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BETTER FRUIT 



Page 



number of states. Comniercinl fruit 

 crops are highl>' specialized and ttieir 

 cultivation is concentrated in particular 

 regions. For this reason they do not 

 lend themselves as readily to a general 

 system of crop reporting. Recognizing 

 this fact, the Bureau of Crop Estimates 

 has added to its working force two 

 fruit-crop specialists who will give 

 their entire attention to perfecting a 

 system for estimating the commercial 

 apple crop. Once perfected, this sys- 

 tem can be extended to include other 

 fruits. 



The fruit specialists will visit im- 

 portant districts and confer with apple 

 growers, dealers, growers' and ship- 

 pers' organizations, and others inter- 

 ested in the apple industry. Support 

 and co-operation will be enlisted in the 



work of making reliable forecasts from 

 month to month on the size of the crop 

 and in collecting information on the 

 general conditions throughout the coun- 

 try during the growing season. By this 

 plan it will be possible to carry to those 

 interested in apple yields information 

 regarding not only the entire crop as 

 a whole but also regarding tiie crop of 

 a particular state or district. It is 

 obvious that such information can 

 scarcely be collected by individuals or 

 by local organizations since it must be 

 impartial and broad in its scope. 



The plan in a general way is to have 

 the apple specialists, who are familiar 

 with the industry in dilTerent parts of 

 the country, visit periodically the most 

 important apple districts, personally 

 inspecting the growing crops and col- 



lecting data on the acreage of trees 

 both bearing and non-bearing. Infor- 

 mation is to be secured on the impor- 

 tance of certain varieties, the propor- 

 tion of the crop sold for fresh-fruit 

 consumption, and whether shipped in 

 barrels, in boxes or in bulk. Co-oper- 

 ative relations are to be established 

 with individual growers and organiza- 

 tions in order that the most complete 

 data may be collected. Large lists of 

 reporters in intimate touch with the 

 industry in all its phases are to be 

 maintained and these aids will report 

 systematically during the growing sea- 

 son. In short, by gradual development 

 it will be possible to work up a uniform 

 system of estimating, which will render 

 the greatest service to the commercial 

 fruit industry. 



"Keep Your Eye On the Ball" 



ac-re per annum, 

 cent this shows 

 of 12 cents per 

 fruit to market 



By J. F. Sugrue, Cashmere, Washington, at Washington State Horticultural Meeting, 



Owing to the fact that our orchard in- 

 vestments have been made and are situ- 

 ated at a great distance from the 

 heavily populated consuming districts; 

 this expense is unavoidable and may, 

 indeed must be figured as constant. We 

 now have 50 cents plus 12 cents, which 

 equals 62 cents per box, or .$1.86 per 

 barrel. To raise a box of apples and 

 to estimate the exact cost is not easy, 

 but it will run close to 10 cents per box; 

 50 cents plus 12 cents plus 10 cents 

 equals 72 cents per box, or .$2.16 per 

 barrel. We now are confronted by the 

 fact that apples will not harvest them- 

 selves, and I am going to arbitrarily fix 

 the cost of this operation at 32% per 

 box; 50 cents plus 12 cents plus 10 cents 

 plus 321/2 cents equals $1,041/2 per box, 

 or $3,431/2 per barrel. To all these 

 costs we must still add warehousing, 

 selling, insurance and storage. I don't 

 know just what your ideas on these 

 costs are, so I am going to lump them 

 at 14% cents, making a grand total 

 of 50 cents plus 12 cents plus 

 10 cents plus 321/2 cents plus I41/2 

 cents, or $1.19 per box, $3.57 per bar- 

 rel, delivered at the other end of 

 the line. We also know, or should 

 know, that our Eastern competitors, 

 who raise apples in greater quantities 

 than we do, can raise, harvest and land 

 in the same centers apples, by the bar- 

 rel, at from $1.10 to $1.50 per barrel. 

 There can be no doubt that we are 

 faced with some very unmistakable 

 handicaps, and that vigilance and the 

 most rigid supi)ression of waste is abso- 

 lutely necessary on our part. In short, 

 to be successful in this business, ability 

 of a higher order is necessary. 



We have, to offset this state of 

 afl'airs, some natural advantages, and 

 it is imperative that we utilize them to 

 the utmost. Here is where the direct 

 application of the title may come in and 

 by subsliluling the word "fruit" for 

 "ball" we will i)roceed to illuslrate. 

