OUTLINE OF NEW ENGLAND FRUIT GROWERS' EX- 

 CHANGE FOR CO-OPERATIVE BUYING 

 AND SELLING 



Mr. John A. Scheuerle 



To give you a concrete point of view and acquaintance 

 with this whole situation, I will tell you how the idea of the 

 exchange started. Your presiding officer was working in 

 Hampden County for about four years getting people to 

 spray and prune and raise more fruit. Out in Wilbraham 

 and Hampden we got a lot to plant more peaches. About 

 three years ago we came up against the real problem, — the 

 problem of marketing. Our Wilbraham and Hampden 

 peaches were being sold in Springfield and along came Con- 

 necticut peaches and other peaches all dumped into Spring- 

 field. 



There was such a glut at Springfield that farmers barely 

 got enough to make it worth while for them to pick their 

 peaches. I presume some did not pick all they had. 



Mr. J. L. Brooks, President of the Eastern States Ex- 

 position, started out early in the morning and got the prices 

 of peaches. The farmers received 35 to 40 cents a basket in 

 Springfield. He went up to Maine to Boothbay, the same 

 day. On his way up he stopped at Portland; here peaches 

 were selling for $2.25 to $2.50 a basket. At Boothbay he 

 secured a basket of poor quality peaches for which he had 

 to pay $2.75. 



What was the trouble with the peach business in New 

 England? No organization. No systematic distribution. 

 A glut here and a scarcity there. 



Last spring, the peach growers of New England felt 



