Page 14 



BETTER FRUIT 



February 



BETTER FRUIT 



HOOD RIVER, OREGON 



Official Organ of The Northwest Fruit Grower*' Association 

 A Mi-nthiy Illustrated Magazine Published In the 

 Interest «T Modern Fruit Growing and Marketing 



All ConununiiMtioius should Be Addressed and Remittances 

 Made Payable to 



Better Fruit Publishing Company 



E. H. SHEPARD. Editor and Publisher 



STATE ASSOCIATE EDITORS 



OREGON 



C. I. Lewis, Horticulturist Corvallis 



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 Watsonville 



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. 



Produce all you can — save all you can — 



waste nothing. 

 Keep healthy by eating apples. 

 Help win the war by buying Liberty 



Bonds. 

 People who are not able to buy Liberty 



Bonds should by Thrift Stamps. 

 Use fruit that requires less sugar. 

 All fruits contain sugars in the most 



digestible form. 

 Drink coffee and tea with very little 



sugar — better without. 

 Produce more by intensified farming 



and clearing more land. 

 Spray regularly and thoroughly and 



produce a clean crop of fruit — only 



clean fruit pays. 

 You cannot do a good spraying job with 



a poor outfit — buy the best. 

 Put an apple in every child's lunch 



basket. 

 A box of small apples costs less and 



will supply a greater number of chil- 

 dren with an apple apiece. 

 Every dinner pail should contain an 



apple. 

 Sharpen your tools in the winter and 



have them ready when the spring 



work begins. 

 It is wise to overhaul and clean the 



spray outfit. 

 Be sure the spray outfit is in first-class 



condition in advance of the spraying 



season. 



Spraying. — Last year weather condi- 

 tions were especially favorable, conse- 

 quently the growers had very little 

 fungus. However, codling moth was 

 serious. The growers who followed 

 the spraying program, spraying in the 

 right way at the right time, had com- 

 paratively little loss from codling moth. 

 Those who did not suffered severely. 

 The aphis in 1916 caused a heavy loss; 

 in 1917 the loss was much lighter. The 

 loss from San Jose scale and the dam- 

 age done to the trees, which is always 

 more or less prevalent, makes it nec- 



essary for the grower to watch his 

 orchard very closely. If any scale is 

 present the orchard should be sprayed. 

 To sum up briefly — because one season 

 a man suffers very little from any pest 

 or diseases he must always bear in 

 mind that next year the conditions may 

 be favorable to the development of 

 diseases or pests, consequently the only 

 one safe method is to follow the spray- 

 ing program, omitting none of the 

 sprays for any of the diseases or pests 

 that infest orchard communities. One 

 word more of caution seems advisable, 

 that is in reference to the spray mate- 

 rials used. There are a sufficient num- 

 ber of good makes of arsenate of lead 

 on the market so there is no reason for 

 a fruit grower to take any chances on 

 buying an unknown brand or a brand 

 that is questionable. 



