MARKETING FRUIT 



By Hon. W. K. Newell. President of State Board of Horticulture. 



The question of most vital importance that now confronts the fruit 

 growers of Oregon is that of marketing. Situated as we are at a 

 great distance from the large cities of the eastern states and Europe, 

 and prodncing a large surplus that must be exported, the matter of 

 reacbjng these markets at a profit is a serious one. There is unques- 

 tioriably a market for our fruit if we can find it and reach it, a price 

 that will not be prohibitive to the consumer. 



Statistics show an immense falling off in the production of apples 

 in the United States; the crop of 1896 was 67,000,000 barreis while 

 that of 1909 was only 22,735,000 barreis, and the present year only 

 very slightly in excess of last, while the population has increased 

 from 70,000,000 to 90,000,000. Instead of showing this surprising 

 decrease of production and consumption, the apple industry should 

 show a growth commensurate with the increase in population. At a 

 time when all food stuffs have been increasing in price, the attention 

 of the consuming public should have been turned more sharply to the 

 food value of apples. 



President Howard Elliott, of the Northern Pacific R. R., in an address 

 delivered at the opening of the Spokane apple show is authority for 

 the Statement that "apples compare very favorably with bread, dried 

 beans and similar articles of food in the total amounts of food material 

 present, and that it is a source of energy rather than of tissue form- 

 ing material. Verv careful experiments have been made and show 

 that ten cents worth of fresh apples used as food furnishes 1467 units 

 (calories) of energy to the body; ten cents worth of porterhouse steak 

 furnishes 441 units (calories) of energy; ten cents worth of dried beans 

 furnishes 892 units (calories) so that in general, it may be said that the 

 apple furnishes a wholesome, palatable and very attractive addition to the 

 food supply of the family; and the increasing production of the apple 

 should help to offset the growing price of meat and other forms of food." 



Horticultural societies and kindred organizations should take steps to 

 spread such knowledge in a way to reach the consuming public in a 

 forcibl.2 ntanner. 



Althovigh it may be truthfully said that Oregon leads the way in 

 methods of marketing and that we are far better organized than are the 

 growers of any other fruit section, still it must be confessed that we are 

 far from being organized as we should be. At present we are attempting 

 to market a great quantitv of fruit of a class that should never be 

 placed upon the market in the fresh state, and we are crowding upon 

 tho market in ont or two months time a supply that should be distrib- 

 uted ovei six or eight months. 



The fruit-consuming public demands, and is certainly entitled to have, 

 a fruit that is at least reasonablv sound, well colored and free from 

 insect injuries, and in a clean, attractive package, if it is to pay prices 

 that are remunerative to the grower. 



The markets are getting more and more particular each year as to 

 the quality of the fruit and the attractiveness of the package, and 



