The Daily Alaska empire., 1929-09-13

profitably. This seems to be z
 knotty problem to solve.
 q believe, however, that mar.
 keting conditions would improve
 if all the growers would organize
 operate their own boat on a co
 operative basis, and bring theil
 produce to market at regular inter-
 vals. In this way they could
 either supply the local merchants or have their own marketing place
 Such an organization would neces- sarily have to be carried on in business-like manner and not
 in a haphazard way because the
 public as whole is discriminatine and wants what it wants when it
 wants it, whether it is buying vege- tables or any other commodity
 Some growers make the grave mistake of not grading their pro- duce properly but expect to sell at top notch prices Such meth ods must be discouraged and pro- hibited because such practices will not only destroy the public's con- fidence in home grown products but will hurt the honest producer as well as the dishonest one. The consuming public naturally buys where it can get the most for its money regardless of whether the commodity comes from Alaska or from the states. Therefore, it is important that the growers should market only the best products grown by them. They can profit by feeding the culls to hogs, chick ems and livestock. Then, instead of selling inferior vegetables they can sell meat, butter and eggs.
 Economic Conditions
 Unfortunately, economic condi- tions in Alaska are badly unbal- anced. Approximately $5,000,00O worth of food stuff is imported annually into Alaska when it could just as well be produced here. From this standpoint alone it shows that a market for homegrown prod ucts should be created since one for foreign ones has already been established. In other words, 1t requires good salesmanship to put the deal through. By that mean, the farmers, merchants, and con- sumers must all cooperate and work collectively toward a certain goal and buy and consume Alaska grown products as far as is feas- ible in preference to those shipped in from the states. When this is accomplished, am quite sure that the needs of the Alaskan farmer will be solved.
 Southeastern Alaska should not be confused with being as great an agricultural region as compared with other districts in the Terri tory where there is more arable land for general farming purposes It is, however, an ideal place for home gardening. The finest kind of vegetables, small fruits, and flowers can be grown here, and they can not be excelled anywhere else in the United States. The ex- hibits on display at the Eighth Annual Fair of Southeastern AL aska is proof enough to satisfy the doubts of the most skeptical I am confident that the farmers of Southeastern Alaska will find it much easier and more profitable to market their produce in the fu- ture by becoming better organ ized.
 This could be accomplished much more satisfactorily if we had a good extension worker in the field who could work with the farmers, aid them in getting or ganized properly, and give them advice whenever needed. This method, in my opinion, is bound to get quicker results in getting the farmers on business like basis. And in turn, the whole community will benefit from such an organiza- tion and it would materially help to develop Alaska's agricultural re- sources