Page 18 



BETTER FRUIT 



February, 1921 



BETTER FRUIT 



An Illustrated Magazine Devoted to the Interests 



of Modern Fruit Growing and Marketing. 



Published Monthly 



by 



Better Fruit Publishing Company 



703 Oregonian Building 

 PORTLAND, OREGON 



OFFICERS AND STAFF 



D. L. Cabpexter President 



A. W. Stypes Vice-President 



E. E. Faville Secretary-Treasurer 



W. H. Walton Editor 



C. I. Moody Advertising Manager 



E. C. Williams. .. San Francisco Representative 



Hobart Building 



Founder of Oregon Horticultural 

 Society Dies. 



Ezra Leonard Smith, born in Vermont 

 in 1837, died at Hood River, Oregon, 

 January 22, 1921, in his eighty-fourth 

 year. 



While a student at Lombard Univer- 

 sity, Galesburg, Illinois, Mr. Smith at- 

 tended the Republican Convention in 

 Chicago, in 1860, when Abraham Lin- 

 coln was first nominated for the presi- 

 dency. 



He came to California in 1861 and 

 interested himself in mining, later going 

 to Washington Territory, of which he 

 became Secretary in 1867. Mr. Smith 

 was associated with the group of men 

 who established the first bank in 

 Olympia. 



March 1, 1876, with his family, he 

 arrived in Hood River. He early be- 

 came interested in fruit growing and 

 planted one of the Valley's first com- 

 mercial orchards. Through his love 

 for fruit trees, Mr. Smith, affectionately 

 known among his friends as "Hood 

 River" Smith, quite naturally became a 

 leader of the men engaged in their 

 culture. He was one of the founders 

 and for several years president of the 

 Oregon Horticultural Society and dur- 

 ing the years of his long and useful 

 residence in Hood River, was an en- 

 thusiastic leader in the local fruit in- 

 dustry. 



Care of Your Assets. 



In the home (if the country dweller, 

 infinitely more than in the city, the wife 

 is an asset and not a liability! In view 

 of the multitudinous duties devolving 

 upon her, surely she deserves much 

 consideration. 



The fruit grower who, year after 

 year, is forced to get along the best he 

 can with inadequate equipment — doing 

 by hand what he should have a machine 

 to do, working early and late under 

 heavy handicaps — will not remain in 

 the industry long. Under such condi- 

 tions he will dispose of his place, ;it a 

 loss if necessary, and seek some other 

 less arduous and more hopeful em- 

 ployment. 



The average fruit grower's wife could 

 not sell her place, nor could she give 

 it away if she wanted to, but sin is 

 loyal enough and true enough not to 

 want to. Yet, how often is she forced 

 to do by hand what she should have a 

 machine to do? Running water in the 

 kitchen, at least; electric power, what a 

 vista thai opens to the imagination — 



easier wash days, brighter light in the 

 evening by which to sew, and a dozen 

 little helps in the day's work. Does 

 anyone hut the wife herself know know 

 what it means to get along without 

 these things? (Her helpmeet should 

 know.) She is a practical asset! 



Upon her should he bestow at least 

 as much consideration and attention as 

 he gives to the equipment for orchard 

 operations, and in return she will give 

 to the home health and contentment. 



Adequate Fruit Inspection 

 Imperative. 



Every shipper and grower should 

 stand solidly back of any move to im- 

 prove fruit inspection. It is only the 

 perfect fruit which has won for the 

 Northwest and the Pacific Slope its 

 world-wide reputation. The grower 

 who is not "for" rigid inspection and 

 enforcement of grade and pack regula- 

 tions is a menace to the fruit industry 

 of the territory. It is unfair that one 

 careless shipper in a community should 

 jeopardize the returns of every grower 

 whose fruit happens to be shipped in 

 the same car. 



The Pacific Northwest, through its 

 progressive methods of handling its 

 enormous fruit tonnage, has attracted 



IMPORTANT NOTICE TO 

 SUBSCRIBERS 

 Effective January 1st, 1921, the 

 subscription price of "Better Fruit" 

 was reduced to $1.00 a year, and 

 subscribers who have renewed re- 

 cently at the old rate of $2.00 a 

 year will be extended in accord- 

 ance with postal regulations. 



the attention of practically every fruit 

 producing country in the world. They 

 are copying the great American North- 

 west, buying the same orchard and 

 packing house equipment, adopting the 

 same rules of pack and grade, and, hav- 

 ing learned all we can teach them, are 

 entering the lists against their teacher. 

