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TWENTY-NINTH FRUIT-GROWERS' CONVENTION. 



VICE-PRESIDENT McINTOSH. I now will ask the indulgence of 

 this Convention for a few moments while we hear from General N. P. 

 Chipman, independent of the regular program of this session. 



REMARKS BY GENERAL N. P. CHIPMAN. 



GENERAL CHIPMAN. Mr. Chairman, and Gentlemen of the Con- 

 vention: I do not know that I have any message of very great impor- 

 tance to bring to you to-day, but I want to say that when I came 

 into the hall yesterday morning it seemed to me that there was an 

 atmosphere pervading the Convention which was entirely at war and 

 out of harmony with the true condition of the fruit industry of this 

 State. I had read in the morning papers in San Francisco the utter- 

 ances of your esteemed President, and must confess to have been very 

 much astounded and very much disappointed at some of his conclu- 

 sions. I am sorry he is not here to-day, because I wanted to combat, 

 in an earnest manner, the conclusions he has reached upon some of the 

 branches of the fruit industry of this State; and I think it is due to us, 

 it is due to the fruit-growers throughout the State, that the truth should 

 be known, and that we should not give out to the world impressions 

 about this great industry of our State that are not proven and that are 

 disappointing and disheartening to the fruit-growers and will be 

 repellant to those who want to come to this State for the ;purpose of 

 engaging in this industry. Now, I have been in a position, and am in 

 a position relative to the California State Board of Trade, which enables 

 me to speak with some degree of certainty about the condition of this 

 industry, and I say that it is not true that the orange industry, for 

 example, as reported, is in a discouraging condition, the prune industry 

 in a discouraging condition, the raisin industry in a like situation, and 

 so on through quite a list — the wine-grape industry, for example, added 

 to the list. It is not true, my friends, my fellow-workers in the cause 

 of fruit-growing in this State, that any one of those industries is in a 

 discouraging condition. 



Now take the raisin industry. We have an example right before us, 

 an object lesson all around us in this beautiful, prosperous city. They 

 tell us that the crop this year is something like 110,000 ,-000 pounds, the 

 value of which circulates through this community. What does that 

 mean in money, my friends? It means, at present market rates, pretty 

 nearly $5,000,000. It certainly means four and one half millions of 

 dollars going through the avenues of commerce of this one county. I 

 believe that Fresno practically controls the raisin situation in this 

 State. Now, any of you may take pencil and paper and sit down with 

 any one fruit-grower of this county, get from him the cost of produc- 

 tion, all told, in the sweat-box here at the packing-house, and what he 



