Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1920-03-16


grapefruit should be buried under
sugar over night before it is eaten.
This they say masks the natural
flavor and spoils the fruit. OF
course, their arguments are to be
taken, as they would have you take
your grapefruit, with grain of
salt.
A statistical comparison shows
that California is still far in the
lead as a producer of citrus fruit.
Last year California put nearly six
teen million boxes of oranges on
the market, while Florida sold only
about half that number. Florida
produces no lemons to speak of,
but California sold some nine thou
sand carloads of them last year.
On the other hand, Florida grape
fruit has a strong lead in the mar
ket Indeed, grapefruit is Florida's
strongest asset in the citrus line.
The state produced nearly three
million boxes last year, and despite
the. sugar shortage. the acreage in
grapefruit is reported to be growing
much faster than that in oranges.
The tangerine is a small factor,
only about 100000 boxes being
shipped annually. A new variety
Of citrus fruit, the tangelo, is still
in the experimental stage.
The local dealers begin shipping
grapefruit in September and
oranges in October, while the last
shipments of the two varieties are
made in May and April, respective
| ly. Very little of the fruit is kept
in storage. The tree is the storage
plant for citrus fruit. 1t is said
| that a grapefruit will hang on the
tree for a year and still be sweet
! and edible, while an orange may
be left there for months.
Each broker here is usually the
agent for certain growers, and he
orders the fruit from them as he
finds a market for it. From the
broker here the fruit usually goes
to a wholesaler in some northern
city, and by him is sold to retailers,
and by them perhaps to peddlers.
/ There are at least three and some
times four middlemen between the
producer and the man who eats the
orange. The price which the grow
er has been fluctuating this winter
between $3.50 and $3.50 a box. for
the best Florida oranges. The box
contains from 166 to 2SS oranges
Striking rough average, it may
be said that the grower gets from
a little less than a cent to almost
two cents each for his best oranges.
1t is evident therefore that the con-
sumner pays about four or five times
what the grower gets, and that the
greater part of the price goes to
support the several middlemen and
to pay the freight. Local leaders
admit that some of the prices charg-
ed by retailers are excessive. They
say also that hotels and restau.
rants make excessive profits OF
grapefruit, charging the same
amount for a half grapefruit, as
they usually do, regardless of the
market price.
! The orange grower is in some.
what hazardous business because
his crop may at any time be de.
stroyed by frost. The great all.
destroying frosts like that of 1894
are comparatively rare, but frosts
that destroy part of the crop are
frequent. There were bad frosts in
1917. A frost which destroys part
of a crop, however, does not gen.
orally mean a loss to Florida, fol
prices will then rise, and more
money may be brought into the
state by the short crop than by q
large one. This is the same phe,
nomenon that may be witnessed il
many other phases of farming. The
one economic lesson which thu
farmer has learned we'll is that he
tends to make more out of a small
crop than out Of a large one, un
der our SUPERINTENDENT system
of distribution. AS long as demand
is the only thing that regulate.
price, abundance for the consumer
means poverty for the producer.
In the citrus fruit business, thi,
factor is not nearly so obvious a!
In other lines Of production, be
cause the citrus regions of the Unit
ed States are limited, and the de
mand for the fruit steadily increas
ing. The Florida citrus groves ar,
steadily expanding, and there is lit
tie danger that they will ever b,
too large for the needs of tn,
i. country.