 Surely this is no time to let down 

 the bars. 



Hope in the Freight Rate Situation. 



Growers and shippers of fruit may 

 well be encouraged by the curren dis- 

 cussions of existing freight rates. The 

 subject has been thoroughly aired at 

 every convention or other gathering of 

 men who are interested in fruit produc- 

 tion or transportation and there are 

 many evidences that the railways them- 

 selves are becoming alarmed at the ef- 

 fects of the existing rates and will use 

 every means within their power to re- 

 adjust them before another shipping 

 season. 



The current rates, which went into 

 effect last September, are approxi- 

 mately 25 per cent higher than the rates 

 which existed before that time and in 

 the brief period since the new tariffs 

 became effective, it has been demon- 

 strated thai in many cases they absorb 

 all the profits from fruit shipments and 

 leave the grower with a net loss on his 

 5 ear's operations. 



There can be only one result of the 

 continuation of these tariffs and that is 

 decreased production and shipment, 

 with resultant loss in profits to land 

 owners, growers and railways alike, 

 and market scarcities which will be 

 both inconvenient and disastrous. 



When the freight increases were al- 

 lowed, the one thought which seemed 

 to be uppermost in the minds of the 

 tariff makers was that the railroads must 

 be given a chance to make more money. 

 There is little indication that the new 

 tariffs were scientifically formed or 

 that the tariff makers gave any thought 

 to the ultimate effect upon such indus- 

 tries as fruit growing. Back of the in- 

 creased rate is the unholy control 

 which the railway labor organizations 

 have over the railroads. While wages 

 and other lines of industry are grad- 

 ually being adjusted to meet reduced 

 prices, the railroads are tied up by gov- 

 ernment fiat to a schedule of wages and 

 operating regulations which make it 

 extremely difficult for the railroads 

 single-handed to reduce rates. 



There is reason to believe, however, 

 that when the public understands the 

 situation, public opinion will be a 

 powerful factor in bringing about the 

 establishment of tariffs which will be 

 fair to railways, labor and industry, 

 alike. 



Did you tackle the trouble that came your 

 way 



With a resolute heart and cheerful; 

 Or hide your face from the light of day 



With a craven soul and fearful? 



Oh, a trouble's a ton, or a trouble's an ounce, 

 Or a trouble is what you make it; 



And it isn't the fact that you're hurt that 

 counts, 

 But only how you take it. — .4non. 



What Papers Interested in 

 Fruit Are Saying 



ORDER PACKAGES EARLY. 

 If the fruit growers want a guaranteed sup- 

 ply of baskets next year, they should give 

 their order early to the manufacturer — this 

 month or next — and permit the manufacturers 

 to deliver a certain percentage of the baskets 

 direct to the fruit growers' barns or railway 

 station as early as he wishes. This advice 

 from the pen of Mr. J. M. Wallace, president 

 of the Oakville Wire-bound Box and Basket 

 Co., Ltd., in a recent issue of the Toronto 

 Globe, is sound business. While the manu- 

 facturer does not expect payment until the 

 following October, he wants orders in early so 

 that he may run his plant throughout the year, 

 instead of the usual procedure of closing down 

 for a number of months during fall and win- 

 ter. The Clarkson Fruit Growers' Association, 

 which buys supplies of all kinds for 172 mem- 

 bers, has placed an order for about 42,000 

 crates and 1,250,000 berry boxes for delivery 

 at any time direct to the members' barns. A 

 far-sighted policy of that kind will be well 

 repaid when the next fruit rush is on. Other 

 associations and individual growers might 

 well follow the example, and order now. — The 

 Canadian Horticulturist. 



ACTION NEEDED IN FREIGHT SITUATION. 



Column after column of news and comment 

 from the trade concerning the freight rate sit- 

 uation and its effect upon the fruit and vege- 

 table industry have been pi Ented in The Packer 

 during the last few weeks. Distribution of 

 food is being curtailed, production threatens to 

 be checked materially another season, freight 



I lage is being reduced and something must 



lie .lone at once to relieve all factors in the 

 perishable food industry. 



The railroads are not goin^ r to lower their 

 rates unless they can be shown thai the pres- 

 ent freight costs will reduce their income by 

 curtailing the volume of traffic. Once the 

 heads of the railroad companies are con- 

 vinced of this fact, they will voluntarily go 

 to Ihe Interstate Commerce Commission and 



