The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1922-10-20
FARM PRODUCTS
(ByK. c. Moore. County AGENT,

IuouS IoSS edCu year III peFlSnaDle pro-
ducts because of market gluts and be-
cause the middle men prefer to buy
part of a crop at low prices and sell
for high rather than buy all of crop
and have to sell it for less"
Of course that refers to every other
part of the United States except to
Marion county; and to all other buy
ers except those who buy here and to
any other crop than tomatoes. But
still we find fresh tomatoes now sold
in Ocala, shipped from some other
parts that would never grade in any
of our packing houses above fancy;
and car loads of better tomatoes than
these were hauled from our packing
houses as culls and dumped to rot.
One grower, whose name can be
furnished, told the writer that he
shipped his culls the past season in
dependently and got more from them
than he got for the selected tomatoes
he sent to the packing houses, where
he had contracted to deliver them.
There may not be any such thing
as alchemy or magic these days, but
it is most remarkable how farm pro-
ducts change as soon as they get out
OF the producers hands. They sud-
denly seem to have a definite, more
stable market value. If l were a
broker and wanted canned tomatoes
here is the way would go about get
ting them. l would go to a cannery
and say to the owner: "I'll buy all
your canned tomatoes if you will sign
a contract to deliver them to me at
80 cents a case. (They average selling
at zoe. a easel. They are to be all of
highest grade and l will be the Judge
of their grade. I'll let you have coal
to operate with at the market price
q expect to buy at 20 per cent less),
and l will advance you $40 on every
hundred cases, with interest at per
cent. You pay all operating expenses,
buy the tomatoes and take all risk
That owner would ask me if
thought he was a d f; or he
would kick me out or do both. This
is similar to our system
Of selling tomatoes, and yet it is diff
ferent.
1t is told that in another section of
Florida the growers are furnished"
seed (on which the furnisher makes
a profit and charges an interest on
the amount; they are furnished"
fertilizer Ton which the furnisher
makes S. or more a ton and charges
they are Furnished" con-
tainers for the product on which the
fUrnisher makes Zoe apiece and also
charges interest; they are furnished
spray material and some money to
work and harvest the crop and pay
interest on this. The furnisher then
sells the crop for the farmer on COM
or takes it on the contract.
In the meantime most of the farmers
have furnished some bank with a
mortgage on the farm, so as to make
ends meet and provide himself
place in which to live.
Our tomato growers are working
under this system or some modltlca-
ton of it. So far it is the best thing
that has been developed for them. 1t
will not be long till they will market
their tomatoes through some kind OF
exchange Of their own.
Because the hurley tobacco grow
ers Of Kentucky are marketing their
tobacco co-operatively they are get
ting 25c. a pound for it, whereas ex-
perts estimate that they might other
wise have gotten 15c. 9 pound.
During the past season, strawber-
~ growers of Southern Illinois real
lied a seasonal average Of $2.51
crate from their berries at time
when one Of the ablest growers. not in
an exchange. got only s19713 by the
old method. The consumers paid
about the same for these lots."-
Barnes.
Because almost all farm and orch
ard products of California are sold
through cooperative associations only
about two per cent of the farmers
have to borrow on crop mortgages.
''Mr. sapiro SAYS they are getting AZ
per cent of the consumers dollar
where they used to get 8 per cent"
For seven years previous to 1912
the California raisin growers got &c
? pound for raisirs. Then they Or
ganized ard have gotten around Zoe
Mound m to 1921. Last year they sold
over $4,000 tons Of raisins in the lit
lie &c. packages. This was more than
WIS produced altogether before 1872
These ra5sin growers row have 80 per
cent Of the acreage signed up to their
association under a ffteen-year con-
-ract.
Eggs shipped by the poultry asso-
-jation Of Central California, which