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BETTER FRUIT 



April 



BETTER FRUIT 



HOOD RIVER, OREGON 



OlHcial Organ of TJie Nortliwest Fruit Growers' ABSociation 

 A Mon'hly Illustrated Magazine Published in tlie 

 Interest of Modem Fruit Gro«ing and Marketing 



All Communications Should Be Addressed and Remittances 

 Made Payable to 



Better Fruit Publishino- Company 



E, H, SHKPABD, Editor and Publisher 

 H. E. VAN DEJIAN. Contributing Editor 



STATE ASSOCIATE EDITORS 

 OREGON 



C. I. Le\vis. Horticulturist Corrallis 



H. S. Jackson. Pathologist Corvallis 



H. F, Wilson. Entomologist Corrallis 



WASHINGTON 



Dr. A. L. Melander. Entomologist Pullman 



O. M. Morris, Horticulturist Pullman 



COLORADO 



C. P. Gillette. Director and Entomologist Fort Collins 



E. B. House. Chief of Department of Civil and Irrigation 



Engineering. State Agricultural College Fort Collins 



E. P. Taylor. Horticulturist Grand Junction 



IDAHO 



W. H. WicJts, Horticulturist Moscow 



W. S. Thornber. Horticulturist Lewiston 



UTAH 



Dr. E. D. Ball, Director and Entomologist Logan 



MONTANA 



O. B. Whipple. Horticulturist Bozeman 



CALIFORNIA 



C- W. Woodworth. Entomologist Berkeley 



W. H. Volck. Entomologist Wat5onville 



Leon D. Batchelor. Horticulturist Riverside 



BRITISH COLUMBIA 

 R. M. Winslow. Provincial Horticulturist Victoria 



SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: 



In the United States. $1.00 per year in advance 



Canada and foreign, including postage, $1.50 



ADVTSRTISING BATES UN APPLICATION 



Entered as second-class matter December 27, 1906, at the 



PostofJice at Hood River, Oregon, under Act 



of Congress of March 3. 1879. 



Business Improving. — From the trend 



of opinion as expressed by financiers 

 and able thinlvers, we are justified in 

 assuming that not only is business bet- 

 ter but we can look forward with con- 

 fidence to a steady improvement. A 

 recent article in the World's Work fur- 

 nishes some interesting data and as- 

 surance of better times and better 

 business. The Pennsylvania Railroad 

 has recently sold $49,000,000 worth of 

 4%% mortgage bonds: the Illinois Cen- 

 tral has also sold millions of securities 

 and other railroads are doing the same. 

 The railroads and business are already 

 borrowing money for productive pur- 

 poses because money is plentiful and 

 cheap. It is eight months since the 

 war broke out, which created a drastic 

 stringency in financial circles. That 

 period of uncertainty and fear has 

 passed. At the present time an abun- 

 dance of cheap money exists; it is the 

 biggest stimulant in the world to create 

 business. Capital cannot, will not and 

 does not lie idle long. City banks 

 which are required by law to carry a 

 15% reserve have from 25% to 40%,' or 

 twice the normal amount retiuired, 

 which means that double the amount of 

 money in normal times is now idle. 

 This condition cannot and will not con- 

 tinue; this dormant capital will become 

 active and with it business will become 

 good. 



It is not intended by this prophesy 

 that business will come with a jump, 

 but it is the opinion of the editor that 

 a steady, gradual, safe improvement 

 can be reasonably looked for from now 

 on. In December last the balance of 

 trade in favor of the United States was 

 $132,000,000. At the present increase of 

 trade balance in our favor, it will f)c a 

 billion dollars before the year is over. 

 The World's Work states that the 



United States during the war is saving 

 over $200,000,000 per year which has 

 usually been spent by American tourists 

 in Europe. All of these conditions 

 point to a continuation of cheap money 

 and the encouragement of industrial 

 activity. The stringency is past; the 

 emergency measures taken at the out- 

 break of the war are no longer neces- 

 sary; the gold pool has been dissolved 

 and the cotton pool is no longer needed. 

 The stock exchanges are open, although 

 minimum price restriction still pre- 

 vails. Our condition is now improving 

 with certainty and we may reasonably 

 expect it to continue to improve even 

 if the war continues. A review of his- 

 tory shows that usually following 

 war business conditions are much im- 

 proved. After the Civil War business 

 showed a steady improvement, which 

 continued with apparently few set- 

 backs until 1907. The World's Work 

 states that there is much historical 

 precedent for decent optimism. 