 "Keep Your Eye on the Fruit." We have 

 in the past and can, in the present and 

 future, raise an apiile in this Northwest 

 that for flavor, color and keeping 

 quality cannot be surpassed. Are we 

 (ioing it to the utmost of our ability or 



IN a spirit of optimism, and per- 

 chance in a moment of temerity, I 

 allowed your worthy president, Mr. 

 Howard Wright, to induce me to sub- 

 mit a paper for your approval at this 

 our annual meeting. The title chosen 

 was "Keep Your Eye on the Ball." I 

 was induced to choose this title because 

 it sounded euphonious and rolled easily 

 and unctuously off the tongue. Another 

 reason was that in my youthful days I 

 was a fervent devotee of the noble 

 game of football. In Ireland, where I 

 was born, football flourishes in more 

 forms than in most other countries. 

 Over there we play three codes of rules, 

 Rugby, Association and Gaelic. As de- 

 scribed by an enthusiast the laws are 

 as follows: In Rugby you kick the ball. 

 In Association you kick the man if you 

 cannot kick the ball, while in Gaelic 

 you kick the ball if you cannot kick 

 the man, — so you see in all three games 

 the ball is an object. 



Now let us see where the title of this 

 article can be applied to the fruit game. 

 As in football the ball is of prime im- 

 portance, so in fruit raising the fruit 

 needs some consideration. Horticulture, 

 the science of raising and caring for 

 trees, is not remunerative unless the 

 product or crop of those trees is 

 matured in such condition as to be 

 marketable at a profit. Much as I dis- 

 like to be statistical, I am going to ask 

 your indulgence and introduce a few 

 figures for your consideration. When 

 we engage in any mercantile or manu- 

 facturing business, one of the first 

 essentials is to pick out and take notice 

 of the inevitable investment, the over- 

 head expense and the cost of produc- 

 tion. Let's do that in our case. 



An orchard in full bearing will mean 

 an investment of from $500 to $700 per 

 acre. In many cases we know, to our 

 sorrow, that it means a good deal more 

 than this sum. The average yield of 

 a well-grown and carefully tended 

 orchard may be put at 500 boxes per 

 With money at 8 per 

 an overhead expense 

 box. To convey our 

 we have to meet a 



freight charge of, say, 50 cents per box. 



North Yakima, January 4, 1917 



are we lying on our oars and living on 

 our past reputation? I am a little un- 

 ceitain on this point. 



Is it or is it not a fact that the per- 

 centage of high-grade fruit is falling 

 off, and if it is so, who is to blame? 

 Us or the weather? Is our pruning 

 done as thoroughly as it might be? Is 

 our spraying done as efhciently as pos- 

 sible? bo we cultivate, irrigate, thin, 

 and prop with the same enthusiasm as 

 when the game was new and attractive? 

 I'm afraid we don't. Have we de- 

 creased the percentage of undesirable 

 varieties in our orchards to the extent 

 that experience has taught us is neces- 

 sary, or are we still laboring under the 

 delusion that any old apple will do? 

 Have we fully and finally realized that 

 it is our business to produce at the 

 minimum cost an article of maxi- 

 mum excellence? And that the most 

 ellicient form of co-operation we can 

 practice toward our selling agent, no 

 matter who it may be, is that of 

 strengthening his hand by instrusting 

 to him an article that he, in turn, can 

 show without fear of criticism or com- 

 plaint from the buyer? Have we? Are 

 we upholding the standard of our 

 grades, or are we admitting that as 

 raisers. of high-grade fruit we are a 

 failure? I am asking quite a lot of 

 questions, but remember I am here just 

 as much to secure informaticm as to 

 give it. The purpose of my article here, 

 today, is to induce a close analysis of 

 our condition and if possible to rub 

 our heads together and secure satisfac- 

 tory enlightenment on a subject that 

 I, and, indeed, all of us are deeply in- 

 terested. In answering these questions, 

 or at least some of them, I am giving 

 you just the result of my own personal 

 observations. I am drawing my con- 

 clusions not alone from my own per- 

 sonal experience, but fi'oin observation 

 of orchards scattered up and down the 

 Wenatchec N'alley. 



Taking the ([uestions in bulk, as it 

 were, I would say, "We have not." We 

 are not engaging in horticulture as 

 carefully or as elTicicntly as the occa- 

 sion requires. Take spraying. My own 

 experience is thai not one man in ten 



