BETTER FRUIT 



AN ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE PUBLISHED MONTHLY IN THE INTEREST OF MODERN, PROGRESSIVE FRUIT GROWING AND MARKETING 



The Cost of Distributing the Cahfornia Citrus Fruit Crop 



By G. Harold Powell, General Manager California 1-ruit Growers' Exchange, Los Angeles, California 



THERE are approximately two hun- 

 dred thousand acres of citrus fruits 

 in California, representing an in- 

 vestment of .$200,OOO.non. Eighty-three 

 per cent of the total acreage in 1913 

 were oranges and seventeen per cent 

 were lemons. Two-thirds of the groves 

 were of bearing age in 1013; 85 per cent 

 of these were oranges and 15 per cent 

 were lemons. There are now 32,556 

 acres of lemons in California, 14,500 of 

 which are non-hearing age. When the 

 non-bearing lemon groves come into 

 hearing, the lemon production of the 

 state, even with a moderate yield, will 

 exceed the present total lemon con- 

 sumption of the United States and 

 Canada. 



There has been a steady increase in 

 the acreage devoted to citrus culture in 

 California since the introduction of the 

 Washington navel orange in IST.'i. In 

 the ten" years from 1903 to 1913, the 

 citrus area increased from 83,657 acres 

 to 101,357 acres, an increase of 128.9 

 \)i'v cent; oranges increased 138 per 

 cent and lemons 82 per cent during this 

 Ijeriod. In the live years from 1908 to 

 1913, the total area increased 29.1 per 

 cent, the increase for oranges and 

 lemons being 23.3 and 67.6 per cent 

 lespectively. 



The shipment of citrus fruits has also 

 increased rapidly. The increase in five- 

 year periods in the number of carloads 

 of oranges and lemons is as follows: 

 Fi-om 1805 to 1000, 225 per cent; 1000 to 

 1005, 71.5 per cent; 1005 to 1910, 10.9 

 per cent, and 48.5 per cent from 1910 

 to 1014. A normal crop now is 50,000 

 carloads, one-seventh of which are 

 lemons. Of the oranges, approximately 

 63 per cent are Washington navels, 

 27 per cent Valencias and 10 per cent 

 miscellaneous varieties. The Valencia 

 shipments increased 60 per cent in 1014 

 an(l will increase i-apidly in the near 

 future. 



There has always existed a fear since 

 the beginning of the California citrus 

 industry lest the increase in production 

 might outrun the increase in consump- 

 tion; or, to state it dilferently, that there 

 might he more citrus fruits produced 

 than the people could consume at a 

 price that would pay the producer. The 

 total consumption of citrus fruits is 

 increased in two ways: first, through 

 llie increase in population, and second, 

 in the increase in the per capita con- 

 sumption. The increase in population 

 is not rapid enough to absorb the in- 

 crease in the i)ro(luction of citrus fruits. 

 The population of the I'nited States 

 increased 20.7 per cent from IS90 to 

 1900; the shipments of citrus fiiiits 



increased 195 per cent during the same 

 period. From 1900 to 1910 the popula- 

 tion increased 21 per cent, while the 

 shipments increased 292 per cent dur- 

 ing the same period. The consumer is 

 using more fruit than in former years, 

 and is using it more and more as an 

 article of food rather than a luxury. 

 It is through the increase in the fruit- 

 eating habit of the people that the 

 enoromus increase in fruit production 

 is taken care of. 



In order to stimulate consumption 

 and to insure a fair return on the in- 

 vestment, the industry has been obliged 

 to eliminate speculative distribution by 

 placing its own agents in the different 

 markets of the United States and Can- 



Features of this Issue 



CO.ST OF DISTRIBUTING CALIFOBNIA 

 CITRUS CROP 



REPORT OF NORTHWESTERN FRUIT 

 i:XCHANGE 



SALES MANAGERS OF NORTHWi:ST 

 FRUIT SHIPPING CONCERNS 



NORTH PACIFIC FRUIT DISTRIBUTORS 

 BY-LAWS 



INTER-CROPPING ORCHARDS 



ORCHARD COSTS 



OUTLOOK FOR PRUNES 



aila, through whom the grower sells the 

 fruit to the jobber after the latter de- 

 termines its condition, or sells it to him 

 subject to condition on arrival. In some 

 markets the fruit is sold on an f.o.b. 

 California basis. The industry is creat- 

 ing a public consciousness of the food 

 value of citrus fruits by advertising on 

 a national scale; it is stimulating the 

 sale by co-operating with the retail 

 dealers and with the jobbers and trav- 

 eling salesmen by furnishing them with 

 display and advertising material and 

 information on the citrus industry. 



The industry has also made a search- 

 ing investigation of the cultural and 

 labor costs of jjioduction, in order that 

 it may better understand its pi-oblems; 

 it has organized on a co-oi)erativo basis, 

 the ijurchase of materials used in the 

 packing houses and in the groves, and 

 it has secured the aid of the stale and 

 federal governmenis in order that ils 

 business ma>- be conducted economi- 

 cally, and cullural and fruit handling 

 dilliculties thai confront it may he 



solved by scientific research. Through 

 better handling methods the industry 

 has lessened decay and has thereby 

 reduced the risk of the jobber and 

 retailer. 



There are few American industries 

 that have been benefitted more by the 

 application of systematic, organized 

 business methods to its problems than 

 the California citrus industry. Until 

 recently, its investigations ceased with 

 the production of the fruit and with 

 its distribution to the jobbers of the 

 country. But as the prosperity of the 

 industry always waits upon the in- 

 crease in consumption of the fruit at 

 prices profitable to the producer, the 

 industry has undertaken an investiga- 

 tion of the distribution after the fruit 

 reaches the market in order to see how 

 the handling of its own problems can 

 be improved and how its co-operation 

 with the jobbers, the retailer and the 

 consumer can be made more cfTcctivc, 

 its advertising more direct, and the 

 wastes of distribution eliminated. The 

 distribution of the nation's food sup- 

 plies is far more complex than the 

 problems of production, because of the 

 intricate, interwoven relationshi[)s of 

 transportation, finance, the assembling 

 and distribution to the consumers after 

 a product reaches the niai'ket. The 

 standard of living of the .\nierican con- 

 sumer has changed radicallv in the last 

 generation and the demands of the con- 

 sumer impose a series of conditions 

 upon the distributing agencies that arc 

 increasing in complexity. 



The investigation of the distribution 

 of the citrus fruit crop has been made 

 in the principal cities of the United 

 States and Canada through the co-oi)er- 

 ation of the jobbers and retailers with 

 agents of the industry located in these 

 places. It has not yet been extended 

 to the rural districts. The method of 

 investigation, so far as it relates to the 

 costs, follows: Beginning in .lanuary, 

 1914, the agents, starting with the de- 

 livered ])rice of oranges, to the jobliers, 

 of the 12(5, 1.50, 176 sizes, and of the 300 

 and 3(iO sizes of lemons, determined the 

 price wliich the leading jobbers in each 

 place charged the retailers on the same 

 grades and sizes, and then determined 

 the retail price to the consumer, both 

 on the box and dozen basis. The data 

 were accumulated every two weeks on 

 the same grades and sizes during the en- 

 lire year, thereby giving a large number 

 of consistent reports from many places. 

 To illustrate the results of the investi- 

 gation, thirty representative cities and 

 towns were selected. There are 5,485 

 reports on oranges from jobbers and 



