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BETTER FRUIT 



HOOD RIVER, OREGON 



Official Organ of 

 The Northwest Fruit Growers' Association 

 A Monthly Illustrated Magazine 

 Published in the Interest of Modern 

 Fruit Growing and Marketing 

 All Communications Should Be Addressed and 

 Remittances Made Payable to 



Better Fruit Publishing Company 

 E. H. shepard 



Editor and Publisher 

 C. R. Greisen, Assistant Editor 

 H. E. Van Deman, Contributing Editor 

 State Associate Editors 



OREGON 



A. B. CoRDLEY, Entomologist, Corvallis 

 C. I. Lewis, Horticulturist, Corvallis 

 P. J. O'Gara, Pathologist and Entomologist , 

 Medford 



WASHINGTON 



\V. S. Thornber, Horticulturist, Pullman 

 A. L. Melander, Entomologist, Pullman 



COLORADO 



C. P. Gillette, Director and Entomologist, 

 Fort Collins 



E. B. House, Chief of Department of Civil and 

 Irrigation Engineering, State Agricultural 

 College, Fort Collins 

 E. P. Taylor, Horticulturist, Grand Junction 



IDAHO 



W. H. Wicks, Horticulturist, Moscow 



UTAH 



Dr. E. D. Ball, Director and Entomologist, Logan 

 Leon D. Batchelor, Horticulturist, Logan 



MONTANA 



O. B. Whipple, Horticulturist, Bozeman 



CALIFORNIA 



C. W. Woodworth, Entomologist, Berkeley 

 W. H. VoLCK, Entomologist, Watsonville 



BRITISH COLUMBIA 



R. M. WiNSLOw, Provincial Horticulturist, Victoria 

 SUBSCRIPTION PRICE $1.00 PER YEAR 



In Advance, in United States and Canada 

 Foreign Subscriptions, Including Postage, $1.50 



Advertising Rates on Application 

 Entered as second-class matter December 27, igo6, 

 at the Post Office at Hood River, Oregon, 

 under Act of Congress of March 3, rf/p. 



IT is the editor's aim to watch condi- 

 tions closely and be observant on 

 all occasions. Naturally, in visiting the 

 many different sections during the year 

 and through contact with buyers, of 

 whom the editor meets a great many, 

 and personal visits not only throughout 

 the Northwest but throughout the East, 

 the editor, by being observant, absorbs 

 considerable information and draws many 

 conclusions. These it is our aim from 

 time to time to present in "Better Fruit," 

 editorially or otherwise, for the consid- 

 eration of the fruit grower. It is not 

 our intention to have our readers assume 

 that these opinions are always correct 

 conclusions. We do not wish anyone to 

 assume our statements to be facts. Our 

 views are presented for consideration 

 and investigation, and it is our hope that 

 in this way the growers in all sections 

 will be influenced more or less through 

 the columns of "Better Fruit" to investi- 

 gate more fully for their own benefit 

 the matters presented to them for con- 

 sideration. 



<S> ^ ^ 



NEARLY all orchardists who are 

 familiar with the prices realized in 

 New York and Chicago during the pre- 

 vious year felt that these two cities were 

 the proper places to send our fruit, par- 

 ticularly apples. The result was that 

 these two markets became glutted while 

 many other very good consuming cities 

 received no supply at all. 



Apples this year grew to be very large 

 in size. It is admitted by all, and well 



BETTER FRUIT 



knijwn b}- dealers, that the \-er3' large 

 .ippies like 72 and •'54, of which there 

 were nianw will not keep as long as the 

 smaller sizes. The proportion of these 

 very large sizes this year, on account of 

 the splendid growing season, was very 

 large. Dealers did not buy them heavily 

 to put in cold storage, fearing the keep. 

 Consequently they were put on the mar- 

 ket in large proportions for immediate 

 sale. As a matter of fact, up to the pres- 

 ent writing, the keep of Northwestern 

 apples in cold storage has been reported 

 excellent and comparatively few cars 

 were reported off condition on arrival. 

 However, many apples were delayed in 

 being shipped and the keep fore-short- 

 ened. While this was unavoidable it was 

 all wrong. Everyone knows that the 

 quicker an apple is packed and shipped 

 and put under ice after it has been 

 picked the longer it will hold up in cold 

 storage. 



A great many of the subjects covered 

 editorially in this issue are covered more 

 completely in an address delivered by the 

 editor before the Washington Horticul- 

 tural Society at Prosser, which will 

 appear in the first edition of "Better 

 Fruit" affording space. 



