BOARD OF HORTICULTÜRE 151 



four Cents per pound. a very satisfactory price. Furthermore, they indicated 

 thoir faith in the future of canned lo^anberries by writing a few long-term con- 

 tracts with certain growers. This had the effect of creating among them a some- 

 what optimistic spirit as to the future of this wonder berry as a canned fruit. 



Acreage Increase Rapid 



Acreage increased rapidly, resulting in a rather badly overstocked market in 

 the year 1912 ; in fact, by that time there was practically no market. Numerous 

 experiments were being made at about this period by growers and others in dry- 

 ing loganberries. Some very fine appearing samples were produced, and by many 

 the conchision was immediately reached that dried loganberries would prove to 

 be the Solution of the market problem. 



The great consuming public of the United States, however, did not kuow 

 loganberries ; had never heard of them. The natural consequence of this national 

 ignorance concerning loganberries was a lack of demand for them, either canned 

 or evaporated, which quickly resulted in an accumulation of Stocks which could 

 not easily be marketed, and for. that reason canners did not continue to be steady 

 buyers, contenting themselves with the supply which they received from their 

 growers who held term contracts. 



The open market therefore dropped from four cents to two cents and less, and 

 it was not possible to dispose of any large tonnage, even at a price which repre- 

 sented less than the cost of production. 



During these years while loganberries were so cheap, there were many people 

 who were makin^ various uses of loganberries in their own kitchens. Scores of 

 persons known to the writer were making and canning loganberry juice as they 

 canned other fruits, surprising their guests with a drink entirely new and won- 

 derfully good. They also found that for the purpose of making punch, fruit cups, 

 or for jelly, it was unsurpassed, but it was not until the growers began to seriously 

 threateu the destruction of their vineyards in 1913, because of lack of markets 

 for their fruit, either fresh, canned or evaporated, that any extensive commer- 

 cial test of pressing and making loganberry juice in a large way was attempted. 



The crcps of almost the entire Willamette Valley in 1913 had been evaporated, 

 Chief ly because there was no other outlet for the fresh fruit. This simply meant 

 that the fruit could be kept considerably longer in its evaporated form, but there 

 was, however, little or no demand for evaporated loganberries, and in the spring 

 of 1914, with a new crop almost at hand and the warehouses at Salem still loaded 

 with the 1913 evaporated loganberries, the growers' outlook was certainly not 

 very bright. 



Education of Public Need 



The great problem was how to teach millions of consumers the real value of 

 evaporated loganberries quickly enough to save the Community from a serious 

 economic loss and setback, such as would occur if the growers should generally 

 destroy their plantings. 



The crop of 1914, as in the previous year, was pretty generally harvested and 

 evaporated. There was practically no other alternative. While these two crops 

 of dried berries were being peddled about and all sorts of persuasion and sales- 

 manship failed to induce the large eastern distributors to become very enthu- 

 siastic about the product, the very cheapness and fine appearance of the fruit 

 secured a rather wide, though limited, distribution, and likewise caused many 

 consumers to try loganberries once, and they liked them. 



These two crops brought the growers little or no profit, but the distribution 

 of evaporated loganberries over such a wide territory resulted in creating in 

 certain districts a steady consumer demand of sufficient importance to absorb 

 considerable tonnage annually. However, quick action was now absolutely neces- 

 sary, because some growers were already destroying their vineyards, and very 



