Gunnison news-champion., 1923-01-19
GROWERS TALK
OVER LETTUCE
Future plans for head
lettuce growers dis
cussed Friday 18th.

4 meeting in the nature Of an open
forum. Of the head lettuce grower.
Of this side Of the range vas held Fri-
day, Jan. 18th ~ the court house, When
future plans for the activities OF
those Interested were formulated and
many points Of vital interest were
bfot up. There were about IS en-
thusIastIc growers present, Saryen,
being represented by iive active grow
srs. John Lynch, receiver Of the
Colorado Cooperative Head Lettuce
Association, was the principal speak
er al the meeting, and told in detail
about the marketing conditions and
the future possibilities Of the head
lettuce industry. II appears that
gross mismanagcment Of the market
ing and unscientific selling previous 10
the recciycrship was the stumbling
block that caused the downfall Of the
association.
After Mr.. Lynch was put in charge
however, very creditable results were
obtained The association is now con
Idcred solvent. 4 stockholders meet
ing will be held at Buena Vista Janu-
ary 2sth, when directors will be elect
ed and other plans will be discussed
and decided upon o. S. Causey will
be the representative for the Gunui-
son growers, while Roy Hicks will rep
resent the Sargent growers at that
meeting. GUnHIson and Sargent will
each have director on the new board
No more than seven directors can be
chosen. II every district, marketing
thru this association is represented on
the board Of directors, harmonious re
suits should be obtained s. f. Burl-
csou. pioneer lettuce grower of Buena
Vista. was present and gave short
talk In'~hIch he cautioned against Ego
ing into the business too heavy" Mr
Burlcsou, who had 100 acres of let
iuce last year, stated that his acreage
would be cut down considerably thls
year, as II is much better to have
smaller acreage and give closer at
teutIon. II was advocated by Messrs
Lynch and Burleson that cooperative
marketing thru one Of the responsible
wholesale firms With high rating. such
as the American Fruit Growers As
soclation. would be the only practical
and economical way Of marketing
Another point brought ont by Nr.
Lynch was, that great care is neces-
sary IN grading and packing, and To
see to il that no inferior lettuce ever
reaches the market and thus under
mine the reputation of the Colorado
product that has proven so popular in
the Eastern and Middle West cities.
1t was stated by the speaker that re-
suits prior to the receivership proved
very unsatisfactory. However, they
were not any more so than in the
of any other produce last
season, in fact on the whole, the let
tucc growers We're at the top, COM
pared with the potato and fruit grow
ers.
No estimate has yet been made as
10 the acreage to be put into lettuce
around Gunnison- AT Sargent the
estimate is $50 acres for the coming
season, as against seventy acres last
year. IL half that acreage or as much
as 200 acres is planted in the Gunni-
son vicinity, we are in a fair way to
demonstrate the Importance of the
head lettuce business as high quality
and money-getting crop
Other localities are also on the alert
to the possibilities of this truck crop.
Routt county had in 500 acres last
year, and the estimate is 1000 acres
in the year 1922. Land rents in
the Yampa district is paid at the rate
Of from s25 to s35 per acre. the
Divide country, Teller county, 40
acres; were planted in 1922 and that
acreage will be increased this year.
Colorado's lettuce industry ranked
fourth last year in the nation, there
being 300 per cent increase in 1922
over the production Of the previous
year.