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BETTER FRUIT 



August 



BETTER FRUIT 



HOOD RIVER. OREGON 



Official Organ of The Northwest Fruit Growers' Association 

 A Monthly Illustrated Magazine Published in the 

 Interest of Modern Fruit Growing and Marketing 



All Communications Should Be Addressed and Remittances 

 Made Payable to 



Better Fruit Publishing Company 



E. H. SHEPAKD, Editor and Publisher 



STATE ASSOCIATE EDITORS 



OREGON 



C. I. Lewis, Horticulturist CorvalllB 



WASHINGTON 



Dr. A. L. Melander. Entomologist Pullman 



O. M. Morris. Horticulturist Pullman 



W. S. Thornber, Horticulturist Pullman 



COLORADO 



C. P. Gillette. Director and Entomologist Fort Collins 



E. B. House, Chief of Department of Civil and Irrigation 



Engineering. State Agricultural College Fort Collins 



ARIZONA 



E. P. Taylor, Horticulturist Tucson 



WISCONSIN 



Dr. E. D. Ball, Director and Entomologist Madison 



MONTANA 



O. B. Whipple, Horticulturist Bozeman 



CALIFORNIA 



C. W. Woodworth. Entomologist Berkeley 



W. H. Volck. Entomologist Watsonyille 



Leon D. Batchelor, Horticulturist Riverside 



INDIANA 



H. S. Jackson, Pathologist Lafayette 



BRITISH COLUMBIA 

 R. M. Winslow, Provincial Horticulturist Victoria 



SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: 



In the United States, $1.00 per year in advance 



Canada and foreign, including postage, $1.50 



ADVERTISING RATES ON APPLICATION 



Entered as second-class matter December 27, 1906 at the 



Postofflce at Hood River, Oregon, under Act 



of Congress of March 3, 1879, 



Direct to the Consumer. — The July 



issue of Better Fruit contained some 

 interesting figures and statistics in con- 

 nection with direct shipments in caiiots 

 of apples from the Northwest, showing 

 that out of 35,085 cities only 611, or 1% 

 per cent, have been sold. Fruit growers 

 who have not recefved the July edition 

 should subscribe and request their sub- 

 scription to include the July number, as 

 a few copies still remain. In the article 

 in July that was one point not brought 

 out with sufficient prominence, that is, 

 the extra handling. Whenever a carload 

 of apples is shipped to some city and 

 jobbed out in the surrounding territory, 

 please bear in mind that the car has to 

 be unloaded, the apples hauled from the 

 depot to the fruit dealer, and from the 

 fruit dealer's place of business back to 

 the railroad and reshipment by rail, 

 making three extra unnecessary han- 

 dlings, all of which means more or less 

 bruising. In addition to this there is 

 the unnecessary cost, consisting of the 

 cartage from the railroad to the dealer's 

 place of business, 2 or 3 cents; back to 

 the railroad, 2 or 3 cents; extra freight 

 to the local town, 5 or 10 cents, maybe 

 more, and the dealer's extra profit in 

 addition— all of which means 20 to 40 

 cents, according to conditions, unneces- 

 sary expense, so that when the retailer 

 adds his profit on to this extra expense 

 it makes the apples cost the consumer 

 possibly 75 cents per box more than 

 they should. 



Spraying for Codling Moth.— Obser- 

 vation in connection with the first 

 brood of codling moth seems to indicate 

 that the brood extended over rather a 

 longer period than usual. In addition, 

 indications also are that the codling 

 moth pest is rather prevalent this year, 

 somewhat more extensive than in past 

 seasons. For these two reasons the 

 fruit grower should study his condition 

 very carefully, and there is no doubt 



that in many cases it would be ad- 

 visable for the fruit grower during the 

 balance of the season to make two 

 applications of arsenate of lead instead 

 of one, putting on one early in August 

 and the other late in August or early in 

 September. It should be borne in mind 

 this is a suggestion made applicable in 

 accordance with conditions. Every 

 grower should use judgment. A little 

 later he will be able to decide intelli- 

 gently whether it is necessary to apply 

 one or two sprays. There is no ques- 

 tion about the advisability of urging the 

 grower to do everything he possibly 

 can and spare no reasonable expense to 

 keep his crop free from codling moth. 



is the keynote to better prices, and fur- 

 thermore they are all anxious to see 

 the selling concerns adopt a system this 

 year that will distribute the 1917 crop 

 to more cities than have been sold 

 direct in the past. 



Diversity. — A short but very interest- 

 ing article on Southern Idaho gives 

 some practical information in reference 

 to diversity that is worthy of attention 

 of all fruit growers. Southern Idaho, 

 as nearly everyone knows, lost practi- 

 cally all of its fruit by frost in 1916. 

