The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1922-09-26
MARKETING FARM PRODUCTS
*. C. Moore, County AGENT

n great many farmers nave COM
planned to the writer that Ocala was a
poor market, and that with one load
Of potatoes (for example) they could
stock up the town. The merchants
side of this controversy is that they
rarely have offered to them a lot of
potatoes of uniform good size and
quality. In nearly every lot there are
some cut ones, or jumbos, or strings,
or potatoes specked with rot.
We cannot expect the same price
for corn infested with weevils as for
corn clean of weevils. We cannot
ship water-soaked tomatoes, or Gu
cumbers infected with anthracnose
(and this is hard to see on freshly
picked cukes) and expect to get any
thing for them.
However, we do have buyers take
all the good tomatoes contracted for,
and we should get this kind of deal
This has been one of the main causes
oil dissatisfaction with our contracts
the grading-though it has not been
the whole cause.
The point of quantity in marketing
farm products has been another great
problem for farmers. In the staple
crops as well as perishables. there
must be middle men to assemble and
distribute. Few large cotton fac
/ tories could operate if they had to
buy directly from farmers. The sup
| ply of raw products would be entirely
too uncertain. The same is true of
grist mills, produce merchants and
shoe factories.
Of l may be allowed to leave the
subject a minute, this reminds me
| that there are two tanneries in the
southern states that will tan hides for
farmers on ffty-fifty basis, and a
few woolen mills that will manufac-
ture our wool into cloth or blankets
at a reasonable cost.
The reason for our tomato and cit
rus packing houses is that these
things may be collected, graded and
shipped at a less cost than farmers
operating alone can pack and ship.
Furthermore, large distributing agen-
cies can thus get steady supply and
effect better distribution.
In the citrus industry what would
become of our growers if each man
had to put up his own fruit at home
and consign the stuff to some big
market? Where would we be without
the citrus exchange or some such Or
ganization to distribute our fruit and
to keep advertising and opening up
new markets and getting Florida or
anges, grapefruit and tangerines into
every city, town and village?
It is not necessary to call attention
to the fact that tomatoes, melons, let
tuce, beans and cucumbers are more
perishable than citrus fruits. But it
seems necessary to say that each of
these commodities needs a selling
agency which will know the market
conditions each day for each particu-
lar commodity, and effect such a dis
tribution of that commodity as that
we can be relieved of the annual
heavy tax of losses through glutted
markets and embargoes.
Nature has made Florida so kind g
cline and given her people so sweet
dispositions as that year after yeal
we produce abundant vitamine-fillec
vegetables and turn them over to q
little group of transient gentlemen tt
make all they can out of them. If We
don't get ours, we mildly cuss out
these gentlemen and turn to another
Of the many crops, hoping that mex
year these gentlemen will give u
more for these other things. Do thes,
gentlemen frequently do it?
AS long as we feel that we are abl
to paddle our own canoe in the mar
keting flood we will be no better of
but rather worse. Many of US vii
be swamped every season.
: Farmers, read this. think it over
, Don't try to argue against it, bu
: rather to work it out. What l wan
: to impress on you is that farmers,al
over this United States of ours in in
lcreasing numbers are getting togethe
: in organizations and marketing thei
t products comparatively on commodit,
: lines. They all have their troubles
their ups and downs. In the past