I9I5 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page 23 



WRITE US ABOUT THE 



Universal Fruit Sizer and Conveyors 



Most Efficient. Least Expensive. You'd better investigate them. 



WESTERN FRUIT GRADER & MFG. CO. 



Grand Junction, Colorado 



Marketing the Apple 



To attempt to shed any new light 

 on the much discussed topic of 

 marketing our apple crop, is a 

 difiicult task. There is, however, an 

 opportunity to point out to those most 

 interested in the solution of this ques- 

 tion, the fact, that practical application 

 of sonic of the plans now in use would 

 he more beneficial to the grower than 

 the constant effort to find new schemes 

 to dabble with. 



The marketing of our product under 

 whatever name or form it may ulti- 

 mately be done, is going to be a com- 

 plex and many-sided affair, and it is 

 unfortunate that the individual most 

 interested, viz., the grower, is lament- 

 ably ignorant of the many difTiculties 

 and perplexities that must always be 

 met and overcome in cfTecting a satis- 

 factory distribution of his crop. The 

 main object to be attained is the getting 

 for the grower the maximum figure that 

 the business can stand. By this I do 

 not mean that the price should be 

 shoved up to an extortionate figure, be- 

 cause then the consumption would be 

 reduced and the business brought to 

 a standstill. Nor do I mean that the 

 fruit should be sold at such a low price 

 as to return no profit to the grower, 

 for in that case the production would 

 cease and the business be brought to a 

 standstill. There is, however, an aver- 

 age price at which consumption can be 

 kept in a healthy condition and at 

 which the careful grower can succeed. 

 The system or systems that for a period 

 of years can bring this condition about 

 is what we are looking for. One of the 

 chief obstacles to this result is the 

 grower himself. The plans to be suc- 

 cessful must be elastic. There is no 

 one way in which fruit can be sold 

 year in and year out. There is no one 

 line of effort that can successfully cope 

 with the varying conditions of even 

 any one year. 



There are, however, certain broad 

 lines along which the general scheme 

 can and must move to have any hope 

 of success. Siipidy and demand is the 

 dominating factor. When the supply is 

 great, the demand, while it may not 

 decrease, is necessarily less active and 

 must be sought more diligently. This 

 invariably means a lower price and 

 more expensive selling. In years of 

 short crops the opposite is true. Apples 

 not being a vital necessity, despite 

 assertions to the contrary, are not as 

 badly needed in years of financial 

 stress as wheat, meat, eggs, and the 

 other necessities of life. Therefore, it 

 is only right to expect in seasons such 

 as this that the returns will not be as 



By J. F. Segrue, Cashmere, Washingtou 



glittering as in years of short crops 

 and prosperity, and any plan or plans 

 must naturally be subject to these con- 

 ditions. The grower in too many in- 

 stances forgets to fake these conditions 

 into consideration, and casts aside or 

 loses faith in the plans already ma- 

 tured, whereas, as a matter of fact, the 

 plan is all right. The grower also has 

 a happy faculty of forgetting that the 

 most perfect plan is doomed before- 

 hand if concerted action on the part of 

 the executive or selling force and the 

 producer is neglected. The sharpest 

 axe in the world will not cut down a 

 tree unless used as it should be. The 

 finest bricks and mortar will not erect 

 a building unless competent labor is 

 employed. Therefore, until the rank 

 and file of the fruit growers study the 

 salient points of any marketing scheme, 



and after studying it, apply the knowl- 

 edge gained thereby in putting the 

 theory into actual practice, little or no 

 result can be expected. 



Plans of any kind are not perfected 

 in a day or year. Any selling plan can 

 only be perfected — if indeed that is 

 possible — by years of patient plodding. 

 Stick-to-it-iveness is the great attribute 

 that our business is so sorely in need 

 of. It is generally conceded that a cen- 

 tral organization of some kind is the 

 most likely solution of this question. 

 Be it one or two organizations of this 

 nature that is finally decided upon, 

 there is this feature in common to both, 

 to-wit: There must be a central or exec- 

 utive body from which radiates the fol- 

 lowing spokes: On one side, the can- 

 vassers of the trade, call them agents, 

 brokers, what you please, whose duty 



"BLUE RIBBON 



^5 



(EXTRA F-AIMCY) 



J^ 



"RED RIBBON 



(RArSICY) 



Quality Brands of Yakima Fruits 



We specialize in mixed cars of 



BERRIES AND CHERRIES 



and will also have straight and mixed cars of the earliest Apricots, 



Prunes, Pears and Peaches g^rown in the Yakima \'alley. 



Write or wire for information. 



Yakima County Horticultural Union 



FRED EBERLE, Manager 

 NORTH YAKIMA, WASHINGTON 



Oregon Nursery Company 



ORENCO, OREGON 



Extensive growers of all lines of Fruit, Nut and Shade Trees, F.vergreens, 

 Flowering Shrubs, \'ines, Roses, etc. Introducers of the \'I\('OM.-\X 

 FRAXQL'ETTE walnut, recognized as the best walnut. Our large 

 complete stock consists of varieties suitable for every kind of climate. 

 Write us aliout your wants before buying. 



W'HtN WRITINC ADVERTISERS MENTION BETTER FRUIT 



