Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1928-09-03
i'm OUR
VAlsLsEY

LETTERS from George r. Walker,
Brownsville man sojourning in Can
ada. indicate that citrus fruits from
organizations in the Valley which
give special attention to grade and
pack, are not reaching jobbers in
the Hamilton district.
Valley packs with which those
Canadians are acquainted are not
as desirable as the Florida pack,
Walker says.
Also. the fruit is not as we'll
cleaned And there are other things
that make it less desirable.
Writing again on further investi-
cations, Walker says:
"SINCE WRITING you on the
grapefruit and vegetable situation
in this particular section of On
tario Port Stanley. I have visited
other towns and cities to the east
Of here, including Hamilton, a city
Of about l25. 900, q hundred miles
away. and Toronto with about C00.-
600, lying on the north shore OF
Lake Ontario, some 140 miles from
here.
''As far as and including Hamil-
ton. the feeling toward our grape
fruit is much the same as reported
previously for London and this vicin-
ity. And ] ran across consumers
who were delighted with il: but in
Toronto. great cosmopolitan city,
ran into something that walked me
up.
TRUE. the few consumers
found who had eaten our fruit had
no complaint to make. One mining
broker who had been receiving X
for several years from a friend in
San Antonio, even used the word
marvellous to describe its quality.
but dealers and a big importer had
considerable criticism TO make.
This criticism was not on quail
ity, though they said some ccnsum-
ers liked the somewhat bitter flavor
of Florida grapefruit, but concerned
packing and grading, chiefly.
%F1orida packs with heavy
bulge. the Valley with a slim one.
Florida grades as TO size. etc, are
about perfect, while they said il
was somewhat common to find more
than one size in the Valley pack
FLORIDA boxes are always at
tractive in appearance, while they
complained of finding what appear
ed to be weather beaten boxes and
sometimes dirty ones among the
Valley shipments.
THEY ALSO SAID Florida fruit
was better cleaned. though ours
was fair. Now, there il nothing
here that cannot be remedicd. but
rs the importer said, Quality alone
will not get the Toronto market for
your fruit; you must give US the
various grades that Florida sends
and must give Us the same kind Of
pack that they give.
"This importer admitted that
Hamilton and western Ontario in
general already preferred our fruit.
hut other sections are still sold on
Florida and il will require a real
fight 10 get them to change over.
"Of course. Valley fruit is en-
tirely a new proposition up here.
and we have made a big hit, under
the circumstances. But when Flor
ida is exerting every effort 70 inn
prove pack and grade, we must GER
tainly give them its equal and then
we will win out on the quality Of
our fruit. This importer had orders
for five additional carloads from
western Ontario that he could not
fill though inability to obtain them.
"AS TO VEGETABLES. found
that the Italian dealers would still
buy bushel hampers of carrots. but
most Of the dealers would buy only
California crates. containing five
dozen graded punches. The impress
sion prevailed that i WOULD soon
"a ail crates.
zone Of the objections "a the
bushcI hampers was that the tails
or the carrots protruded through
the openings in the hampers and
were broken off. No one loves a
tailless carrot.
"The same complaint was made as
formerly reported concerning un-
graded, uneven count lunches.
Also. they prefer long, Thin car
rots. But ours will do and our low
rm~s~L4 ~~s~ hn4nu str ~rw~1In~-
ably against California. they said.
"ALL OUR VEGETABLES are
well thought of and We have a big
markce mere. If we give the Cali
foruia pack. and grade carefully"
The California Fruit Growers
Exchange has an office in Toronto,
Mr.. Walker says.
Which is also something for Val
ley growers TO think about.
Walker is planning to so 70 st.
Johns. Newfoundland. and will pur-
sue his investigations there.
BROWNSVILLE seems TO be off
the itinerary Of Mr.. y. Pluvius.
During the past week rains, Or
showers have fallen in complete
circle around Brownsville--bu none
in Brownsville. except fol- trace
Sunday night.
Rains have fallen on and near
the coast, and up the river from
Brownsville. and as far west as Rio
Grande City.
Things looked ripe for showers
Sunday afternoon and night, but
failed to materialize.
A clcud hung lazily in the west
all the afternoon, and moved n to-
ward Brownsville about sunset
(Continued on page twol