Page 14 



BETTER FRUIT 



June 



BETTER FRUIT 



HOOD RIVER, OREGON 



Official Organ of The Noillnvest Kniit Growers' Association 

 A Monthly Illustrated Magazine Published in the 

 Interest of Modern Fruit Grav\1ng and Marketing 



All Communications Should Be Addressed and Remitlances 

 Made Payable to 



Better Fruit Publishing Company 



E. H. SHEPARD. Editor and Publisher 



STATE ASSOCIATE EDITORS 



OREGON 



C. I. Lems. Horticulturist Corvallis 



WASHINGTON 



Dr. A. L. Melander. Entomologist Pullman 



O. M. Morris, Horticulturist Pullman 



W. S. Thomber, Horticulturist Pullman 



COLORADO 



C. P. Gillette. Director and Entomologist Port Collins 



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



Engineering. State Agricultural College Fort Collins 



E. P. Taylor. Horticulturist Grand Junction 



IDAHO 



W. U. Wicks. Horticulturist Moscow 



UTAH 



Dr. E. D. Ball. Director and Entomologist Logan 



MONTANA 



O. B. Whipple. Horticulturist Bozeman 



CALIFORNIA 



('. W. Woodworth. Entomologist Berkeley 



W. H. Volck. Entomologist Watsoiiville 



Leon D. Batchelor. Horticulturist Riverside 



INDIANA 



H. S. Jackson. Pathologiat Lafayette 



BKITI.SH COLUMBIA 

 R. M. Winslow. Provincial Horticulturist Victoria 



SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: 



In the United States, $L00 per year in advance 



Canada and foreign, including postage. $1.50 



ADVERTISING RATES ON APPLICATION 



Entered as second-class matter December 27. 191.6, at the 



Postofflce at Hood River. Oregon, under Act 



of Congress of March 3. 1879. 



Crop Statistics for 1916.— 1916 was a 

 period of wonderful bloom. A fruit- 

 grower went out through his orchard, 

 viewed the bloom, swelled with pride 

 and imagination, came to town and told 

 the editor of his local newspaper what 

 an immense crop he was going to have. 

 The editor of "Better Fruit" has always 

 been conservative in statistics, and for 

 many years in the past has advocated 

 the advisability of giving no estimates 

 during the blooming period, time and 

 time again, — this year in particular. 

 The value of this advice i.s evident. 

 Never before in the history of the 

 Northwest, in some sections, has the 

 bloom been heavier or the .shedding 

 greater. Frost damages have occurred 

 in many sections, some serious, some 

 not. The June drop has not taken 

 place. Already crop estimates given 

 out from some distircts have been re- 

 called on account of frost damage. In 

 other sections the shedding has greatly 

 reduced estimates. The June drop is 

 still ahead. The reports on estimates 

 from other sections of the United 

 States, outside of the Northwest, are 

 not much in evidence further than to 

 say everything is favorable. There- 

 fore "Better Fruit," in accordance with 

 its time-honored custom of giving no 

 estimates during the blooming time, 

 will refrain from commenting on the 

 size of the crop at the present and 

 until such time as the most serious 

 dangers of loss, which occur in the 

 early part of the season, are past, which 

 will be some time after the June drop 

 has taken place. Even then estimates 

 are a problematical matter to some 

 extent, as disease or pests may break 

 out in some districts, dry condition 

 prevail in some others, and other 

 factors arise which may materially 

 reduce the size of the crop, and, on the 

 other hand, favorable conditions may 

 continue increasing the size of the July 

 estimate. "Without a bloom it is a 



cinch there will be no crop, with a 

 heavy bloom you may have a heavy 

 crop or a light crop." So don't figure 

 your crop during the blooming period, 

 and, above all, don't give out any esti- 

 mates, because they do not have suffl- 

 cient value and may be misleading. 



Retail Prices of Apples. — Six years 

 ago the editor of "Better Fruit," accom- 

 panied the Experiment Station staff of 

 Pullman, Washington, by invitation, on 

 a tour through the Yakima Valley. In 

 each address at the various places vis- 

 ited, and in numerous addresses given 

 before horticultural societies in other 

 sections of the Northwest in that year 

 and following years, the editor of 

 "Better Fruit" vigorously called the 

 attention of the apple growers to the 

 serious menace of exorbitant retail 

 prices on apples in connection with 

 preventing consumption, showing con- 

 clusively that exorbitant retail prices 

 not only prevented consumption, but 

 by so doing lessened the actual price 

 obtained by the fruitgrower. At that 

 time, and for some time afterward, 

 growers failed to realize the serious- 

 ness of the situation. It is only recently 

 they have apparently awakened to the 

 importance of this advice. After six 

 years the subject is being taken up by 

 one of the professors, who has given 

 the matter of marketing fruits consder- 

 able study, has written an article, which 

 appears elsewhere in this edition. It is 

 well worth reading. Again, the editor 

 of "Better Fruit" says to apple growers 

 of the Northwest : "You must wake up 

 and endeavor to solve the problem. 

