Page 12 



BETTER FRUIT 



September 



seeing that the law as now applied to 

 ■women does not afTect labor engaged in 

 the handling of fruit and perishable 

 products. There has been no diflicully 

 in demonstrating to the legislative com- 

 mittee the justice and the necessity for 

 such exception, and there is certainly 

 no need for making any argument with 

 people like yourselves who are so 

 familiar with the necessities of our in- 

 dustry, particularly as you have listened 

 to such an able and earnest and practi- 

 cal discussion of the question by Mr. 

 Hecke, but it occurs to me to remind 

 growers of canning varieties of fruits 

 and vegetables that the canner cannot 

 contract for his fruit as he has done in 

 the past, taking it as it matures, some 

 days little and the next day nmch. He 

 will not continue doing this under any 

 such law. He will feel obliged to tell 

 the grower that he must deliver only a 

 limited number of tons daily, and in the 

 event of any rush in the ripening of his 

 fruit the grower would be under the 

 necessity of finding a market for some 

 of his crop elsewhere. 



During the rush of July and August 

 the canner is usually unable to get help 

 enough, and in September, after the 

 opening of the schools, he still has 

 trouble, consequently it is entirely im- 

 possible to run night shifts as suggested 

 by the proponents of the law, and even 

 if it were night shifts would be more 

 injurious to the well-being of young 



women and men than occasional over- 

 time. Thousands of the employes in 

 canneries are young men and women 

 who are working during the vacation 

 months to help themselves through 

 school and college. Many a thrifty 

 housewife is eager to get a little pin 

 money during the limited fruit season, 

 just to help along. They are glad of 

 the occasional overtime. ^^^len the 

 eight-hour law for women was under 

 discussion in the Legislature thousands 

 of the women employes petitioned the 

 Legislature, begging them not to de- 

 prive them of this work, urging the 

 satisfactory conditions of the employ- 

 ment. I need not plead with you except 

 to stimulate your interest and urge you 

 to take an active part in seeing that 

 people are fully informed, that a pub- 

 lic sentiment be aroused against such 

 legislation. 



I thank you for your kind attention 

 and I am sure that I give the unanimous 

 opinion of the canners of California 

 when I express thanks to Dr. Cooke, to 

 the State and County Boards of Horti- 

 culture, to the College of Agriculture of 

 the University of California, who have 

 joined to make this splendid gathering 

 an unprecedented success. I would ex- 

 press, as well, our pride and gratitude 

 for these great agencies of the state 

 which are doing so much for the up- 

 building of our industry. 



Representative Among Commercial Attaches 



By H. B. Miller, Director School of Commerce, University of Oregon 



WE have in the three North Pacific 

 States about 1,000,000,000,000 feet, 

 board measure, of standing timber. 

 California has above 300,000,000,000 

 feet. Competitive with this in the ex- 

 port trade of the Pacific is British 

 Columbia, with about 330,000,000,000 

 feet. Whereas the cut of the Pacific 

 States is now about 8,000,000,000 feet a 

 year, only a limited portion of which 

 goes into the export trade, we of this 

 region could cut 4,000,000,000 to 5,000,- 

 000,000 feet more a year for the general 

 outside trade. Oregon alone could in- 

 crease her cut by 2,000,000.000 feet. 



The National Forests of the Pacific 

 Northwest, owned by the federal gov- 

 ernment, have a stand of 263,790,031,000 

 feet of timber, of which Oregon has 

 119,t)10,.531,000. If a valuation of but 

 $1 a thousand is given the total, the 

 federal property in our forests aggre- 

 gates $203,790,631. The value of this 

 stumpage will go higher as soon as a 

 strong market for Northwestern wood 

 is created, and -$2.50 a thousand, or an 

 aggregate for the Northwest of .^OaO,- 

 000,000 is regar<led a fair possibility of 

 the future for the government's local 

 forest asset. By helping create a lum- 

 ber market abroad, the federal govern- 

 ment will expedite this realization. The 

 Northwestern lumber market is today 

 depressed. Tariff reductions and elimi- 

 nations, and assessing a toll on lumber 

 ships from this Coast to pass through 

 Panama Canal, will make for further 

 injury to the business, unless extraor- 



dinary aids are given to create a mar- 

 ket. Not only is the Northwest affected 

 by this state of affairs, but the entire 

 nation, as prosperity here in lumber 

 manufacture means general benefit to 

 the country. 



