Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980, 1921-06-23
Prune Growers Of
Coast Prosper Due
To Organization

series on cooperative marketfnl
written for the Journal by ]. F
Langner, cooperative marketing
expert.
The present prune industry o
California, Oregon and Washing
ton Is one of the marvels of agri
culture, organized alike in the in
terests Of the producer and con
sumer.
From sheer poverty to unparal
leled prosperity in five years II
the result of the organization Of
the Pacific Coast prune growers
Consumers may remember, few
years ago, when 1t was possible
to buy prunes for an average price
of from fifteen cents to twenty
five cents a pound. For ten years
prior to 1917 the prune growers
of the Pacific Coast received an
average price OF only three cents
pound for all they produced.
1t is beyond the realm of eason
to presume that where there is
no expensive process of manu-
facture involved in the distribu-
tion OF a product an increase of
500 to 500 per cent in the price
is justified between the producers
farm and the consumers kitchen.
The consumer can buy prunes to-
day for an average price no high
er than he paid five years ago
But the quality is incomparable,.
for the growers associations have
aimed to sell to the consumer the
most perfectly standardized arti-
Gle of food it is possible to pro-
duce.
The California Prune and April
cot Growers Association and the
Oregon Growers Cooperative As
sociation are the two growers or
ganizations which market more
than four-fifths of all the dried
prunes produced in this country
They have been developed within
the last five years out of situa-
tion which had resulted in thou
sands of acres of prune orchards
being destroyed because the grow
ers were unable to find a market
for their prunes at any price.
Faced with an enormous loss,
the growers were unable to payI
even their grocery bills. Bank
ers who had made loans on prune
orchards were loath to foreclose
because the actual value of prune
lands had decreased to such an
extent that the land would not
return the amount loaned II Of
fered for public sale. This des-
perate situation was due entirely
to a system which took little ac-
count OF the grower and even less
of the consumer.
Organize Cooperative Association
The farmer is essentially a pro-
Queer He knows nothing about
and is forced always
to accept the statement and price
OF the cash buyer who comes to
his farm and tells him just what
he will pay. In this condition
the State of California itself, in
conjuction with business men in
the prune growing districts, or
ganized the farmers into a CO.
operative marketing association.
More than 1900 growers Joined
he association in California, and
several thousand Oregon and
growers organized a
similar association.
The first thing the association
lid was to decline to deal with
ipeculators.
1t sent its general manager,
4. G. Coykendall, of San Jose, to
Sew York to deal direct with the
legitimate distributors. 1t stan
lardized its crop, branded 1t and
Idvertised II throughout the coun- 4
ry as the standardized product
i all the growers of the State or
'tates. 1t established a price
very season which represents ac-
ual cost of production, plus
air margin Of profit to each grow
r. Only the best quality Of {
rupes are shipped to the market I
y the association. All Pacific &
cast associations believe the con- I
umer is entitled to the best that {
an be produced.
Scientific Use of Surplus t
But there is surplus-of poor {
quality--and this surplus must
disposed of somehow. Surplus 4
that portion OF the crop which
oes not go through the normal I
of trade-yet it must be y
I'D else all the profits made out 5
the sale Of the balance would Il
lost through the non-sale of 5
e surplus.
Many more prunes are now
own in this country than are Il
Id in the familiar 10 and 15-
und boxes the consumer is ae-l
stoned to see in the stores.
Seventy-five per cent of a small G
une is pit, so the associations n
nd the small prunes to a central n
int, where they are shredded by r
Ichinery and the pulp is made W
o jams. jellies. prune butter as
filler for pies. The pits them to
yes are made into prussaic acid u
] the shells burned to charcoal. h'
L. A---.-n In