62 



THIRTY-FOrjRTH FRUIT-GROWERS' CONVENTION. 



a large commercial scale without injuring the fruit considerably. An 

 example of this kind recently came to our attention, and is presented to 

 show that such a point of view is an unwise business policy. 



A grower who has a large investment in the orange business, and 

 whose fruit was found to contain over fifty per cent of injury from 

 clipper cuts, stem punctures, and other types of abrasions, recently said 

 that the injury could not be eliminated without too much expense and 

 without completely disorganizing the labor methods employed on his 

 ranch. The superintendent of the ranch maintained also that the fruit 

 could not be handled more carefully or economically. It is packed in a 

 house of fairly good type and in which no special effort is made to grade 

 or pack the fruit with more than usual care. 



• Let us draw a contrast between this point of view and that of a neigh- 

 bor whose interests are equally large. The groves are on similar vsoil, 

 and the fruit of both is similar. The second neighbor maintain^s that 

 it is a poor business policy to invest a large amount of money in groves, 

 and in their annual care, unless the fruit is picked and packed with at 

 least enough care to preserve its natural keeping quality. He has an 

 efficient field foreman ; the labor is paid by the day ; the work of each 

 picker is checked up by an inspector in the packing house ; the fruit is 

 hauled to the packing house with great care. The packing house -is of 

 simple arrangement and installation. Every effort is made in picking 

 and packing to keep the fruit in as good condition as it was when 

 it was severed from the tree. The grading is* done carefully, and his 

 packing is well paid for and is done well. It probably costs the latter 

 grower not less than ten cents a box more than his neighbor to pick and 

 pack the fruit. 



Has it paid the second neighbor to do this extra, careful work, except 

 in the satisfaction that comes from work well done ? The fruit of both 

 growers was often sold in the New York auction market during the 

 month of March under conditions that are fairly comparable. The 

 fruit of the first grower is packed in a fancy brand, which includes from 

 20 to 30 per cent of his oranges. The second grower packs an "orchard 

 run" brand, in which from 75 to 85 per cent of his fruit is graded. 

 Yet the fancy brand of the first grower, containing from 20 to 30 per 

 cent of his fruit, brought t^Mnity-seven cents per box less than the 

 "orchard run" of the second grower, which contained from 75 to 85 per 

 cent of his fruit. If further evidence is needed to show that it is a 

 sound business policy to exercise the greatest care in handling the 

 orange crop, it may be said that there is not a grower or an association 

 in California that ships oranges or lemons, and which has made a repu- 

 tation for high-priced fruit, that has not built his success on a founda- 

 tion with careful handling methods as the corner stone. 



The careful handling of oranges is a matter of business method and 

 organization. Several growers began to exercise more than the average 

 care in 1906. More followed it in 1907, and a much greater number 

 have fallen into line in 1908. Several examples, taken from different 

 parts of the State, will show the character of the handling of the fruit 

 in 1908. 



EX^iMPLES OF ORANGE HANDLING. 



One large corporation, which began to exercise great care in 1906, 

 and which has maintained a distinguished place in the markets, has 



