356 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



All of this, of course, is for the future. As long as the government is issuing 

 liberty bonds there will be an abundance of money in the hands of the consumer. 

 A nation, as well as an individual, usually lives extravagantly when it is not com- 

 pelled to live on its current income. As long as the consumer has money he will 

 buy food freely. No criticism is intended in any of these statements. The purpose 

 is only to recognize the fact. 



To the man who likes specific formula; or who believes in governmental rules and 

 regulations, this will be a disappointing article. It is safe to say, the more one 

 studies the table herewith presented, the less he will care to have the responsibility 

 of ordering what crops should or should not be raised. Some of us would like to 

 control the weather, but we would probably "muss" thinss up a bit if we were so 

 unfortunate as to have the opportunity. It is quite old fashioned these days to 

 speak of the law of supply and demand. Nevertheless, farmers will probably be 

 compelled to allow this unpopular and much maligned "dictator" to determine for 

 them largely the direction in which they will travel in developing the crop acreages 

 in California. 



HOW ORGANIZATION OF PRODUCERS AFFECTS PRICES. 



By Harris Weinstock, State Market Director, San Francisco. 



Following close on the heels of America's entry into the world war came a 

 nation-wide stimulus to increased production of foodstuffs — a stimulus that was 

 unwisely applied, without discrimination and without forethought in respect to what 

 would happen when harvest had succeeded springtime. Now, of course, we have the 

 inevitable result: with an unprecedented demand for certain products suitable for 

 overseas consumption, the markets have been glutted with other, and more perishable, 

 I 'inducts which must be consumed locally or not at all. 



Take onions as a typical example. They are a quick and easy crop to raise ; there- 

 fore California responded largely to the patriotic stimulus to plant onions — not wisely 

 but too many. As a result, the early crop matured and was quickly harvested to 

 make room for a second crop of something else. This early crop came to market 

 all at once and, since our people will eat only so many onions and no more (regard- 

 less of price), they went begging at a price below the cost of production. 



Then — but not until then — the State Market Director was called in to solve the 

 problem, but it was not soluble. These early onions could not be shipped to other 

 states, for they also had been stimulated to overproduction. They could not be 

 stored, because the first crop is poor in keeping quality. The utmost that could be 

 done would be to evaporate them and market them in a dried state. 



Fortunately, I was able to enlist two systems for dehydrating onions — on the 

 simple condition that a market for the evaporated product, at a small manu- 

 facturing profit, could be found. By letters and telegrams this outlet was imme- 

 diately sought, but there was no outlet. It seemed logical that the United States 

 Navy, already in foreign waters, would welcome an opportunity to secure evapo- 

 rated California onions ; that the thousands of men being silently sent to join 

 Pershing in France would take into the trenches the onions from which nine-tenths 

 of the weight had been evaporated, with no loss of flavor or food value; and that 

 part of the armies of Europe would jump at the chance of securing this unique 

 food supply. 



As the State Market Director, I left no stone unturned to bring about this desir- 

 able consummation. I placed the matter before the commissary departments of the 

 United States Army and Navy, both in California and Washington, D. C. ; and I 

 telegraphed the purchasing agents of each of our allied nations. What was the 

 result? Our own country was not interested, because onions in a fresh condition 

 were everywhere available for both the Army and Navy. Not a single foreign 

 country could give an encouraging reply, for even Belgium and France reported a 

 plentiful crop of fresh onions. 



Now, what is the lesson of this experience of the onion growers'/ As I interpret 

 it, it is this : That lack of organization spells chaos, immediate loss to the producer 

 and ultimate expense to the consumer. The farmers who this year produced onions 

 at a loss will not plant them next year — with the result that lowered production and 

 abnormal prices will again be the rule. 



