Page 8 



BETTER FRUIT 



February 



seding the horse very rapidly. A few 

 years ago a gasoline engine was 

 scarcely ever seen on the farm. Today 

 rruilgriiwers are using gasoline engines 

 to run the spray outfit, to pump water, 

 saw the wood, cut the feed; they are 

 using motor-driven vehicles to go to 

 and from town on business as well as 

 for pleasure; they are using auto 

 tractors to haul their fruit to the rail- 

 way depot; traction engines are used 

 for cultivating the orchards. All of 

 this is because of greater efliciency and 

 economy. The small auto tractor has 

 arrived, one that is suitable to the small 

 farmer and orchardist. It has been 

 definitely determined by actual practice 

 that the auto tractor is a money saver 

 for any man who has 100 acres to culti- 

 vate. There arc many who believe it 

 is a money-saving jjroposition where 

 the acreage is considerably smaller. 

 The gasoline engine can be used in run- 

 ning the busker, running the silo, the 

 threshing machine; in fact everything 

 which the farmer did by horse power 

 can be ilone by motor power, except on 

 very small farms or intensified farming 

 like truck growing. 



Shdwiiig the crowd :\l the Oiegiiii-Washington nailroail & Navigation Company demonstr; 

 given by Mrs. Eleanor Meacham Rcdinglon, at the SeveiUh National Apple Show. 



average retail profit in the grocery 

 business is from 15 to 20 per cent; on 

 tobacco 25 to 50 per cent; clothing 

 about 50 per cent. In fact nearly all 

 retail prices, outside of a few special 

 lines, vary from 15 to 50 per cent. How 

 about the retail iirices on apples'? 



I had a letter only a few days ago 

 from Boston from a friend who stated 

 that he had to pay 40 cents per dozen, 

 retail, for Jonathan apples. The .lon- 

 alhan is not a large apple, and while I 

 do not know the exact size in this case, 

 suppose it was 138; that would mean 

 that a box of apples retailed at .$4.40. 

 You growers know what you got for 

 your Jonathans; you know the freight 

 is 50 cents per box; the commission 

 house aims to make about 10 per cent, 

 and therefore you can figure out the 

 retail profit. 



I have investigated a number of in- 

 stances on the retail prices of apples 

 and invariably I find that they run all 

 the way from 100 to 500 per cent profit. 

 In other words, where the average 

 business man does a successful busi- 

 ness at a retail profit of from 25 to 50 

 per cent, the retail profit on apples is 

 averaging, in my opinion, from 100 to 

 ,500 per cent. If the retail price is high, 

 it prevents consum])tion. If the retail 

 price is reasonable, it increases con- 

 sumption, and increased consumption 

 increases the demand. This means 

 firmer and better prices for the grower. 



While we have many evils in Ihe 

 apple business that are preventing us 

 from getting our just prices, 1 believe 

 that exorbitant retail price is the big- 

 gest stumbling block in the apple busi- 

 ness today and is doing more than all 

 other features to prevent the fruit- 

 grower from getting a just price for his 

 box of apples. 



Motor Power on the Farm 



A few years ago practically every- 

 thing was moved by horse power ex- 

 cept steam engines. It is interesting 

 indeed in reading the war news to note 

 that where horses were used in moving 

 siege guns they are now moved by 

 motor-driven vehicles. In addition to 

 this the motor vehicles are being used 

 in the present war for transporting the 

 troops and for moving the supplies. 

 Gasoline motors seem to be super- 



A Few Cows Pay Well 



Fruitgrowers throughout the North- 

 west are finding they can take care of 

 a few cows along with the orchard 

 work and in this way secure an addi- 

 tional income without extra expense. 

 Co-operative creamery routes are being 

 established in some fruit-growing sec- 

 tions. Naturally the fruitgrower will 

 want to know more about the dairy 

 business. We suggest Kimball's Dairy 

 Farmer, which contains splendid infor- 

 mation about dairying. The price of 

 Kimball's Dairy Farmer is .$1.00 per 

 year. We can give you a clubbing offer 

 I if Kimball's Dairy Farmer and "Better 

 Fruit" for Sl.OO per year. 



■aiililiil evhibil made bv the Noilhw ostein Fruit Exchange of the '■Skookiiin lirand" 

 I'ortland Land and Product Show and the Seventh National Apple Show. 



