The Rathdrum tribune. (Rathdrum, Idaho) 1903-1963, 1922-01-27
WARS ON FRUIT
SELLING SYSTEM
Lewiston Grower Says Present
Method Unfair to Pro-
Queer.

In lengthy letter, published in the
public press, State Senator w S
Shearer, of Lewiston, Idaho, and the
largest and most successful grower of
head lettuce in the Pacific northwest,
has launched a vigorous attack on
fruit selling organizations. He had
been approached by an organization
which sought foothold In the Lew
iston district and in refusing to par
ticipate in the movement Senator
Shearer attacked the present system
without camoufiage. He said in part:
For three years have watched the
apple growers of the northwest carry
on hopefully, courageously perform
ing every operation demanded In the
production of high quality fruit and at
a ratio of cost higher than ever be-
fore known in the history Of the in
dustry-pruning, spraying, cultivat-
ing, thinning, sorting, grading, cull1ng
all these things have been done
with the same faithfulness and fidel-
ity as when it cost less than half the
money to do them. And l have seen
the finest apples in the world go from
these orchards into the centers of pop
aJation and sell at reasonably high
orices to the consuming public and
ghen the long delayed remittance
checks came back to these fruit grow
ars they had to go somewhere and dig
up more money to pay the losses in
Cured in the production of that fruit.
Consumer Pays Good Price.
ut isn't as though the public would
not pay The public has paid. Our
apples have always sold in the con-
Stunning markets at reasonably high
standards of value-often for more
even than should have been demand
ed. Last winter I called on fruit
distributor in indianapolis who had
lust received a car of extra fancy De
licious apples from shipper at Wen
atchee. He had paid 81 per box +. O. b.
shipping point and was selling them
to the retail trade in Indianapolis at
$3.50 per box and expressing fear that
the supply would be exhausted before
his next car arrived in town. On the
same trip l saw retail merchant in
Missouri pay $40 per box for extra
fancy Rome Beauty apples from my
own community in Lewiston Orchards
and when / returned home / found
that my neighbors had received AZ
cents per box for growing and har-
vesting those Rome Beauty apples and
delivering them to the packing house.
'In both these cases the retail mer-
chant paid fine price for his apples
"a price that ought to make 1t well
worth my while and worth while for
my neighbors to grow that kind OF ap-
pies But when the waste and the in
efficiency and the legal dishonesty
that have crept into the distributing
machinery had taken their toll out of
he price paid by the retailers In In
dianapolis and Missouri there was
isle or nothing left for the man at
he producing end Of the industry
use the expressio nlega1 dishonesty
advised1y because it is dishonest to
buy rom a Washington shipper at 81
or box apples that merchant in In
dianapolis is willing to pay $3.50 for.
But so far as know 1t is perfectly
sgal"
Suggestive of what might offer re
S3s IS the following news item from
Walla Walla:
,Prune growers of Walla Walla val
Icy. meeting at State Line, decided to
form selling organization. to be
known as the Walla Walla Prune
Growers association. Growers agreed
to pool their crops and sell as unit,
instead of in competition, as in the
past. An executive committee will be
named and authorized to sell prunes
to the highest bidder. Representatives
of buying organizations sought to
have growers sign contracts, but this
plan was turned down.
"Of the temporary organization, A.
X. Goodman was chairman. A meet
ing to form permanent organization
will. be held and efforts will be made
l to enroll all prune growers in the
Walla Walla valley, including Waila
Walla and Umatilla counties