The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1917-02-08
Money Talks
TO
Fruit Growers
BY
Northwestern Fruit Exchange
No. 10
Sales Dept. Continued
TO FRUIT GROWERS:

certain very definite policies right from
the start; policies that it believed in be-
cause they are known to win the ma
jority of times. One of these policies
is to adhere strictly to the system of
outright sales at firm prices. Another
is to sell around rs per cent of the ell
tire output at best obtainable prices at
or before time of harvest. The EX-
CHANGES record for the past six and
one-half years shows that this policy
| has been actually carried out. The stor-
age of fruit for sale on future markets
| is speculation. No man can afford to
speculate who can not afforn to lose.
When afgrower has an opportunity to
sell his fruit at fair price at harvest
time, and refuses the offer in order to
hold that fruit for future hoped-for
rise in the market, he ought 10 charge
that fruit to speculative account with
himself. Then, if he eventually loses,
the loss should appear where it belongs
in his SPECULATIVE account and
not as evidence that the business of
fruit growing is Improbable. If every
grower would keep books with himself
in this manner, he would get lot of
| light on his own business. Those of you
who have had experience in the wheat
business know that, as a rule, the wheat
| farmer who makes it a rule to sell his
grain crop year after year at the mark
ct at the time of harvest is the one who
has money in the bank, while good
many wheat men have been ruined by
playing futures and specializing with
their own product. Of course, know
that speculation sometimes wins; so
does the l00-tO-1 shot in horse race
sometimes win; but few bankers would
loan money to finance a horse race.
Now, in general way, we believe that
the general principles hold good in the
| fruit and produce business, and, because
We believe that the sale at the time of
harvest, at best obtainable prices, is
| the safe. sane and conservative policy
which will win majority of times, we
believe it the one to pursue. Hence,
! the EXCHANGE has always discour-
| aged it's friends from specializing with
any great per cent of their crops. AS a
matter of fact, | believe that this whole
Northwest crop could, nine years out OF
ten perhaps, be sold outright at harvest
time. Remember, as | have already
said, that we produce of apples in the
| Northwest only about 10 per cent or less
of the national total. So that if we
make up our minds to meet the market
at the psychological time, we can pre-
vail upon the buyers in many cases to
invest their money in boxes instead of
barrels, and the trick is turned How
ever, this sort of policy takes courage
and backbone. Also, it takes market
ing facilities and salesmanship to exc
cute it, and we can never hope that
enough buyers will come out here to
take our whole crop or even one-quar-
ter of it. We have got to 60 to them,
and be johnny-on the-spOt at the right
time, when they are in humor to buy.
The heavy trading in the apple deal u.s.
ually occurs in very few short weeks
in the fall, and those weeks are the
critical period of the opera ton, and dur
ing those weeks, large force of sales
men are necessary to work the whole of
the market, and every corner of it, fully
and thoroughly. am going to tell you
little bit of history that will illustrate
all this mighty well. 1t was at the end
of August or the first of September,
1912. You all remember 1912. It was
the first severe bump the Northwest
had had. Well, the EXCHANGE, fol-
lowing its established custom, had been
working hard all summer surveying the
apple crops of the world, as we'll as
studying the figures of other fruit crops
and also studying and weighing the de-
mand possibilities financial conditions
of the country, employment of labor,
etc. The result of the calculation show
ed as plainly as the nose on your face
that we were in for much lower range
of values than had prevailed in previous
years. However, we mobolized our
statesmen and instructed them to can
vass the trade all over the country
thoroughly and to try and sell them on
the basis of the previous years prices,
which was $l.35 for extra Jonathans,
others proportionately. Report, began
to come in and inside of ten days from
the time we started the campaign, We
had reports from every market in the
country and knew to cent what price
would be required to move boxed ap-
pies. | sent telegram to the heads of
several of the largest associations that
were selling through the EXCHANGE,
asking them to come at once to Port
land - where our headquarters then
were-that crisis existed They came;
! laid the data before them and said
Gentlemen, there is no guess work
about this; it is nearly an axiom in the
fruit business that, once you have
canvassed the WHOLE market mot a
part of it, mind you, but the whole
markeU and used real salesmanship,
the best obtainable price is value. It's
almost as conclusive as weighing a
pound of sugar on good scales. Now,
we have canvassed the WHOLE market
and can predict with assurance that the
market is going to be declining one
and that this is season when the best
generalship is to Sell freely at the best
obtainable price. We can, we feel sure,
turn your holdings into early cash on a
basis of around $1.00 to 81. 10 per box
for extra Jonathans, other varieties and
grades proportionately. BUT, instant
action is necessary, and this is case of
He who hesitates is lost. What is
your Instruction." Well, these men
were put in very hard position. They
felt pretty sure they would be "damed
If they did and damed if they didn't"
by their constituents. They protested
that we must be mistaken; that others
were quoting $l.35 on Jonathans. We
told them, yes, that WE were also
QUOTING that price, and were catch
ing buyer here and there for car or
two. but that we had CROP to move
and KNEW that we would have to meet
the trade and face the situation if we
were going to move it. We pointed out
that the trade were on the verge of in
vesting in apples, that many of them
would buy boxes on basis of S1.10 to
LOO, but would otherwise buy barrels.
That if We waited until they had stock
ed up and invested what they had to in
vest, in barrels, it would be TOO LATE.
These men sweat blood that day and
| finally said: I'VE don't dare; If we go
back TO our growers and tell them we
have authorized sale of Janathans at
Gf M g. IN xx,Ln.> tLo,- go