Albuquerque morning journal., 1920-10-05
TRUCK GROWERS
ARE OPPRESSED
BY PR0F|TEERS
Chicago's Market for Fruit
and Vegetables "Treach-
erous, inefficient Sys-
tenn" Says Investigator.
tBy The Associated Press)

tremendous inefficient system
working at the expense of both |
producer ana consumer" the Hill |
nois Agricultural association de- |
clares in a statement made public |
here today
The association, which is com
posed of nearly 100000 Illinois
farmers organized in farm bureaus,
has rec entity Determined to estab-
l.sh fruit and vegetable marketing
department. and as steo toWf"G
II is end recently sent IN expert |
into the South Water street market.
the large It of its kind in the wtrl !, !
and the Randolph market. At the
same time he reviewed prices In
grocery stores.
What the produce grower re-
ceives on these markets bears eX"
tremely little relation to what the
consumer pays for the same vege-
tables, the association declares.
Officials said they had names and
figures to back up their statements.
The investigator reported produce
was being taken back to be dumped
because it's growers could not af-
ford to sell at the price offered be-
cause there was no sale at all.
Better Methods Needed.
There Is room for farmers them
selves to improve their methods,
the associations investigator re-
ported. He said he found need foc
more honest methods and that the
first efforts of the association in
developing marketing methods
would be made at home" with the
farmers, for betterment in these
respects. The associations state
ment summarizing the report re-
coived says.
producers have no way of tell
ing the supply or demand of the
market and cannot supply the
market intelligently. Some days
there is flood of certain kinds OF
produce and very often there is n
shortage of the same produce the
next day.
Prices differ 100 per cent to
growers on the same products and
the same quality, even the same
hour of the day.
| "There Is little Standardization
of packages and considerable dis
honesty in packing.
"The price received by growers
on the quantity on the market has
little or nothing to do with retail
prices in Chicago.
Sleep With Their Wagons.
"Some 600 auto trucks from q
radius Of fifty miles from Chicago
come to the Randolph and South
| Water street markets each day.
These truck gardeners sell to COM
mission men, wholesale houses,
spectators, peddlers, hucksters and
consumers In order to get stand
for the next days market, truck
| growers begin to arrive at p. m.
The drivers sleep on top or in un-
der their wagons, according to the
weather conditions, waiting for the
market to open up next morning
| "The price a growers gets de-
"The price grower gets de-
guesser he Is on the supply or
produce on the market that day
which he, has brought in and his
dickering ability with the buyers
he meets. Investigation shows
that some growers sold tomatoes IN
the box and bags of corn for more
| than twice as much as others on
the same morning. A market may
fluctuate from SO to 100 per cent in
garden produce within few hours
time.
DAY after day many trucks go
home with part of their load to be
dumped, and other days there Is
a shortage"
The Investigators report includes
a long list OF truck growers VINO
hauled some of their load home
during the week OF September ~.
zone growers took home a halt
load of crates of cabbage, each
containing thirty-six heads, be-
cause he was offered only rs cents
a crate. He said his reason for not
selling was that crates cost 30 cents
each and he could not afford to
sell for that price. A Franklin
Park gardener took home SWEEP
corn because he cAhld not get over
20 cents for bag Of four dozen. A
number of cases s.!owed quantities
of corn and tomatoes brought home
because there was no sale at all.
Prices Fluctuate. ,
ION these same days round OF
the Chicago retail markets was
Imade to compare growers and con-
Isumers' prices. On Monday the
producer received IS cents a dozen
for sweet corn, on Wednesday .
cents and on Friday 9R cents ihc
same three days the average re-
tail price at a large number OF
stores in the loop downtown dis
tricD and in suburbs was SO cents
q dozen on Monday and as cents
dozen on Wednesday and Friday.
On these same three days tomatoes
sold for an average of IL cents
pound by growers and cents
pound by retail stores. Cabbage
sold for one-third to one-half
cents a pound on these three days
by the producer and the average
ire-ail price the three days was 4
TO cents pound.
Gardeners hauled home all these
products on these same Gays Tor
the reason that they could not get
a price to pay for the containers
and work. of preparing Tor the
market.
From these figures the Illinois
Agricultural association draws
conclusion that supply or price
growers receive has little or no
relation to the price consumers
pay. Gardeners on the market say
il consumers could purchase at
prices in accordance with the sup !.
ply and the price producers re-
ceive, there would be greater con-
sumption and more demand for
their products"