9 6 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



ful plants of which he has had the management, both 

 in Colorado and Utah, are proof of this assertion. He 

 has familiarized himself with every branch of the 

 business, whether it be in construction work or in 

 financial arrangements. In the West canal builders 

 have the highest regard for his opinion, while in the 

 East investors have every faith in his statements and 

 the propositions he has presented. 



Mr. Aldrach has but recently returned to Utah from 

 a most encouraging trip among the investors of the 

 East. He feels that the outlook for irrigation invest- 

 ments is brighter, and says that many investors who 

 have heretofore positively refused to consider anything 

 of the kind are now turning their attention to this 

 form of security. 



One of the latest achievements, the success of 

 which is materially due to Mr. Aldrach's ability, is 

 the plant of the Central Utah Land and Irrigation 

 Co., whose canals and lands are located in Millard 

 county, Utah. A splendid system of ditches and a 

 mammoth reservoir have been constructed under his 

 supervision. Extensive crops were raised last year, 

 and Mr. Aldrach has now returned to the scene to go 

 ahead with the spring work. THE AGE has kept 

 close watch of the methods which have characterized 

 this gentleman's work in the past, and at this time 

 takes the opportunity to extend its most cordial as- 

 surance of cooperation in other enterprises which he 

 may have under consideration for the development of 

 Western America. 



If all enterprises had a C. W. Aldrach at the helm, 

 there would be no failures. He is conservative to a 

 great degree, at the same time is an enthusiastic be- 

 liever in the soundness of irrigation enterprises, and 

 believes it needs only honesty of purpose, close at 

 tention and a thorough information of good projects 

 to place them on a good paying basis, and has worked 

 on the theory that there are plenty of good, safe irri- 

 gation projects in this country that need developing, 

 and consequently there need be no risks incurred if 

 the doubtful ones are overlooked until time and in- 

 creased population demand that extra engineering 

 difficulties be overcome and large amounts ex- 

 pended. 



Co-opera- At the present time California holds 

 ti0t f~ruit n ^ P r i mac y as a fruit producing region 



Growers, wholly beyond dispute by any other 

 region of this or any other country on the American 

 continent. While it is probable that there are other 

 sections of our own country, of Australia and South 

 Africa that may some day take equal rank with Cali- 

 fornia, yet at the present time she stands ahead in 

 both variety and quantity of fruits produced. Fruit 

 production in that State has become a leading pur- 

 suit, if not the leading pursuit. Although California 

 yields nearly forty million bushels of wheat annually, 



and digs twelve millions in gold from her mines, yet 

 her fruit interests, as a whole, are constantly gaining 

 on all others. As the production has rapidly in- 

 creased in recent years, the question of prices and 

 distribution is a live one, and the growers are taking 

 much interest in them in all parts of the State. Co- 

 operative societies have been formed in a number of 

 places, and the results achieved have been so encour- 

 aging that the sentiment is rapidly gaining ground. 

 It is now seen by very many of the leading orchardists 

 that associated effort along essentially the same lines 

 is the only rational and business-like way to reach the 

 degree of prosperity in their business which equity 

 and the labor bestowed demands. To this end a mass 

 convention was recently held in San Francisco, at 

 which a plan for a State Fruit Exchange, previously 

 agreed upon by a committee of a former meeting, was 

 submitted and approved. 



For the present the State Exchange will be mostly 

 concerned with the handling of dried fruits of various 

 kinds, including prunes and raisins, of which the past 

 year's crop of each was nearly sixty million pounds. 

 The purpose of the Exchange is not to "bull " prices, 

 but to concentrate the fruit and distribute it in a ra- 

 tional way, avoiding the otherwise inevitable competi- 

 tion of growers with each other, when sales are made 

 indiscriminately by individuals in all available mar- 

 kets. In short, the Exchange will strive to act as the 

 balance wheel in the marketing machinery in Cali- 

 fornia. It is expected in time that the State organi- 

 zation will become the acknowledged head of all the 

 local associations, and thus practically regulate the 

 distribution of a great proportion of the fruit crops. 



Such organizations should be encouraged in all 

 sections, not only for the marketing of fruit, but other 

 crops as well. There is a quite general feeling among 

 the tillers of the soil that there is far too wide a mar- 

 gin between what the producer receives and what the 

 consumer pays for nearly all crops. Admitting that 

 this is true, nothing save full cooperation among pro- 

 ducers is likely to remedy the evil. The question of 

 expense from orchard or farm to the tables of con- 

 sumers is the great one to be solved. Merely meeting 

 and passing resolutions condemning the railroads and 

 the commission men will do little good. Producers 

 must organize properly, cooperate honestly and ex- 

 pect to put up money when needed to carry their 

 organizations to a victorious issue. It should be re- 

 membered that there is a good deal of human nature 

 in most men, and it does not follow that a commission 

 merchant is necessarily dishonest, or that a fruit 

 grower or farmer is always just what he should be. 

 But no organization of men, for business purposes, 

 can succeed without good business management, and 

 farmers and fruit growers should bear these facts in 

 mind. But there is every reason to hope that with 



