There are a number of ways of
handling grapes, although there are
only two which are practiced COM
monty in Imperial Valley" Mr.. Brown
less explained. "The most common of
these is the method whereby the pro-
ducer pays for the packing, the trans
porting and the commission, the en-
tire result of the transaction revert
ing to him. The other method is that
by which the producer pays for the
packing, picking and delivering to the
warehouse where the grapes are in
spected and purchased by the COM
mission firm. Those which are not
considered salable are not accepted and
the grower has lost, in addition to
the value of the grapes, the cost of
picking and packing"
The method employed by Brown
less and Johnston differs from either
of these, the grapes being purchased
on the vines at a price agreed to by
the producer.
"This enables the small grower to
harvest his crop without the expendi-
ture of either time or money, for he
can simply sell the grapes and his
responsibility ceases" Mr.. Brownless
said.
Forty pickers are employed by the
firm, this being the second season
they have been operating in the val
ley. At times more than double that
number are necessary to handle the
crop, for the packers have arranged
circuit which begins with the eari-
est grapes and ends some time in No
vember.
All the pickers are Italians and are
thoroughly experienced in the work,
many of them having been in the en-
ploy of the firm for a number of
years.
Only ii cars were shipped by
Brownless and Johnston last year, but
Mr.. Johnston expressed the belief this
year that their shipments would reach
30 cars, with promise of increasing
each year that they operate in the
valley.
Neither were able to estimate the
grape production for the year either
in point of number of cars or in van-
alton.
With the completion of the ship
ping here they will leave for Escon-
dido and with the closing of the sea-
son there will depart for Etiwanda,
where they will close the late season
about November. The circuit is ar
ranged in such a manner that the
eastern produce concerns will be sup
piled with California grapes as long
as possible.
Each season, before the opening of
the grape shipments, Mr.. Johnston
comes to the valley for the purpose of
estimating the crop and to apply the
saccharine test to the grapes to de-
'termine their value from the consum-
er's viewpoint.
Mr.. Brownless believes Imperial
Valley is ideal for grapes, especially
early grapes as the climate enables
the grapes to mature earlier than in
other sections. He believes also that,