THE CUMMINS PACKING SHED — 

 wher* choice frulh are graded and packed under the ILLINI 

 brand of the tliinois Fruit Growers Exchange. 



A COMFORTABLE FARM HOME — 

 is the reward of 25 years in the orchard business. The Cummins 

 family attribute much of their success to cooperative marketing. 



arc working auain anil should have more 

 money to spend for fruit. He said that 

 lyjy was the best year for apple growers 

 in the 21 years he has been in the busi- 

 ness. The crop was biu^cr than usual 

 and the price was high. He is liopint: 

 that 1937 will be a similar year. 



It seems that the apple crop is good 

 every other year. Recent good crop years 

 were "29, '31. '33, and '3">. 'lliis is 

 caused, according to Mr. Cummins, by 

 the fruiting habits of most varieties of 

 apples. 



Orchard men have tried for years to 

 change the fruiting habits of their trees 

 without marked success. They wouKi 

 like to have apples in the years the other 

 men have none because, as might be ex 

 pectcd, the price is better on "off years. 

 They have plucked all the blossoms in 

 "on" years, a job that requires about eight 

 man hours per tree, only to discover that 

 the trees skipped two years instead of one. 

 TTicy have experimented with fertilizers, 

 pruning, cover crops and different plant- 

 ing methods but in almost every case the 

 trees fell into bearing on the same years 

 as they grew older. 



"The better the variety is for market 

 the harder it is to change its habits.' 

 Cummins declared, "I'd give a lot to 

 know how to fix my Golden Delicious so 

 they'd bear next year instead of this 

 year." 



Tlicre is a problem to test the in- 

 genuity of any one who thinks fruit 

 growing a soft job! 



This same problem brings out another 

 etjually difficult puzzle. Every fruit man 

 expects 1938 will be a poor apple year 

 but he also knows that he will have to 

 prune, spray and fertilize the crop just 

 as thoroughly as he would in a good sea- 

 son to protect the trees against insect and 

 disease injury. If the fruiting habit 

 problem could be solved, orchard men 

 could have at least half a crop every year 



whiili would pay for the expense of car- 

 ing for the trees. 



As Logan Colp. field secretary of Il- 

 linois I'ruit Cirowcrs rxchange. observes: 

 An orihard is like a horse, you care for 

 him and tccil him as long as vou keep 

 him, whether you get any work out of 

 him or not." 



Orchards, like corn, need plenty of 

 nitrogen but, unlike corn, thev cant be 

 rotatcii with legume crops which supply 

 nitrogen. Therefore, orchards must be 

 fertilized with ammonium sulfates, ni- 

 trate of soda, cyan.uiiiile or manure. Al- 

 though Cummins rates manure as the best 

 fertilizer he is forced to use one of the 

 ihemical kinds because he raises no stock 

 and the cost of shipping manure into the 

 fruit belt is prohibitive. 



Fertilizers are purchased through the 

 Fruit Exchange Supply Company, an Il- 

 linois Farm Supply Company affiliate. 

 Here again is an example of the specialist 

 turning a part of his business over to 

 another specialist to handle for him. It 

 is only through proper organization that 

 this can be done. And it allows the fruit 

 grower to have his buying done as he 

 would do it without leaving his orchard 

 when his supervision is most needed. 



The Cummins account with the Fruit 

 Exchange Supply Company indicates that 

 they get spray materials, tree bands and 

 packaging supplies as well as nitrogen 

 from that source. All these needs are 

 senired at cost. 



Fuel to operate the sprayers and the 

 crawler tyf>e tractor is bought through 

 the Eg)ptian Service Company. Since 

 apples and peaches are sold in carlots at 

 wholesale prices, is it not logical that the 

 materials that go into growing those 

 products be purchased on a wholesale 

 basis? Mr. Cummins thinks so. 



Insurance too, is carried in the Farm 

 Bureau companies. All the buildings are 

 insured against fire and windstorm dam- 



age, the cars are fully covered, and the 

 younger members of the Cummins family 

 have Country Life insurance. 



Mr. Cummins admits that fruit grow- 

 ing has become more complicated during 

 the recent years and he feels that all of 

 his time is needed if the enterprise is to 

 remain on a profitable basis. I'or years 

 he has fought the codling moth with 

 sprays containing arsenic. A few years 

 ago he was forced to install a washer to 

 remove all the arsenic in order to comply 

 with the federal ruling which limits the 

 amount of this poison that may remain 

 on the harvested fruit. 



At picking time the Cummins packing 

 shed bustles with activity. Thirty extra 

 helpers are called in to pick. haul. wash, 

 grade and patk the harvest. This begins 

 about August first with the peach crop 

 and continues through the summer with 

 the Duchess and Transparent apples, and 

 later in the fall with the Winesaps, 

 Rome Beauties. Delicious and Jonathans. 

 In the late harvest too. comes the pear 

 crop. 



Here is a land owning family that 

 has succeeded in improving its lot by 

 growing a crop that does well on the 

 t)'pe of land they have. They are active 

 workers in their organizations, the Farm 

 Bureau and the Illinois Fruit Growers Ex- 

 change. Nelson is a director of the Ex- 

 change. Both O. V. and his son have 

 found that in low income years the ser- 

 vices of the Fruit Exchange have meant 

 the difference between profit and loss for 

 the year. 



Fruit production, like hog, corn, beef 

 or grain production, is a business in itself 

 without piling up such outside work as 

 marketing or buying. Would it not be 

 advisable for all farmers to follow the 

 example set by Cummins and place the 

 responsibility of buying and selling in 

 the hands of their own organization.-' - 

 Lawrence A. Potter. 



26 



I. A. A. RECORD 



