Smyrna times., 1926-03-03
GRAPE GROWERS KENT COUNTY
BUILDING UP FINE INDUSTRY
OPPORTUNITIES OF CENTRAL
DELAWARE SUPERIOR TO ANY
Russell E. Wilson, County Agricultur-
al Agent, Cooperating With Kent
Growers in Giving Valuable Advice

one of the leading fruit industries in
Kent county, as was indicated in
recent survey of vineyards made by
County Agent Russell E. Wilson. The
opportunities for grape culture in this
county are superior to most of the
other regions in which this crop is
being grown, as there is generally
less danger from frost injury in the
Late spring and the growers are not
confronted with the number of insects
and plant diseases that are to be
found in many of the other grape pro-
ducing areas in the United States.
The extent to which commercial
grape culture is being practiced in
Kent county at the present time is
shown by the fact that there are ap-
prOximately eight hundred acres of
bearing vineyards in addition to a
marked increase in the acreage of
new vineyards each year. The Con-
cord is the leading variety in the Do
YER and Wyoming district, while many
of the growers in the Smyrna and
Clayton areas are producing the
MoOre's Early grapes.
Along with the increasing interests
in grapes, and the large quantities of
this fruit being grown each year in
this section of the country, there
arose a need for a practical and eco
nOmically sound marketing organiza-
tion which would have for its purpose
the cooperative selling of the crops
produced by its members. AS a re-
suit of this apparent demand for a
more systematic method of marketing
and the efforts upon the part of sew
eral interested growers, a co-opera-
tive organization known as the Kent
Grape Growers Association, Inc, was
formed in the summer of 1924 with a
membership of twenty-six commercial
grape growers of the county.
As the cooperative marketing
movement has made a remarkable ad-
vance during the past ten or fifteen
years, the grape growers in this sec
tiOn may be interested to learn some
thing of the activities of a co-opera-
tive grape selling association in
Michigan which has been doing an ac-
tive business for twenty-six years.
This information may be of special
interest to the Delaware grape grow
ers in that the crop last year from
the older vineyards was reduced al
most twenty-five per cent because of
adverse weather conditions last spring
| Owing to the fact that the yield of
grapes in Michigan in 1925 was only
about One-tenth of a normal crop, the
Southern Michigan Fruit Association,
LawtOn, Michigan, shipped but 123
cars, compared with Oil for the 1924
season. The average price per car,
however, was $1084 against S675 in
1924. Expenses for the 1925 ship
ments were $6348, and for the 1924
shipments $8511. Total sales for the
past season We're $129,316, of which
amount ten per cent was deducted for
expenses. One-half of this deduction
is now being paid to growers as a
patronage refund.
Shipments by the association since
| 1922 have been as follows: 1922, 1894
cars; 1928, 632 cars; 1924, Oil cars;
1925, 123 cars. The association was
organized in 1899 and during its earl
ier pears shipped many cars, the larg-
est number in a single season being
| 1900 cars in 1910.
The supply department of the as.
/ fnI
488 for 1925, compared with S112,381
for the preceding season. Expense.
of operating the supply department
were $4565, which was a decrease ot
nearly $4,000 from the year before.
Membership during 1925 increased
from AL to 497. Of this latter mum
Der, 483 have signed contracts where
by they agree to deliver their crop
of table grapes to the association fo
a period of three years. Owing to tn
short crop of 1925 but 289 member
delivered grapes to the association.
Shipments are made from six rail
way stations. The cost of loadin
varied in 1925 from $1.79 a car a
the home station, where AZ cars wer
loaded, to $500 a car at the home sta
tion from which a smaller number q
cars were shipped.
According to a recent compilatio
of statistics secured by the Unite
States Department of Agriculture al
> prOximately eleven thousand cooper;
tive associations of various kline
werelist ed at the close of the yes
1925.
The exact number of these organ
zations on record in the WashingtC
Office for the past year is 1O,803,whiC
lacks but as of being double the nur
I Der listed with the government
!, 1915 when the first nationwide su
vey Of cooperative associations w
attempted in this country.
y The total number of active ASSOC
atiOns, including those which have I
ported to the Department of Agricl