 If it had not been for the fact that fruit 

 growers turned immediately to diver- 

 sity lines they would hardly have been 

 able to exist during the year. We do 

 not know what the future has in store. 

 Some calamity may hit a fruit district 

 in some form or other in the most un- 

 expected way, so it seems wise to sug- 

 gest to all fruit growers that, where 

 possible, they should engage in diver- 

 sity, at least to a sufficient extent to pay 

 running expenses during the year. 



This issue contains illustrations on 

 distribution, giving the cities of over 

 3,000 population in the States of Minne- 

 sota, Ohio and Louisiana, showing how 

 great is the number of towns that have 

 not been sold apples in carlots in com- 

 parison with the number of towns that 

 have been sold direct in carlots. There 

 is no question that with sufficient sell- 

 ing force to cover the territory thor- 

 oughly that the distribution of the 

 Northwestern apple crop can be greatly 

 increased and a great many towns sold 

 in 1917 that have not been sold in the 

 past. The important fact in connection 

 with this statement is that in so doing 

 the selling concerns will reduce the 

 quantity going into the big cities, there- 

 by avoiding congestion, consequently 

 maintaining a higher level of prices, 

 and in maintaining a higher level of 

 prices in the cities it must be borne in 

 mind that by so doing there is no ques- 

 tion that a higher level of prices will be 

 maintained in all of the smaller towns 

 and cities. 



Not Overproduction but Lack of Dis- 

 tribution. — The article appearing in the 

 July edition of Better Fruit, by the 

 editor, has created more comment than 

 any other article we have published. A 

 number of people have personally in- 

 formed the editor they had no idea that 

 so few towns had been sold direct, and 

 a number of others, courteous and 

 thoughtful, are commending Better 

 Fruit for its excellent work by letter. 

 It is emphatically apparent that the 

 fruit growers of the Northwest in the 

 favorable reception they have given 

 this article realize greater distribution 



Buying Now. — The constantly and 



continuous increasing prices on all 

 kinds of commodities are sufficient 

 justification for every fruit grower pur- 

 chasing all articles required in his busi- 

 ness at the earliest possible moment. It 

 is advisable to do so for another rea- 

 son — on account of the shortage of 

 labor and raw materials. In many 

 lines there is a possibility of the grower 

 postponing purchasing too long. He 

 may not be able to purchase in suffi- 

 cient quantity to meet his requirements. 

 Therefore, the editor of Better Fruit 

 does not hesitate to suggest that every 

 fruit grower should purchase his sup- 

 ply of boxes, ladders, buckets, grading 

 machines, nailing presses, paper, and 

 all other equipment and supplies that 

 he may need in harvesting this year's 

 crop. He should not only make his 

 purchases immediately, but he should 

 haul them out to his packing house just 

 as fast as he can get them there. 



Bruised Apples. — A short article by 

 Mr. L. F. Dumas on .this subject is 

 worthy of the attention of every fruit 

 grower. When a man has put in a 

 year's labor and expense in producing 

 a crop of apples it is nothing short of 

 insanity to half spoil the crop by bruis- 

 ing in the last thirty days during the 

 harvesting season. Fruit growers, as 

 a rule, do not realize how undesirable 

 a box of bruised apples is unless they 

 have visited some of the cities and gone 

 into the grocery stores and looked into 

 the boxes of apples where it is not an 

 unusual occurrence to see apples so 

 badly bruised that they are almost unfit 

 for use, with at least 25 per cent loss 

 from decay resulting from bruising. 



Box Strapping. — The serious loss that 

 is reported every year on export ship- 

 ments on account of the broken pack- 

 ages is sufficient evidence that some- 

 thing should be done if possible to 

 avoid this loss. While some people have 

 suggested that export fruit should be 

 shipped in heavier boxes, the suggestion 

 is not very practical, for the reason the 

 shipping concerns do not always know 

 when the fruit is packed what boxes 

 will be exported. Box strapping is used 

 for many other commodities, and if 

 used on export boxes of apples there is 

 no question but what it would save the 

 growers very heavy losses each year. 



Conservation of Food. — Every fruit 

 grower's wife should consider it her 

 duty to conserve as much fruit and 

 vegetables as possible for winter use 

 by canning and evaporating. By put- 

 ting up a good liberal supply for home 

 use expenses can be greatly reduced. 

 Putting up your own supply of fruits 

 and vegetables will reduce the quantity 

 of other kinds of foods to be purchased, 

 leaving that much more for others who 

 are not able to do their own canning 

 or drying. 