Marketing conditions this year were 

 affected by financial conditions, and 

 financial conditions were probably dis- 

 turbed by the political situation. Capital 

 and banks anticipated over a year ago 

 that money would be tight. This antici- 

 pation caused the banks to increase their 

 reserve, and increasing the reserve meant 

 just so much money drawn out of circu- 

 lation. This made money tighter and 

 times harder, and consequently the fruit 

 business and all other lines of business 

 were affected to a greater or lesser 

 extent. In such conditions people econo- 

 mize. Financial situations that render 

 economizing necessary not only interfere 

 with the price of fruit but with the sale 

 and with consumption. In marketing 

 fruit in the year 1910 all this has been 

 evident. A peculiar situation has arisen 

 which many growers do not understand. 

 A simple explanation, however, will 

 make it clear. As a matter of fact the 

 higher quality of varieties which bring 

 higher prices have been slower sellers 

 than the medium quality grades of 

 apples. The reason for this is that the 

 buyer who is economizing took the 

 cheaper quality in preference to the 

 higher quality because it cost him less 

 money. Another strange feature which 

 has not existed in previous years is that 

 smaller sized apples have sold more 

 readily than- the larger sizes. Dealers 

 preferred the 128 and 150 to 88 and 96 

 packs. The reason again is simple. One 

 hundred and fifty apples to a box will 

 go further in a family of children than 

 ninety-six. 



There were many other features con- 

 nected with marketing our fruit last year 

 which in a greater or lesser degree 

 affected the prices and account for prices 

 being somewhat lower in 1010 than dur- 

 ing the several years previous. As a 

 matter of fact, from observation, it is 

 our personal opinion that more adverse 

 conditions existed in marketing our apple 

 crop this year than during all of the pre- 



March 



ceding se\en vcars with which we are 

 familiar with the apple business. The 

 past year has been full of experiences, 

 and better knowledge has been obtained 

 about marketing our apples and fruit 

 crop in general than ever before, and it 

 is fair to assume that this better idea of 

 marketing conditions and salesmanship 

 will enable us to place our crops in the 

 future years to a better advantage. 



While the increased crop of apples 

 during the past year over previous years 

 in the Northwest had something to do 

 with affecting prices, one absolutely 

 familiar with the business for the past 

 eight years cannot help but feel that our 

 lower prices this year were due to finan- 

 cial conditions rather than to increased 

 quantity. 



WE have received such splendid 

 prices for our fruit in the past 

 years that economy in production has 

 practically been ignored. However, we 

 are no different in this respect from 

 many large industrial enterprises. Busi- 

 ness in the United States in the last two 

 years has been exceedingly prosperous, 

 very active and profits large, and it was 

 not necessary to economize in produc- 

 tion, at least we thought it was not nec- 

 essary. This has also been true with 

 the railroads. Much attention has been 

 devoted recently to reducing running 

 expenses and the cost of production in 

 various enterprises, and is still being 

 given serious study. Railroads are find- 

 ing that they can save millions of dollars 

 with economizing methods. Sometimes 

 the saving in itself alone is a big profit. 

 A man familiar with one of the big 

 meat concerns stated some time ago that 

 the profit in business really was what 

 they saved by utilizing the waste, con- 

 sisting of the horns and hoofs, which 

 were made into glue; the hide, which 

 was made into leather; the entrails, 

 which are used for fertilizers. Not an 

 ounce of a carcass is wasted. So it is 

 with the fruit business. We should 

 utilize the culls for by-products. 



Some time ago the work of the brick 

 mason was carefully investigated, and it 

 was found after a very thorough study 

 that his movements in handling bricks 

 could so be improved as to facilitate the 

 rapidity with which he worked so that 

 Continued on page 49 



Pemberton, B. C, Jan. 3, 1911. 

 Mr. E. H. Shepard, Esq. 



Dear Sir: I was under the impres- 

 sion that I had sent you the 25 cents 

 for the September number of "Better 

 Fruit" at the same time I returned 

 the December number. I now enclose 

 the necessary amount, and at the 

 same time would like you to know 

 what I heard said about your paper 

 at a recent packing class. 



" 'Better Fruit' is the best one 

 dollar's worth on the Pacific Coast, 

 bar none. The others of a similar 

 nature are merely second-rate copies 

 of it." Which remarks I heartily 

 endorse. Yours faithfully, 



E. J. Keddell. 



