Page Twelve 



BETTER FRUIT 



January, 1922 



Boxed Apple Situation in Review 



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I Here is •presented a comfrehensive | 



I revieu; of conditions and develop- | 



I ments of the current affle season of | 



I the Northzvest, nozv drawing to a \ 



I close, as given in an address by Mr. | 



I Gujin at the Pacific Northzvest | 



I Fruit Exposition in Seattle in Nov- | 



I ember. The analysis brings out | 



I points of importance to all north- | 



i zvestern growers and shippers, some | 



I of which are not always taken into | 



I consideration. The article helps to | 



I point the way to m.ore effective | 



i marketing methods for the future and | 



I is worth study from this stand- \ 



I point alone. Facts of the situation \ 



I ire set down withottt coloring, the | 



I unfavorable with the favorable de- | 



I velopments. As a whole they must \ 



I inspire a certain optimistn and no | 



I tittle satisfaction over the season's \ 



I results. I 



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THE proverb that "It is an ill wind 

 that blows no one good" was never 

 better exemplified than this year, 

 in connection with the northwestern boxed 

 apple industry. 



About Easter time last spring, a series of 

 very severe freezes swept a wide range of 

 territory through the Middle West and 

 Middle and North Atlantic states. Dam- 

 age to the blossoming apple crops of the 

 big producing regions of Missouri, Arkan- 

 sas, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, 

 Michigan and other states of lesser impor- 

 tance from an apple producing standpoint 

 was exceedingly severe. Otherwise, the 



By W. F. GwiN 



President Northwest Fruit Exchange 



story of the northwestern boxed apple for 

 the year might be written in more dolor- 

 ous terms. 



The states of Washington, Oregon, 

 Idaho and Montana, taken together, the 

 last season produced the largest apple crop 

 in their history. General business condi- 

 tions, as everyone knows, have been the 

 most adverse in a long term of years. Man- 

 ufacturing plants all over the country have, 

 in most cases, been closed down entirely 

 or working on part time. Millions of 

 vvorK-rs <.re walking the street' looking for 

 work, and all classes of people are econo- 

 mizing. 



Northwestern boxed apples find their 

 way into consumption to an overwhelming 

 extent via the route of the fruit stand. 

 Their principal consumer is the man in the 

 street. To a great extent they are eaten 

 out of hand; only to a minor extent are 

 they sold from grocery stores and used for 

 general household and culinary purposes. 

 Therefore the demand for them is acutely 

 affected by unfavorable conditions in the 

 great manufacturing industries, as the best 

 consumers of northwestern apples are the 

 highly paid mechanic classes. 



Beginning with the copious rains 'which 

 fell in the producing districts of the North- 

 west early in the fall of 1920, growing 

 conditions were ideal. The result was 

 that there came to maturity not only the 

 largest crops the Northwest has ever prod- 

 uced, but perhaps one of the best from the 

 standpoint of color, finish and general 

 merchantability. Labor was plentiful and, 

 while labor costs have not been deflated 

 as fully in this industry as in many of the 

 producing industries in the east, produc- 



tion costs, taken altogether, have shown 

 very satisfactory readjustment. 



Before an examiner of the Interstate 

 Commerce Commission in Yakima last 

 winter, testimony was taken from a large 

 number of competent witnesses as to the 

 total cost on board cars, of the apple crop 

 of the season of 1920. One of the most 

 competent of these witnesses testified that 

 it had cost $2.28 per box to produce the 



1920 crop and deliver it on board cars. 

 Others gave figures, some higher and some 

 slightly lower, but it is safe to say that the 

 average producing cost last year was per- 

 haps somewhere between $2 and $2.25. 

 What the actual cost will prove to be for 



1921 is yet undetermined, but it should not 

 exceed 50 per cent of last year's cost. 



It was apparent long before the crop 

 was ready to harvest that the marketing of 

 the 1921 crop would be characterized by 

 a marked absence of speculative or storage 

 activity. Up to this year it has been esti- 

 mated that from 75 to 85 per cent of the 

 entire commercial crop of the Pacific 



Oil Spraying 



should be done ■with Ortho 

 Oil Emulsions. So thoroly 

 emulsified that it mixes 

 readily with hard water and 

 remains perfectly emulsified. 



Write for Ortho Circular 



California [Spray-Chemical 



]M:ij|i;i!!llil!CoMPANY ^ ■ :' 



Watsonville:: '■ calif' 



Address Dept. .F 



"CARO 



WRAPPERS ,^^^^^^^^^^^^ 



"Caro" Protects-"Caro" Prolongs the Life of Fruit-Why? 



CHEMICALLY TREATED, "Caro" from DessiCARE (to dry up) 

 FRUIT MATURITY is retarded by cold or refrigeration and hastened by heat or atmospheric exposure. 

 The toft fibrous silk-like texture of "Caro" provides just sufficient ventilation to retard the ripening process. 

 FRUIT DECOMPOSITION starts from a bruise which opens tiny holes and permits juice to escape and BACTERIA to 

 enter. "Caro" clings closely and dries up the escaping juice. "Caro" ingredients harden the spot, kill the BACTERIA, 

 arrest the decomposition. 

 UttitoJ SUU« Di»tribtttor», AMERICAN SALES AGENCIES CO., 112 Market Street, San Francisco, California 



