November, ipip 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page 5 





An International at Work Disking in a Young Orchard. 



should be carefully studied in making a 

 selection. 



"Finally, no tractor can do its best 

 work unless used with suitable imple- 

 ments. These should be of such a size 

 as to give the tractor a good load, not 

 too heavy nor too light — not too heavy 

 because overloading is the father of 



much tractor trouble, and not too light 

 because of the poor economy. Like the 

 tractor, these tools must be easily man- 

 aged. The modern power-lift plow has 

 many advantages. The tractor imple- 

 ments with lever within easy reach are 

 distinctly more convenient than those 

 in use for horsepower." 



A number of tractors are now being 

 used successfully in orchard work, 

 among the most prominent and efficient 

 being the Fordson, Moline, Avery, 

 Huber, Case, Wallis, Cletrac, Interna- 

 tional, and Holt caterpillar, the latter, 

 however, being best adapted to large 

 acreages. 



The Oregon Growers' Co-operative Association 



THE Oregon Growers' Cooperative 

 Association was formed because 

 there was a distinct and imperative 

 need for such an organization. We can 

 perhaps state that our ideals and aims 

 are bound up in three words, "Stabi- 

 lize," "Advertise," "Oregonize." Our 

 aim is, to first stablizie the prices re- 

 ceived for our horticultural products. 

 Succeeding in this, we will certainly 

 stabilize our land values. This will of 

 course stabilize credits. Stabilizing all 

 these three will stabilize our prosperity. 

 The present prune situation on the 

 Pacific Coast is one which needs careful 

 study. We have in Western Oregon and 

 Clarke County, Washington, at the pres- 

 ent time about 3.3,000 acres in prunes, 

 about half of which are not bearing. 

 California has from 80,000 to 100,000 

 acres in bearing, with a similar amount 

 .just coming into bearing. The Pacific 

 Coast croj) of prunes this year, which is 

 a big one, is about 2.')0,o6(l,000 pounds. 

 Within two to four years our yield of 

 prunes on the Pacific Coast will range 

 from 000,000,000 to 800,000,000 pounds. 

 The normal consumption of prunes in 

 the United States is 100,000,000 pounds 

 and normally we can export 100,000,000 

 pounds. The ([uestion is, what is to 

 become of the additional tonnage which 

 we will soon have to handle? We are 

 told that we need not worry, that 

 prunes arc a staple food, that people 

 will eat them all right. There is no 



By Prof. C. I. Lewis, Organization Manager 



doubt in my mind but that people 

 should eat them, and I sometimes ser- 

 iously doubt whether an overproduc- 

 tion in food ever occurs, but this I do 

 know, that underconsumption is just as 

 bad for the producer as overproduction, 

 and underconsumption is staring us in 

 the face. 



At the present time, prunes in the 

 Pacific Northwest are largely handled 

 by independent buyers, each selling to 

 rather limited markets. Seemingly, no 

 attempt has been made to establish an 

 Oregon brand and to advertise it to the 

 consumers as such, and to take steps to 

 develop adequate market for the new 

 tonnage. Suppose we should suddenly 

 have a very large production of prunes. 

 What is the grower going to do about 

 it? There are several things that can 

 be done. One thing would be to put 

 prunes on the market so cheap that the 

 housewives cr)uld buy more prunes for 

 their money than anything else. That 

 will undoubtedly move the prunes, but 

 it will also move the orchards out by 

 the roots. Another method is to organ- 

 ize and advertise, and attempt to de- 

 velop new markets as rapidly as the 

 new tonnage comes in. Also we nnist 

 eliminate speculation from prune mar- 

 keting. While perhaps relatively little 

 speculation was done by local buyers, 

 they do, how^ever, turn the i)runes over 

 to speculators in the East, and in some 

 cases $2,000 to $3,000 has been made out 



of a single car of prunes by brokers 

 who never see the crop, and .$5,000 

 could be realized on a few carloads of 

 prunes which were sold early in the 

 season. There is something wrong with 

 this system whereby a man can go out 

 and buy prunes the same day for half 

 a dozen different prices and perhaps 

 buy them on a different drop. Such a 

 condition is not good for the producer, 

 the consumer, nor the legitimate mid- 

 dleman. Prunes were being handled 

 this year in such a way that in a little 

 while they would be put on the grocers' 

 shelves at a price that w ould keep them 

 there. This would be fatal to the in- 

 dustry. We must not only get a good 

 price to the grower, insure the middle- 

 man a fair profit, and the retailer his 

 profit, but it must be handled in such a 

 way that the commodity will move, will 

 he offered to the consumer at an attrac- 

 tive price. Prunes which growers re- 

 ceived 9 to 11 cents for in this state last 

 year are now retailing at local grocery 

 stores at from 25 to 3(j cents. Certainly 

 there is something wrong in that condi- 

 tion. The prune is following the history 

 of the apple quite rapidly. It will be 

 interesting to review that history for 

 just a few moments. W^e all remember 

 the prosperous condition of apples from 

 lOOf) to 1912; prices were very satisfac- 

 tory; Chicago and New York were tak- 

 ing about all of our tonnage. In 1912, 



Continued on page 25. 



