HOW TO GROW AND MARKET FRUIT 



orchard and buy for cash. You should grade and pack your 

 fruit, however, with all care, and you should keep in touch with 

 the market. 



The very lest way to get the most money out of fine fruit 

 is through growers' organizations. Selling conditions in the 

 East at present are nothing more than a jumble. A few growers 

 have located a market for their product, and are getting good 

 prices, but for the great majority of growers there is nothing 

 better than what some one or two buyers offer. If half of our 

 eastern men could see for themselves how fruit is sold in the 

 West, they would do things differently by the time next year's 

 crop is ready to be sold. 



In the West, a smaller or larger number of growers will 

 get together, agree on standard grading and packing, adopt 

 a label for the association, provide storage and shipping facil- 

 ities in some cases (but this is not vital), hire inspectors, who 

 will see that all fruit is up to the standard in every way, and sell 

 all the fruit through one of the officers. Very high prices are 

 secured in this way. The big buyers know they can depend on 

 the quality of the fruit and the correctness of the pack, and will 

 hotly compete among themselves for your fruit. The processing 

 of second-grade fruit and the handling of by-products, securing 

 good freight rates, buying spraying materials, equipments, and 

 buying market packages, are all done a hundred per cent 

 better by an organization than by the individual orchardists. 

 It does not matter what kind of fruit is grown. 



On the Delaware and Maryland Peninsula, and in certain 

 sections of the middle West, another kind of organized selling 

 is carried on effectively. Growers' unions, or farmers' unions' 

 are formed, officers elected, and these men seek out markets 

 for every product raised. They have an office, or remain near 

 the station or landing, all the time during season, and promptly 

 buy everything offered them (for cash or on consignment) 

 at highest market rates. No profit is made, and the total 

 of the prices received is given to growers, after the small run- 

 ning expenses are subtracted. The commission-men in the 

 cities send their buyers to the stations to compete with the 

 union buyers, and many times individuals will do the same. 

 The buyers keep cars waiting all the time, and forward stuff 

 immediately. It is a poor community that cannot load several 

 cars a day all through harvesting season. 



The organized selling idea and practice is what the East 

 lacks. Hardly any community would fail to make a big success 

 of such a plan, if two or three live men would start a movement 

 for it. We know that it is successful, and we strongly urge all 

 our friends to try some such system for handling the next crop. 

 We shall be glad to tell you in detail of the by-laws and 

 organization of some of the Peninsula organizations if you 

 will write us. 



One last word. Keep posted. Read farm and fruit papers 

 and books. They will aid you in many a problem, and will help 

 you to make your orchard a success and your life interesting and 

 worth while. 



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