FIFTY-FIRST ANNUM. REPORT. 66 



thousand consumers who have heard of the vahic of the fruit, and where 

 they can get it. This lady explains that it is not necessarily the smooth- 

 est, the highest colored fruit that is the best to buy. For instance 

 oranges — Never mind whether there is a speck on the skin or a little 

 rust, perhaps they are the best oranges. Weigh them to see how much 

 juice is in them. Can we afford to have one organization going abroad 

 in the land doing that? If wo join them wo can have ten or a hundred 

 advertising our product and selling it. When they can get an audience 

 that are interested, they do not know how to buy our goods, but the}' 

 are going to be taught how to buy them. 



People in this section are particularly interested in apples at this 

 time of year. A cannor will tell you that an apple that has a decayed 

 or bruised spot in it is not worth bothering with. If this is true for the 

 canner, it is also true for the housewife. She is not getting as good value 

 as when she is l)uying No. 1 stock. This is part of the work of this 

 organization to explain that to them. As long as you are telling them 

 the truth it is of great value to them. Truth is mighty and must prevail. 



Another proposition that was discussed, but has not boon put into 

 effect as yet, was to have a man appear before such organizations as 

 the Kiwanis, Rotary Club, etc. and tell them the value of fruit products. 

 Those local clubs are always glad to have a speaker come and talk on 

 any subject. We have the business men that will listen to fifteen minute 

 talks, if we can provide the speaker. 



There has been a great decline in the use of patent medicines by the 

 public. There have been great fortunes made in selling patent medicine 

 to the American Public. Since wo commenced advertising fruit the 

 way it has been done, the consumption of fruit has been hurting the con- 

 sumption of patent medicines. When you tell them there is nothing 

 the p: tent medicines will cure that fi'uit won't cure better, they will 

 gladly take interest. 



Why not get together on a great campaign of that kind? 



There are times when fruit sells cheaper than the cost of production. 

 You were told at the opening of this session of the wonderful possibili- 

 ties of the fruit business, in my capacity as President of the Michigan 

 State Farm Bureau, I have been over a large portion of this state and 

 in my judgment 95% of the farms in Michigan are not earning the cost 

 of production this yeai". I think outside of the fruit district some es- 

 pecially favored localities the farmer has made fairly good. It is pretty 

 hard to toll them in the next few years how they are going to get the 

 cost of production. But you people are in a lousiness that no one can 

 compete with you inside of ten or fifteen years. Nurserymen will tell 

 you that trees will bear in three to five years, but you know better. 



Your business is absolutely safe if your market is safe. Over on the 

 Pacific Coast those men are seriously thinking and have already laid 

 plans to own their own steamship line to market their fruit to distant 

 ports. Of course we are producers of fruit and when it comes to market- 

 ing fruit men who understand that part of it should bo the ones to do it. 



Every once in a while, every five or six years, we have a bumper apple 

 crop. You know what that means. What do we do with our surplus 

 We can find a market for our surplus. For two thousand barrels more 

 can be profitably marketed in the United States — find a market for them. 

 As an individual we cannot do that — collectively we can. Some of the 



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