The World's Work further states: 

 "With such jjossibilities before us, a 

 courageous and patriotic thing for men 

 to do who have brains, energy and 

 capital, is to use them so that our 

 bread lines may be shortened and an 

 end made to the setback caused by the 

 disruption of the normal relations of 

 trade by the sudden outbreak of the 

 war. There is before us an oppor- 

 tunity for an immediate quickening in 

 business, — an opportunity which it is 

 our duty to make the most of. It is 

 noted chiefly on cheap money, but not 

 alone on that. There are other en- 

 couraging signs which we can wel- 

 come. It is a time when oi)timism and 

 energy can gain a fair reward." 

 * * « 



The Board of Control of the Market- 

 ing Organization. — The selling con- 

 cerns have organized with a Board of 

 Control, one representative to be given 

 to each of the large concerns like the 

 Northwest Fruit Exchange and the 

 North Pacific Fruit Distributors, and in 

 the different sections where there are 

 several other marketing organizations 

 they are accorded a representative on 

 the Board of Control. For instance, if 

 there are eight marketing organizations 

 in any particular district, then these 

 eight are given two representatives, 

 making in this way a total of fourteen. 

 This small body, representative of the 

 marketing concerns, can confer with 

 the Board of Control of the fruitgrow- 

 ers' organization in reference to the 

 policy to be pursued. It is generally 

 believed that they can agree on some 

 harmonious condition which will be 

 conducive to great good for every- 

 one interested in the fruit industry. 

 Through this plan, it is believed that 

 tlie markets can be stabilized: it is be- 

 lieved the marketing concerns will 

 become more efficient and better serv- 

 ice rendered to the dealer; the standard 

 of packing can be improved and be 

 made more uniform. It is also believed 

 that this combination will result in 

 better prices for the fruitgrower by 

 elimination of unnecessary self-com- 

 petition or cutting of prices. At the 



same time it is hoped and believed the 

 consumer in the end will be given 

 better care and obtain his fruit even at 

 a less price than he has done for many 

 years in the past. 



* It * 



Railroads have been criticised by the 



public very extensively; while perhaps 

 some of it has been just, much has been 

 unjust. The railroads have been great 

 developers of communities; they are 

 creators and builders of business. 

 Without the railroads the Northwest- 

 ern States, — Oregon, Washington, Idaho 

 and Montana, — would still be not much 

 more than a wilderness or desert lands. 

 The railroads have peopled these four 

 states with a population of nearly four 

 millions. Apparently it is not easy 

 going for the railroads. The Interstate 

 Commerce Commission has regulated 

 rates, — not that they have done so un- 

 wisely, but nevertheless it has affected 

 the income of the railroads. The labor 

 organizations have demanded shorter 

 hours and frequently better pay. With 

 the income reduced and the expenses 

 increased, many railroads have found 

 difficulty in maintaining the equipment, 

 trackage and good condition. The 

 Interstate Commerce Commission re- 

 cently granted an increase of five per 

 cent. It is believed this will do much 

 to improve financial conditions with 

 our railroads. It is hoped it will en- 

 able them to do such improvement and 

 extension work as may be necessary 

 for the development of the country. It 

 begins to look as if the public had be- 

 gun to understand the importance and 



SEE CALIFORNIA 



AND HER TWO 

 GREAT EXPOSITIONS 



NOW 



California is this year holding two great 

 universal Expositions, one at San Francisco 

 and the other at San Diego, in celebration of 

 the completion of the Panama Canal and the 

 joining of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. 

 These two Expositions represent an expendi- 

 ture excteding one hundred million dollars. 

 To supply the demand for reliable and 

 authentic information on these Expositions 

 and California, we have published two beau- 

 tiful books; one on San Francisco, the Expo- 

 sition and Northern California; the other on 

 Los Angeles, San Diego, the Exposition and 

 Southern California; also a lithographed view 

 of San Francisco in colors (size 30x45 inches), 

 a picture of the rebuilt city, including the 

 Exposition. Each book is 6x9 inches, con- 

 tains nearly 200 pages and many beautiful 

 illustrations. 



These two books and large bird's-eye view 

 give a comprehensive, honest history and de- 

 scription of the state, her principal cities, 

 resources and her two great Expositions. 

 Sent prepaid for 35 cents each or all three for 

 a, one dollar bill, money order, draft or check. 

 Order now, addressing 



North American Press Association, 



Publishers. 

 1-420 Hearst Building. San Francisco. 



WHEN WRITING ADVERTISERS MENTtON BETTER FRUIT 



