Pase 8 



BETTER FRUIT 



February 



Exhiljit winning llie fn^st iiiizc, madi' by the Yakima Valley Fr\iit (Irowers' Association at 



the Eighth National Apple Show, held in Spokane November l.'i to 20, in the apple shippers' 



100-box contest for the most striking advertising display of the brand of Extra Eancy 



apples it is offering on the market. 



Exhibit of the Spokane Valley firowers' Union in the apple .shippers' lOfl-box contest for 



the most sulking advertisinf! display of llie brand of I'^xlia l''ancy apples that it is ofl'erinn 



on llie inai kcl. 'I'liis evhiliil won second prize at the I'^ighlh Nalii>nar A|iple Show, held in 



S])okane Novendier 1.') to 20, IDl.'). 



would tend lo establish this markcl 

 slahility, l)r(iailcn (lislrihiilion, increase 

 llie iiilcresi ol' ilealers, fiically increase 

 consiiMiplion and n '•!(■(• the presenl 

 necessary niarjiin of prolil or cos! 

 helween producer and consunicr more 

 llian any other s.\stein. One salesniini 

 1(11 a lar^e .johhiiiK house dislrihiitiiiH 

 a I'lill line of Irilit and prodtlce could 

 easily visit thirty city I'ctaii dealers in 

 a siiiMlc day aii<l riilly iiil'orni each of 

 the thirty concerning all I'rnits and 

 produce in the niarkct and due to 

 ariive. Moreover, he could take orders 

 rroni each of the thirls foi' deliver\ 

 on the following (la.\'. One to three 

 trucks coidd make deliveries lu the 

 whole lhirl> on a single trip. 



'I'oda.v ill our lai'Hc market ci'iders 

 each of these thirty retailers nuist yo 

 to market and send or take his truck 

 and secure and haul his own supplies 

 for the day. This sNstem hikes the 

 valuable lime of the thirt\ retailers 

 from their stores iind thirty Irucks lo 

 do the work tliat one salesman and 

 Irom one lo three trucks cotild do bet- 

 ter. Mr. Hetailer can, if he wishes, and 

 often does, hn.\ his supply fi'om second- 

 haiui deiders, from what is known as 

 a wafj<in peddler who has houuhl a 

 load of Iriick on the market and 

 peddles it out to retail dealers t'oi' such 

 prolil as he can coiiunand. .Such re- 

 tailers must be content lo have "on 

 sale" the limited assortment which he 

 can secure from the peddler wa^on. 'I'o 



economize lime. Mr. Hetailer, who goes 

 lo the market, often makes two trips 

 a week and plans to buy a sullicient 

 supplx to last until the next regular 

 trip, thus causing what is known as 

 the "big days" on a market. Naturally, 

 such a system docs not insure a full 

 daily supply of strictly fresh stocks in 

 the retail places. 



Much of the fruit is shipped from the 

 producing point to what are known as 

 "receivers" in our large centers, and 

 then sold by the receivers through inde- 

 pendent auctions to jobbers, and then 

 by the jobber it is sold to either the 

 retailer who comes to the market and 

 buys and takes away his supplies, or 

 to the wagon peddlers, who, in turn, 

 sell to the retailers, who, in turn, sell 

 to the consumers. How much more 

 simple and economical in time, expense, 

 profits, and how much less deteriora- 

 tion would take place if the fruit or 

 produce could be shipped to large job- 

 bing houses in the first instance and 

 by them sold and delivered direct to 

 retail dealers. Right here is where I 

 believe the present system of market- 

 ing in great centers is out of date and 

 economically v^Tong. I believe the 

 auction system is our greatest disturber 

 of market staliility. and does little to 

 encourage trade or consumption. In- 

 deed, more modern methods should be 

 fostered. The fruit-growing industry 

 has increased in a few years to enor- 

 mous proportions, but marketing and 

 distributing facilities have not kept 

 I)ace with this growth, so the industry 

 is sulVering great waste and loss for 

 lack of proper marketing equipment. 

 Because of the perishable nature of 

 Iriiil and because the industry has been 

 considered a peddler's job, the large 

 capitalists have not been attracted to 

 it as they have to meat, grain, etc. 

 This, 1 believe, is what the country is 

 in great need of, and should be en- 

 couraged. 



The price is perhaps the last, but 

 not the least, item to consider in in- 

 Ihiencing demand. The desire for our 

 fruits must first exist in the mind of 

 the ((insumer and then the i)rice must 

 he widiin his means to insure his pur- 

 chase, and it must be in propel' rela- 

 tion to values of competitive foods. The 

 (|iiestion of the high or low prices of 

 food is a psxchological one. and the 

 haphazard, random statements fre- 

 (lucnllx- appearing in the newspapers 

 and mat'azines that. ;d best, deal onl.\' 

 in generalities and seldom touch the 

 fads as applied lo fruits, is one of the 

 factors in dcslro,\ing demand, because 

 the consumer assumes through repealed 

 reading that a commodity is high when 

 in realit\ it is low. There is, however, 

 alwa\s a high point in values, where, 

 if it is reached, the consuming masses 

 will turn to substitutes and a later 

 ri'duclion in price will stddoin bring 

 hack the consumers' favor during that 

 season. Marketing men generally un- 

 derstanil the serious danger of a high 

 piice diverting consumption a\\a\ from 

 their product. 



I'.xampic: l>iiriiig the cranberry sea- 

 son of 11112 I addressed Ihe following 