 You must find some way of reducing 

 the exorbitant retail prices on apples 

 if you want to get better net returns for 

 your crop." 



Advertising and Merchandising Fruit. 



The subject of advertising, more or less 

 naturally, is one that is very little un- 

 derstood by fruitgrowers. The citrus 

 fruitgrowers understand the value of 

 advertising, so do the raisin growers. 

 Even the loganberry growers, and, by 

 the way, the loganberries are only a 

 drop in the bucket in dollars and cents 

 compared with the apples of the North- 

 west, have discovered that proper ad- 

 vertising has created a demand, not 

 only for loganberry juice but for logan- 

 beriy pies, so that the crop has been 

 entirely consumed. Briefly, the logan- 

 berry growers unable to move the crop 

 which they had placed in (he hands of 

 dealers, by a small fund of .fl.OOO only, 

 spent through the advice of an adver- 

 tising agency, succeeded in cleaning 

 out last year's crop. There is no ques- 

 tion about the advantage of advertising. 

 There is no denying the fact that money 

 can be wasted in advertising, but there 

 is one important feature that every 

 fruitgrower should study and under- 

 stand, that is, advertising without mer- 

 chandising cannot be expected to ac- 

 complish what advertising will accom- 

 plish if accomjianied by proper mer- 

 chandising. For instance, it would be 

 foolisli to spend a lot of money in Chi- 

 cago publications and not see that 

 Northwest apples were properly placed 



on the market at reasonable prices in 

 attractive form; by that is meant good 

 varieties, good grades, attractive labels 

 and flrst-class packs. Even with this, 

 if the dealers are not properly supplietl 

 and retailers not properly looked after, 

 the maximum benefit cannot be ex- 

 pected to be obtained in accordance 

 with the cost of the advertising. 



Automobile Trailers. — An automobile 

 frailer, which can be quickly attached 

 to any automobile, is now being manu- 

 factured by several companies, at a 

 very moderate cost. These trailers are 

 being made in different sizes. The edi- 

 tor saw one trailer, having two wheels, 

 which followed exactly in the tracks 

 of the rear wheels of the automobile, 

 which will hold forty crates of straw- 

 berries, the price being ■$52..50, laid 

 down. Some trailers have four wheels. 

 They are made in various sizes and at 

 various prices. It is our belief that the 

 fruitgrower who has an automobile 

 will find one of these trailers very sat- 

 isfactory, eflicient and economical in 

 hauling his fruit to market. Therefore 

 it seems advisable to suggest that every 

 fruitgrower should inquire about them 

 from his implement dealer. We are 

 sorry to say we do not know what the 

 proportion of tonnage is that can be 

 hauled in proportion to the horsepower 

 of the automobile. However, all this 

 can be obtained from the dealer, who 

 undoubtedly is posted, and if not, can 

 become so, for anyone wanting the 

 information. 



The Apple Crop of the Northwest 

 Will Be Clean This Year.— In 1015 the 

 apple growers of the Northwest suf- 

 fered more from codling moth, fungus 

 and various other pests than for sev- 

 eral years in the past. It gives the 

 editor of "Better Fruit" great satisfac- 

 tion to say this year that growers of 

 the Northwest are spraying more thor- 

 oughly, doing their work systematically, 

 sparing no expense and no time in an 

 endeavor to produce a clean crop of 

 fruit. This is indicated by the fact 

 that in some sections the purchase 

 of spray materials is doubled, even 

 trebled, over previous years. It is also 

 further indicated by the fact that in 

 some districts nearly half as many 

 spray outfits were purchased this year 

 as were purchased during the last thir- 

 teen years. So the trade can look for 

 a clean crop and high-grade fruit from 

 the Northwest, barring some unforseen 

 trouble. It may be said in addition to 

 this, that never has the foliage or the 

 quality of fruit looked finer or as free 

 from pesfs as it does at the time of 

 going to press with the June edition, 

 June 1st, 1910. 



Marketing the Crop. — The apple 

 growers of the Northwest, as we all 

 know, have been through a series of 

 experiments. Most of the experiments 

 so far failing to realize a price for 

 ap])les the growei- felt he should re- 

 ceive. I'nder such circumstances it can 

 be easily understood that the fruit- 

 grower hesitates over any new sug- 

 gestion or plan, and many will till you 



