148 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



the development oi' an improved form of package and the popularization 

 of that package through national advertising. 



For the five years ending 1!)14, the people of the United States ate 

 less than one-half as many prunes and apricots as they did in the five 

 years ending 1902. Why did this decrease in domestic consumption 

 take place? Largely because the people were not invited to eat these 

 desirable fruit products. During the same period of years, the con- 

 sumption of other fruits, notably breakfast foods and citrus fruits, 

 increased remarkably because of effective advertising. The people ate 

 oranges and grapenuts for breakfast instead of oatmeal and stewed 

 prunes. Had it not been for the exploitation of the foreign markets, 

 the plight of the California prune and apricot growers would indeed 

 have been a sad one. 



WHAT OF THE FUTURE? 



It is true that during the past two years the domestic market condi- 

 tions have improved and our people are eating more dried fruit, 

 and even with no well-directed, sympathetic exploitation of the 

 market, prunes and apricots have moved off at fair prices. But 

 what would prunes and apricots have been worth during the 

 past three years had our orchards come through with good crops? 

 "What will our products be worth next year if we have a 125,000- 

 ton crop of prunes and a 25,000-ton crop of apricots with poor 

 business conditions and no organization? Crops of that size impossible, 

 you say. Not at all! Nexl year we shall have more prunes and 

 apricots in bearing than ever before and our orchards will be better 

 cared for than ever, and with good growing conditions, crops of that 

 size next year are highly probable. What of the more distant future, 

 which after all is only a few years ahead, when California will have 

 150,000 acres of prunes in bearing and 60,000 acres of apricots? 



What of that future when Europe shall have completed her debauch, 

 but when she will still be suffering from its effects even more than at 

 present? What of that future when business conditions the world over 

 are the reverse of what they are today? How can we growers afford 

 not to prepare for the future? What other way of preparation is 

 open to us than through the formation of a marketing agency along 

 lines tried and proved effective? 



