I9II BETTER FRUIT Page 6, 



SPECIALIZATION IN THE FRUIT GROWING INDUSTRY 



BY DR. PAUL L. VOGT, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AND HISTORY, W. S. C. 



ONE of the most marked tendencies 

 in the fruit growing industry of 

 the Northwest is that of special- 

 ization. This tendency shows itself not 

 only in the planting and growth of par- 

 ticular types of fruit, but also in methods 

 of preparing fruit for market and in 

 methods of disposal of crops. Occa- 

 sionally one will find the old-fashioned 

 orchard in which the owner has planted 

 two or three trees of every variety 

 known to the nurseryman, and from 

 which the owner secures a small quan- 

 tity of fruit suited to each season of the 

 year. In times past this type of orchard 

 was perhaps best suited to the needs of 

 the community. The aim of the grower 

 was to raise as much of every commodity 

 as he needed for himself, thus making it 

 less necessary to purchase food supplies 

 from others. But those who are going 

 into fruit growing as a business recog- 

 nize that it is impossible to make the 

 orchard planted for home use succeed as 

 a commercial enterprise. When he raises 

 fruit to sell he considers the wants of 

 others and plants his fruit to meet those 

 wants instead of his own. 



Specialization is meeting with favor 

 not only because of the conspicuous suc- 

 cess of those who have specialized, but 

 also because it is only through the 

 adoption of this policy that failure can 

 be avoided. In many places one finds 

 fruit going to waste that would demand 

 a market price were it raised under con- 

 ditions that would enable the owner to 

 bring it to the consumer. But the quan- 

 tity of any one variety raised is too small 

 or the quality resulting from too little 

 care is so inferior that the owner does 

 not feel justified in attempting to dis- 

 pose of it. On the other hand, one finds 

 in other communities the same commodi- 

 ties becoming the basis of large fortunes. 

 The secret of difference is specialization. 



Two instances of the results of spe- 

 cialization may be cited out of the many 

 to be found in the fruit growing sections 

 of the Northwest. The one is in the 

 growth and disposal of a durable fruit, 

 the other in the handling of a fruit of 

 the most perishable nature. Hood River, 

 Oregon, has become world famous for 

 the apples produced in the Hood River 

 Valley, and in like manner the Puyallup 

 Valley, in Washington, has become 

 widely known as a producer of berries. 

 In each case specialization is carried 

 to the utmost limit. At Hood River, 

 according to a report by the Oregon 

 Agricultural College Experiment Station. 

 1908, the total number of apple trees 

 one to twenty-five years of age was 

 349,435. Of this total 174,684 trees were 

 Yellow Newtown Pippins and 150,616 

 were Spitzenbergs. Thus over ninety- 

 three per cent of all the trees planted 

 were of these two varieties. Those 

 acquainted with later planting state that 

 the same relative proportion is being 

 maintained. In the Puyallup Valley the 

 Puyallup-Sumner Fruit Growers' Asso- 

 ciation, which handles an estimated 

 amount of seventy-five per cent of all 



the fruit grown in the valley, handled 

 during the year 1909 a total of 901,271 

 pounds of fruit in their cannery and 

 73,473 packages (crates, boxes, baskets) 

 of fresh fruit. Of the cannery goods 

 724,695 pounds, or over eighty per cent, 

 were made up of blackberries and rasp- 

 berries, and of the packages of fresh 

 fruit 69,702, or ninety-five per cent, 

 belonged to these two varieties of fruit. 

 The odds and ends that make up the 

 other five per cent are too unimportant 

 to be worth consideration. It is impor- 

 tant to notice that a much larger propor- 

 tion of other varieties are handled in the 

 cannery. This is an indication that the 

 cannery helps to solve, in a measure, the 

 problems resulting from non-specializa- 

 tion, such as exists in the valley. 



The other fruit growing sections of the 

 state do not as yet show the degree of 

 specialization found in the places men- 

 tioned above, but the same tendency 

 toward greater specialization on varieties 

 of fruit that have been found specially 

 adapted to the respective districts is 

 apparent. 



The economic causes for this speciali- 

 zation are to be found, in part, in the 

 advantage it gives in the disposal of the 

 product. When the grower has a few 

 boxes each of a great variety of apples 

 he must sell them at prices representing 

 the general demand for apples, quality 

 not considered. Neither the grower nor 

 the wholesale dealer can profitably pick 

 out any one variety and attempt to 

 create a special demand for it. But when 

 many varieties are replaced by a few- 

 best suited to existing conditions then 

 the dealer who is prepared to handle 

 large quantities of staple articles is inter- 

 ested. The dealer who would not waste 

 postage on a few boxes of first grade 



apples scattered among a number of 

 growers will send his agents to bid for 

 the same apples when the growers get 

 enough together to enable the dealer to 

 handle them in carload lots. 



Fruit raised in small quantities must 

 also seek a market in the nearby towns 

 whose consuming capicity is limited, but 

 when carload lots are produced then rate 

 advantages may be secured from the rail- 

 roads that enable them to seek markets 

 large enough to consume the entire sup- 

 ply at good prices. Success in fruit 

 growing appears to demand production 

 on a scale in the community large enough 

 to insure economical handling and trans- 

 portation facilities sufficient to enable 

 the grower to reach the large markets. 



Specialization also shows conspicuous 

 results in the profits rightly enjoyed by 

 those living in a section which has 

 earned a reputation for a high standard 

 of product. When the big red apple, the 

 Yellow Newtown or the Spitzenberg. 

 becomes famous the country over those 

 who can invest in luxuries are willing to 

 pay high prices for the special product, 

 and those who do not buy often, but who 

 want good fruit when they do buy, will 

 select those varieties which have a stand- 

 ard reputation. "Just apples'" bring only 

 moderate prices, but apples which are 

 the result of specialization bring large 

 returns. 



The successes of the fruit growers of 

 the Northwest may be said to be due to 

 specialization. Specialization in varieties 

 raised, in cultivation, in preparation for 

 market, in advertising and disposing of 

 products have resulted in making the 

 Northwest of prime importance in fruit 

 production. The future will probably see 

 still greater specialization than the past 

 or the present. 



The Orchard Ladder and Manufacturing Co. 



Phone, Columbia 255. McDonald Block, ST. JOHNS, OREGON 



MANUFACTURERS 

 OF 



Swengel's 

 Portable 

 Orchard 

 Ladder 



SET UP 



At last a long felt want ladder has been supplied in 

 Swengel's patented portable ladder. This ladder is 

 so complete in ever>' detail that it fills the bill for 

 every possible want in the way of a ladder for or- 

 chardists. One man with this ladder can gather as 

 much fruit from the top of the tree as three men 

 usually gather with average type of a ladder. One 

 illustration shows the ladder folded up. The large 

 illustration shows the ladder setup with an extended 

 elevated platform projecting into the tree. Upon 

 this platform fruit can be picked directly into 

 the boxes, reducing the possibility of bruising the fruit to a minimum. The ladder is substantially 

 built and rests so firmly on the ground that any child can pick from this ladder with perfect ease and 

 safety. This ladder can be used for thinning apples as well as picking. 



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