Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1920-12-20
B1sGeo. 5. winship.
To The Editor:

-.SGSSS ~ kAoS A40 40
sstng learned b sssscretst of the citrus /
game % pegscent: profit for the future
could be depended Upon. But the fol-
lowing year when the 1919 crop was
gaFflered and paid for, my optimism
q fied---the wasn't q chuckle left
in me; 1922 was all l realized after y
5 paving the expense accountA This
year however, expected to recoup;
.stt5NapaEaodaofss %%normalcy', had arriv-a.
ed, ! fondly hoped, and we producers
would receive adequate remuneration
for our, sweat. We did not expect
.pre-war prices by any means. but We
did expect reasonably remuneration.
The&returns are allSin. the books. bal
stSanced for the year. and here is the
result: Fruit picked, 1890 boxes; sold
i for 1888. Expense account $1,32S;I
y In the hole $40. How is that for
making money! Not as easy and
juicy as I had arranged for two years
60.
But the worst phase Of the situa-
Observation-Disclosures is No immediate
.pEoaspeeecct. ,,so 81, .-a ibRetterment Of condi-
tttQne fol, some timesto come. II, a two
cent "a ipoInd tariff is placed on Itali-
ansslAemon during the next, session Of
congress h lemon crop Of 1922 may
bring living prices, but unless the tar
lift lis restored lemon production in
ES1lthernssGalifornia will be a thing Of
thessspast.sEaIs drove through the lem
Eon distrtctso aSGhtla Vista a few days
gsince and found Orchards laden with
Eaaschoicefscrog. but none 5sof II was be-
ing picked:ssI The packing houses are
seiosed.sand rein I'd lists generally have
Eeeasedsaskork. ssH&rnesw tlislet the fruit
khark Ipo the 4xkasges. while, others will
rive theirscropaaEay terthoBe who will
NICK and ithe. fruit "a the Citrus
ERsryoduetts Ccos at Nasional City, who
fpi1kslys 10 psrs tonsAaanDurins the past sea-
a. Italian leraonsss have sold at At
packing and freight to New. York Of
the California product,#f1ast week
lemons from Sicily were quoted in
New York and Philadelphia at prices
ranging from i$ls60 to- $2.25 per box.
Freight. to Nor. York from Pacific
coast is s1s226sasper 100 lbs, packing
EksheiAe cnatssesaSabout 20 cents per
uniesASefowers can realize at
s$3.U0aISetsbox there is nothing in tho
business for them. Citrus fruit is
perishable stuff. and unlike the North
kasDakota grain .preduuct. it cannot be
stored away in elevators for an in
+ e safls 81 ss9'g Esisss is fs ss1 II months 'TI11 stand in =
1 Then. too. it takes about seven years
:, to- create. a fruit-bearing orchard,
during which time the best Of care
must be given it. So you can imagine.
d the dilemma the lemon growers are
\ an: They can't afford to harvest this
\ years. crop; neither can they afford
No let their orchards go back. II that
isn't a ''between-th e-devil-and-deep-
sea-, proposition I don't know what 1t
4 X ~, X X !:
One Of my favorite indoor sports IS
to inspect. annually at least, a large
size wallet containing as conglomerate
variety Of securities of doubtful value.
/ like to look at these merIcntoesffo
\ the ahumor they inspire and the mem
cries they recall. During my career
in Grand Forks I dipped into a good
many things outside of the printing
business. But few stocl;,deals or new
projects. were promoted that did not
| hnclude Nlnesamong the list OF naulct-
ed citizens. All the slick promoters.
had to dofwas to solemnly ,~asseverate
that their proposition would be a
good thinglfor the town." n / fell
! for 1t without further investigations;
] and the result is that the old thumb
\ sFprn-wailet referred to is laden with
q stock of bonds, deeds, notes. and,
othert eNid enJes Of pristine. wealth,
that would. make me tolerably afflu-
ent il even so per cent Of the par
value Of these papers could be realfz-
ed. Ten years ago this collection OF
supposed wealth. was c~atalogued
sAmong my live assets n approxi-
xsnatelyy s$l5, 0O0 in round figures. Five
ssYears lated. + revised those rotund fig
lures and reduced them one-half. Last
syear5SJiniy annual inspection was more
cherries and hopeless and valueless
than former ones, and again 1 sifted
the wheat from the chat. n reduce
ed the figures to $1,000. That slash
to the core struck the bottom; since
then there has3been a rebound; new
life has been injected int soms of the
old stuff, Inc Some Of it is coming
back. ain;hnetfornA Business. is look
ting up again at the old stand.
x y X <
1 became a collector of these relics
!. shortly after the completion of The
Herald building IN; 1890. Previous to
that date my collection was small and
sssYerysselects and limited largely to re-
E&Apudiated 4 otesS had signed for
:mriendss' ggsIn advertising deals dur
sinK 1has boRmn OF 's2 I acquired ;no2end
Of town lots In the embryo cities of
stiGkney, Harrisburg. Odessa. NNichi-
a Mekinock. ETC.. etc. y they
cost little, and ownership Of them was
soon forgotten. N had strained every
nerve in my financial SYSTEM TO COM
spiSte Tho Herald building, n ordiy
na{y prudence should have prompted
me. 70 go slow. But I didn't slow
down q particle. Every solicitation
caught me for something; / Imagined
that 81 would increase the city reyes
nue. some, and In some way The Her
aid would get a$spiece of the moi1ey.