42 



THE " BACK TO THE LAND " MOVEMENT 



G. Harold Powell, has this to say on the consumption-overproduc- 

 tion problem: 



"During the past few years the Exchange has increased the per capita 

 consumption of citrus fruits by advertising. The population of the United 

 States has increased 21 per cent during the past decade. The consumption 

 of California oranges increased 74.6 per cent during the same period . . . 

 The citrus fruit crop of California increases 255 per cent from 1895 to 1900; 

 71.7 per cent from 1900 to 1905; 10.9 per cent from 1905 to 1910; and 48.5 

 per cent from 1910 to 1914. The production will increase rapidly in the future, 

 the acreage having increased 128.9 per cent in the last decade. The in- 

 crease in shipments of citrus fruits from 

 Florida and California have more than 

 doubled in the last decade. The ex- 

 change organizations have, therefore, 

 an obligation, not only to sell their fruit 

 wisely from year to year, but to develop 

 a distributing and selling system and an 

 advertising policy at the same time 

 which will cause consumption to keep 

 pace with the increase in production. 

 Only through the stimulation of con- 

 sumption in this way can the future 

 financial stability of the two-hundred- 

 million dollars invested in the Calif ornia 

 citrus industry be assured. When pro- 

 duction exceeds consumption, then the 

 investment of the grower is jeopardized 

 . . . There are certain features of the 

 California industry to which the ex- 

 change members must give serious con- 

 sideration. They relate to the increase 

 in production and to the future sta- 

 bility of many investments . . . The 

 solution of the problems outlined will 

 depend primarily on a large increase in 

 the per capita consumption of citrus 

 fruits and the ability of California to 

 meet successfully the competition of 

 Florida oranges and grapefruit and of Italian lemons. There are a few lead- 

 ing fundamentals which the California industry must recognize if it meets 

 these problems successfully. There must be an improvement in the average 

 standard of the fruit that leaves the state, both in grade and in keeping quality. 

 This makes it imperative to develop the manufacture of the lower grades 

 into by-products . . . There must be an improvement in the care of groves 

 so that more fruit of higher quality may be produced per acre; and in the hand- 

 ling of the fruit so that decay and other preventable losses are eliminated . . . 

 Fruit of good eating quality only can be shipped in the future, if the industry 

 is to maintain its integrity with the consumer . . . The distribution of the 

 oranges and lemons must be uniform throughout the year ..." (Fig. 6). 



This lengthy quotation from the manager's annual report has 

 been given to illustrate the significant fact that a great industry 

 can be conducted in such a way as to improve the product from 

 year to year, and at the same time make this product cheaper to 

 the consumer and bring more to the producer. And the whole 



FIG. 6. G. Harold Powell, Manager of the 



California Fruit Growers' Exchange, Los 



Angeles, Cal. 



