104 



l^seen persuaded to believe form a necessary part of their every-day 

 living. 



As any man knows. Avho feels it necessary to buy a new derby 

 hat this year, because his old one. perfetly good yet. is this year 

 out of style, the stvles in men's hats are controlled not l)y the con- 

 sumers, bttt by the hat trade, fronn manufacturer to retailer, whose 

 businesses would all be much restricted if the wearers were allowed 

 to use their old hats until worn sufficiently to demand neAv ones. 



Ever}' Avonian who studies this year's fashion-plates and finds 

 that she an hardly re-trim her old hat because of change in shapes, 

 realizes that not she but the milliners control the styles in hats. 

 They may like to make it appear that a demand for the change 

 comes from the ultimate consumer but as yet 99 per cent, of the 

 ultimate consumers do not know what the change Avill be until they 

 see the "Ladies" Home Journal" or the '■\\'oman's Home Compan- 

 ion" such a pretext is nonsense. The millinery trade controls the 

 wires that re-create the fashions. 



And so it is all down the line of city-made goods. If the coun- 

 try communties are to ttirn the trade l:)alances back to a position 

 favorable to them they mtist fight the advertisers with their own 

 fire. A few cotmtry districts haAX already learned this. Hood 

 River apples for instance sells at 25 cents apiece, not because of 

 their superior quality btit because of the organized advertising that 

 has edticated a certain class of consttmers to demand such apples at 

 any price. Such advertising has been supplemented with proper 

 growing and packing and all the other details of successful market- 

 ing but exactly the same fruit without the advertising would ne^'er 

 have made land worth se\'eral thousand dollars an acre in Hood 

 River. Hood RiA"er has turned the trade balances in its favor be- 

 cause it has made it stylish to eat Hood River apples. 



Why shouldn't the fruit growers of West \drginia. Adrginia, 

 ^Maryland and Penns}dvania unite on an advertising campaign and 

 make it stylish to have Grimes Golden apples at all times in the 

 fruit dish and York Imperial apple pie with vdiich to finish every 

 meal ? 



The conditions in the apple trade appear to the Avriter very 

 favorable for the taking up at this time such a campaign. CTrowers 

 are gradually learning that they place themselves in a very weak 

 position Avhen they sit around and wait for the cash buyers to 

 come to them to get their apples. With the apples ready to pick, 

 no storage facilities provided and no means of getting in touch with 

 consuming markets many growers this last year were forced at the 

 last minute to take whatever they could get irrespective of what the 

 market warranted. 



Others growers, and wiser ones in my judgment, turned over 

 to expert selling agencies the inspection and marketing of their 

 crops on five year contracts. Such a contract enal^les them to 

 concentrate their energy upon the sticcessful production of their 

 apples knowing that they will get for them the best that the market 

 aft'ords, and at the same time enables the commission man to begin 

 a year ahead to help create the market for next year's crop know- 

 ing that he, and not someone else, will have that crop to handle. 



