Page 



36 



BETTER FRUIT 



January 



S.O.S. 



From the good ship 

 "Long Bow." 



"A periscope has 

 just been obsei-ved to port — we are al- 

 tering our course, hoping to zig-zag 

 away from the enemy— send help quick 



The message suddenly stops. It is 

 believed that the Long Bow has gone 

 down with all hands. Prominent among 

 the passengers was Mr. Bunco Skinner, 

 whose spectacular success as promotor 

 of the Continental Market Distributor's 

 Bureau attracted wide attention. It is 

 reported that Mr. Skinner was urged 

 to devote his talents to INTERNATION- 

 AL PIRACY and he is said to have been 

 on his way to accept such a post with a 

 prominant European belligerent when 

 the Long Bow was submarined. 



(C. C. P.) 



Good Bye, B. S., 

 Proud Produce 

 Pirate! 



Your B. S. schemes have served their 

 purpose if their lessons have been 

 learned by Better Fruit readers who 

 have watched your trail. 



Northwestern Apple Producers will 

 never prosper till they quit being gulled 

 by clever prestidigitators who profess 

 to pluck dollars out of the thin air. 

 The latest form of this emotional in- 

 sanity is to be found in the NATIONAL 

 DISTRIBUTOR IDEA. This idea insures 

 a rake-off to evei-ybody except the pro- 

 ducer — he gets what is left. 



There is no magic in mere size and 

 volume. The formidable combinations 

 of so-called National Distributors are 

 everywhere breaking down, and the 

 trade is settling back to the time tested 

 and normal condition of INDIVIDUAL 

 effort. The victims of the National 

 Distributors are tired of holding the 

 bag. The number of independent local 

 shipping organizations is increasing. 

 The F.O.B. sales are heavier, and we 

 are beginning to hear of F.O.B. auction 

 sales. 



The producer's problem finds its true 

 solution in a UNION OF INDIVIDUAL 

 EFFORT AND LOCAL CO-OPERATION. 



Carry your eggs in one basket and then 

 watch the basket. The small producer 

 cannot watch a National Distributor, 

 but he can watch and guard his inter- 

 ests in a local union of neighbors. 



The Produce Reporter Company 

 stands for the individual producer and 

 for co-operation. The story of how to 

 market your produce safely and get the 

 maximum returns will be sent to any- 

 one interested. It is free on request. 



Produce Reporter Company 



CHICAGO 



(lam, one in London, another in Ham- 

 burg, po.s.sibly anollier in Copenhagen 

 and north — when we can ship direct 

 through the Panama Canal. 



But the great big work of getting 

 new iiiarkeLs and muUiplying our out- 

 lets is in the small cities and towns of 

 our own country. It is easy in a year 

 of moderate prices to put a carload or 

 two of apples in a town or village that 

 only gels a hundred or two boxes per 

 year now. For ten years I have con- 

 sistently worked on this plan, opening 

 up these new small markets. This 

 year, according to railroad records, the 

 Yaki)Tia Valley shipped 1,000 cars of 

 mixed fruit into these small markets. 

 The sales organization I represent 

 shipped 42.3 carloads, leaving less than 

 (iOO cars for Ihe other one hundred and 

 thirteen Yakima shippers. If only two 

 or three other shijipcrs had duplicated 

 our work in this line the soft-fruit 

 marketing problem would be solved. I 

 agree with you this can be done only 

 as we get together in each valley or 

 district on joint-selling boards or by 

 reciprocal arrangments with each other 

 and with the other districts. If the 

 main shippers in each valley will get 

 together on a joint-selling board, send 

 out one set of prices and one set of 

 traveling salesmen, working together 

 and not fighting each other, the market- 

 ing problem will be solved. I admit 

 this will take a lot of patience, organ- 

 izing ability and real up-to-date sales- 

 manship. But tell me, why shouldn't 

 we do if? Isn't our orchard indus- 

 try worth the effort'? ^^^ly should we 

 have one hundred and fourteen sets 

 of prices go out of the Yakima Valley? 

 Why should the Northwest have four- 

 teen apple salesmen in Bozeman at one 

 time and not one salesman in fourteen 

 hundred other towns"? Why should we 

 maintain eight salesmen in Butte when 

 two could do the work better? 



You ask what we accomplished this 

 summer at Yakima, with the assistance 

 of Mr. Paulhamus' committee, Mr. 

 Davidson and the Growers' and Ship- 

 pers' Councils. First, remember, all 

 the machinery was new; most of it had 

 to be made or remade without any 

 money when the season was full on 

 and the marketing machinery in mo- 

 tion. One big thing we acconipli.shed 

 by united effort was getting I'nclc Saiu 

 to send out two young men from the 

 Bureau of Markets. Daily meetings 

 with these men, receiving telegraphic 

 reports from Washington City, giving 

 prices at all Eastern markets, distribu- 

 tion of our own shii)ment and our com- 

 petitors', and getting this information 

 at one p. m. each day were helps that 

 can scarcely be overestimated. It was 

 a great drawback that the farmer-.ship- 

 pers and some other busy shippers 

 would not meet regularly, so did not 

 get all the benefit. 



Anollier big thing we foimd — that it 

 is absolutely necessary to have the as- 

 sistance of strong cash buyers, or have 

 a considerable guarantee fund to draw 

 on to protect the market at critical 

 times, or perhaps both. Our situation 

 was that three cash buyers were openly 



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