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"Competition Demamls Higli CN^iMtt Fruit" 



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■y JIM THOMSON, Au't. MMor, lAA RKOIIO 



SOUTHERN Illinois fruit growers 

 must sell more fruit by brand name 

 rather than by grade, L. L. Colvis, 

 Illinois Agricultural Association sec- 

 retary of marketing, told fruit farm- 

 ers attending the 27th annual meeting of 

 the Illinois Fruit Growers Exchange in 

 late February at Carbondale. 



McBride said. At the time of the annual 

 meeting, 18,000 bushels were still in stor- 

 age. Capacity of the building is 60,000 

 bushels. 



McBride told the membership of plans 

 to use a new container for marketing 

 peaches in 1948. The box is known as 

 the Sparton and is used extensively by 



Board and management of the Illinois Fruit Growers Exchange for 194S ore shewn In 

 Carbondale during their annual meeting. Left to right, front: Manager R. S. McBride; 

 F. 6. Anderson, secretary-treasurer. Union; E. D. McGuIre, Jackson, vice-president; and 

 A. O. Eckert, president, St. Clair. Bock row: R. B. Endicott, Pulaski; C. R. Boland, Edgar; 

 Nelson Cummins, Jefferson; William Beaumon, Johnson; Dr. L. A. Floyd, Bond; and Arthur 

 Foreman, Pike. Not in picture are H. E. Hartley, Marion; Lyman Creed, Marion; and 



D. B. Kirtland, Crawford. 



western fruit growers. Manager McBride 

 announced also that starting this year, the 

 Fruit Growers Exchange would market a 

 high quality peach under the brand name 

 "Prairie Chief." He said the Fruit Ex- 

 change plans to build it up as a high 

 quality fruit with a nation-wide reputa- 

 tion. This can be done, he said, only 

 with the cooperation of our growers. 



Colvis suggested that some thought 

 should be given to the distribution system. 

 "At present," he said, "fruit distribution 

 is too expensive. Farmers have done a 

 good job of adjusting their products to 

 demand but they still face up to the same 

 old methods of distribution. Livestock 

 people pay about three per cent for trans- 

 portation and first sale cost while fruit 

 growers must pay about 30 per cent." 



The organization's subsidiary, Fruit 

 Exchange Supply Company, distributed 

 patronage refunds valued at $31,312. The 

 refunds went to 900 patrons who bought 

 the record-breaking amount of $743,526 

 of orchard supplies, insecticides and ferti- 

 lizers during the fiscal year ending Dec. 

 31, 1947. 



Illinois is expected to ha.ve a smaller 

 peach crop in 1948 than it had in the 

 past three years. Peach men estimate an 

 {Continued on page 21) 



Colvis, principal speaker at the meet- 

 ing, pointed out that although the Fruit 

 Growers Exchange is a cooperative dedi- 

 cated to the service of all fruit growers, 

 it will have to set high standards that 

 growers must meet. "Increasing competi- 

 tion," he said, "demands it." 



Leading the fight for quality as he has 

 for many years, President A. O. Eckert. 

 St. Clair county, said: "We can expect 

 tougher competition in 1948. We must 

 keep on our toes. We want to help our 

 growers but the man who grows poor 

 quality fruit year after year isn't fair to 

 his neighbors who are working hard. He 

 isn't fair to his co-op. Neither co-ops nor 

 anyone else can flourish with that kind of 

 business. 



'Let's have better color and better fin- 

 ish in our fruit," Eckert continued. 

 "Don't overlook eye appeal. It gets the 

 business." 



Manager R. S. McBride reiterated the 

 need for better quality fruit. "Poor qual- 

 ity fruit," he said, "requires more time 

 and effort to dispose of." 



The Fruit Growers Exchange cold stor- 

 age building, used for the first time in 

 1947, stored 59.000 bushels of apples. 



18 



• • • • 



lAA Co-op Expands Wool Buying 



HAVE you heard of the big changes made by the Illinois Wool 

 Marketing Association in their expanded wool buying pro- 

 gram for this spring? Here are three principal, changes of 

 interest to Illinois farmers: 



1. Growers will receive advance checks within three days of 

 the time their wool arrives at the new warehouse in Paris, Edgar 

 county. This cash advance will amount to about 75 per cent of the 

 market value of the wool. 



2. Growers who sell their wool through the cooperative will 

 be furnished wool bags and paper twine free of charge. 



3. Warehousing, grading, and sale of wool will be handled 

 centrally through the Paris warehouse. This should result in lower 

 marketing costs and greater net returns to the grower. 



The Wool Marketing Association has set a goal of one million 

 pounds of wool. It needs this expanded volume to operate with the 

 greatest efficiency. You can help put this program over by market- 

 ing vour wool through your own statewide cooperative. 



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L A. A. RECORD 



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