Advertising the Apple. — "Good as 

 an apple in the box" should be made a 

 slogan, and it should be made just as 

 effective and just as strong as "Good as 

 the wheat." "Good as an apple in the 

 box" can be brought about by superior 

 product, packed absolutely according to 

 standard grades, careful handling and 

 being placed on cold storage early in 

 the season promptly after packing, so 

 that none of the life of the apple has 

 left. Under these conditions, with 

 proper demand and satisfactory values, 

 then the fruit grower will be entitled to 

 say when asking credit, "Good as an 

 apple in the box." This demand can be 

 created by proper salesmanship, proper 

 publicity, wide distribution. Every 

 other well-known mercantile commodi- 

 ty that we use, eat or wear, that is ex- 

 tensively sold, has an established repu- 

 tation brought about through adver- 

 tising and salesmanship, coupled with 

 quality. There is no question about the 

 fact that advertising is one of the great 

 big factors in increasing the demand 

 for a first-class commodity. Illustra- 

 tions are too numerous and too well 

 known to mention them in detail in re- 

 gard to general commodities, but it 

 might be worth while to call the fruit 

 grower's attention to a few publicity 

 campaigns that have been carried on in 

 connection with the fruit industry that 

 have proved extremely successful. By 

 advertising, the Sunkist orange has cre- 

 ated an immense demand that consumes 

 50,000 cars a year, whereas 1,400 cars a 

 few years ago was considered an over- 

 supply. Sun Maid raisins have raised 

 the raisin industry of California out of 

 stagnation and put the business on a 

 proper paying basis. Bananas a few 

 years ago could only be had in a few 

 of the large cities. By the greatest 

 salesmanship ever carried on a demand 

 for bananas has been created and 

 bananas are now sold in every city and 

 every village in the United States. The 

 advertising carried on for Skookum 

 apples by the Northwestern Fruit Ex- 

 change has been a big factor in se- 

 suring satisfactory prices. The adver- 

 tising campaign carried on by the Hood 

 River Apple Growers' Association on 

 the Blue and Red Diamond brands has 

 shown splendid results in establishing 

 these brands and has been a big factor 

 in selling them at satisfactory prices. 



The advertising campaign carried on by 

 the Yakima Valley Fruit District Grow- 

 ers' Association with the big "Y" brand 

 during the year 1917 has been of great 

 value in creating a reputation and a 

 demand for that brand and increasing 

 the consumption of apples. Loganberry 

 juice was little used and seldom heard 

 of until this delightful drink was given 

 publicity through the advertising of 

 Loju. Comparatively little cider was 

 drunk until in the last year or two and 

 now cider is being sold extensively, one 

 of the popular brands being Appleju. 

 The Pheasant Fruit Juice Company of 

 Salem, Oregon, by advertising and pub- 

 licity coupled with good salesmanship, 

 built up a splendid business on their 

 fruit juices. 



Loss From Wormy Apples. — Does it 



pay to omit one spray? Emphatically 

 no, even though the cost of spray has 

 advanced. Just take a piece of paper 

 and do some figuring on the cost of 

 spraying, the value of a crop of fruit, 

 and the damage from worms. If you 

 are not handy with figures consult the 

 information contained in the table pre- 

 pared by Mr. S. W. Foster appearing 

 elsewhere in this edition. If the loss is 

 3 per cent, at SI. 00 per box, and the 

 crop averages 300 boxes per acre, the 

 loss will pay the cost of spray material 

 of four sprays at 300 gallons to the 

 acre for four times. Every grower will 

 admit that 3 per cent is a small loss, as 

 many growers lose 10 or 15 per cent, 

 and growers understand fully, in addi- 

 tion to this, that there is an extra loss 

 from healed-over stings which are 

 worth less in value on account of hav- 

 ing to be packed in lower grades. The 

 editor advises all fruit growers to give 

 the matter a little thought and a little 

 study and to do a little figuring, feeling 

 sure if they will do this they will omit 

 none of the sprays or fail to spray 

 thoroughly. 



Fruit Growers' Associations. — The 

 fruit growers' association is expected 

 to do two things for the fruit grower — 

 sell his crop at satisfactory prices and 

 furnish him the necessary supplies, 

 such as boxes, paper and spray mate- 

 rial. To do the latter, especially, re- 

 quires capital, more so now than ever 

 before, when the time limit on credit is 

 being shortened on account of war con- 

 ditions. Therefore it is more important 

 for the fruit grower than ever before 

 to help create a surplus for his selling 

 organization. A small amount per box 

 in a few years will build a splendid 

 surplus. Fruit growers should not hesi- 

 tate in being willing to contribute to 

 this surplus — in fact it is a necessity. 

 Goods that are bought must be paid for. 

 A small amount per box of one or two 

 cents per year will soon build a splen- 

 did surplus in a very few years. With 

 good equipment in the way of ware- 

 houses, cold storage plants, etc., paid 

 for, or being paid for, and a good sur- 

 plus, an association is in a position to 

 borrow money, but if the fruit grower 

 is afraid to contribute to this surplus 

 how can he expect the bank to have 

 sufficient confidence to be willing to ad- 

 vance money to the association. 