Already the fruit industry of the 

 Northwest has overtaken markets. The 

 real, fundamental needs confronting 

 the industry here today are cheap 

 transportation and broader, more stable 

 markets. This year the apple crop will 

 run in Oregon, Idaho and Washington 

 from 15,000 to 20,000 carloads, and by 

 1920, if the industry is properly pro- 

 tected, the yield should aggregate from 

 50,000 to 80,000 carloads. The berry 

 and general fruit by-products yield is 

 growing much faster than the market. 

 There is practically no limit to these 

 productions, if a market may be found. 

 All the fruit interests are most keen in 

 the demand for market helps, and it is 

 but fair for the federal government to 

 do something in helping to devise ways 

 and means to solve the problem. 



The Pacific Northwest now exports 

 in the form of wheat and flour about 

 40,000,000 bushels of wheat. With the 

 rapid strides being made in Idaho and 

 Western Montana, and the enormous 

 possibilities of cereal production in 

 Eastern Oregon, it is clear that the ex- 

 ports in this line should increase. 

 While the present exports of flour run 

 about 3,000,000 barrels a year, they may 

 be made much greater, and it is to find 

 a market for this flour that the local 



cereal trade asks the federal govern- 

 ment's co-operation. 



While this year the ]nirchases of live- 

 stock at the main center of Portland 

 aggregated onfy about $17,000,000, it is 

 conceded that the Northwest may easily 

 maintain a livestock industry that will 

 offer annuallv meat products worth 

 $75,000,000. the outside market for 

 these products will be the main ele- 

 ment helping to build up the industry 

 to the figure named. The Northwest is 

 peculiarly interested in having foreign 

 work done that will pave the way for 

 such a trade. 



Water power in the Columbia basin 

 is stated by competent engineers to be 

 a minimum of commercially available 

 horseijower in the streams of 12,775,000, 

 and the maximum is near 20,000,000. 

 Out of this total, only about 300,000 

 horsepower has been harnessed. This 

 slow development is due to the fact that 

 the demand for power has not been 

 sulliciently strong. The Northwest, and 

 especially that portion in the Columbia 

 basin, is peculiarly interested in all 

 studies that might point the way to use 

 and realization of this energy. The 

 manufacture of nitrates, reduction of 

 pig iron, manufacture of steel, the fer- 

 tilizer industry outside the nitrate line, 

 manufacture of aluminum, and all other 

 great industries requiring enormous, 

 cheap power, are of the utmost interest 

 to the people of the Northwest, and 

 they would appreciate being shown 

 how they may attract the same. In this 

 work, the federal government could 

 render a powerful aid if it would have 

 informed men abroad. 



In the Northwest particularly, and 

 with almost equal force all over the 

 Pacific Coast, there are millions of 

 acres of tillable land in idleness. It is 

 the supreme aspiration of all these 

 Pacific communities to get these lands 

 properly settled and developed. While 

 this work is not directly commercial, it 

 is of the most intimate relationship. 

 All studies in how thrifty, competent 

 people may be attracted here, and all 

 plans that may acquaint the world with 

 the opportunities found here, will prove 

 of the most far-reaching ultimate com- 

 mercial importance to the Coast. 



Because of all these conditions, the 

 Northwest should have a representative 

 among the list of commercial attaches 

 authorized by recent act of Congress. 

 Secretary of Commerce Redfield has 

 power of appointing these officials, and 

 the Northwest should convey to him, 

 through Senator Chamberlain, a sense 

 of the needs here. A man who has a 

 thorough grasp of all local commercial 

 and industrial conditions would be the 

 ideal man, and would prove of the ut- 

 most help to the whole region in estab- 

 lishing and extending its much-needed 

 markets. 



Mr. N. ,T. Gibson, who is well known 

 throughout the Northwest, has been 

 visiting Wenatchee Valley, so we learn 

 through one of our exchanges, which 

 also states that the Gibson Fruit Com- 

 l)any will act as Eastern agent for the 

 Wenatchee Fruit Growers' Association. 



