■Uhe  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
1095 
The  Needs  of  Eastern  Fruit  Growers 
Co-operate  or  be  Left  Behind 
Four  Cars  Come  With  Champions 
to  One  With  Any  Other 
[Extracts  from  an  address  at  the  Lockport, 
N.  Y. ,  farmers’  congress  June  1,  by  Seth  J,  T. 
Rush,  Manager  of  the  Eastern  Fruit  and  Produce 
Exchange.] 
Part  II. 
Western  Competition. — What  lias 
been  done  in  California  and  other  sec¬ 
tions  can  he  done  in  the  Km  pi  re  State. 
Our  western  competitors  have  no  patent 
on  the  raising,  selling  and  distribution  of 
fruit.  They  were  forced  to  do  what  they 
have  done  by  their  remoteness  from  the 
great,  markets  at  our  doors.  When  New 
York  growers  quit  fooling  with  this  great 
problem  and  apply  clean  cut  business 
methods  to  the  grading  and  marketing 
of  their  products  our  distant  competitors 
will  surely  be  up  against  it.  The  East¬ 
ern  grower  objects  to  contributing  any 
time  or  money  to  advertise  and  widen 
the  distribution  of  bis  products.  The 
Western  glower  did  it  in  the  first  place 
because  he  was  forced  to,  and  he  does  it 
now  because  he  knows  that  it  pays,  aud 
that  he  could  not  market  his  products  at 
all  without  the  aid  of  the  great  system 
that  has  been  created  and  built  up  for 
his  benefit.  Are  flic  growers  of  New 
York  going  to  insist  on  having  their 
noses  forced  to  the  grindstone  and  held 
there,  before  they  will  be  ready  to  meet 
and  handle  this  problem  with  wisdom 
and  energy?  1  refer  to  the  California 
Fruit  Growers'  Exchange  because  it  is 
one  of  the  largest  and  most,  successful 
in  existence,  but  it  is  not  the  only  suc¬ 
cessful  one.  They  do  things  in  a  large 
way  out  there-  last  year  $80,000  was 
spent  in  telegraph  tolls  alone.  This  year 
it  is  estimated  that  there  will  go  out  of 
California  over  *15,000  carloads  of  Citrus 
fruits  and  these  will  he  distributed- — not 
shipped  out  haphazard,  the  way  we  do  it 
in  New  York.  A  most  extraordinary 
feature  connected  with  the  distribution 
of  this  immense  quantity  of  fruit  is  the 
fact  that  it  actually  costs  less  than  three 
per  cent,  of  the  value  of  the  fruit  deliv¬ 
ered  to  the  exchange.  The  figures  also 
show  that  in  eleven  years,  the  exchange 
dealing  with  11,500  buyers  lias  returned 
to  California  $170,000,000,  and  in  these 
eleven  years  the  losses  due  to  bad  debts, 
accidents,  and  damage  to  fruit,  has 
amounted  to  only  $S,000,  which  is  less 
than  one-half  of  one  per  cent,  on  the 
aggregate  business. 
Separate  Exchanges. — Tt  is  all  non¬ 
sense  to  organize  a  lot  of  separate  ex¬ 
changes  and  have  them  all  working  at 
cross-purposes:  in  Competition  with  each 
other  and  in  ignorance  of  where  the  other 
organizations  are  selling  their  products. 
Such  a  plan  can  only  mean  confusion, 
duplication,  extravagance  and  will  get 
you  no  where.  It  would  be  but  a  slight 
improvement  on  the  present  absurd  sit¬ 
uation  where  hundreds  of  individual 
growers  and  hundreds  of  speculators  are 
shipping  the  products  of  the  farm  and 
orchard  in  total  ignorance  of  where  any 
car  but  their  own  is  going.  You  can 
never  get  distribution  that  way.  and  the 
only  way  you  will  ever  get  it  will  be  by 
centralizing  your  sales  machinery.  I  un¬ 
derstand  the  New  York  Central  railroad 
intends  to  have  its  agents  throughout  the 
peach  belt  report  to  an  office  in  Roches¬ 
ter  each  night  during  the  heavy  ship¬ 
ping  season,  just  how  many  cars  have 
been  billed  out  from  each  station  during 
the  day  and  give  the  destination  of  each 
car.  This  is  practical  work,  and  an  ar¬ 
rangement  which  1  recommended  at  a 
fruit  growers'  meeting  three  years  ago, 
but  it  will  not  amount  to  anything,  un¬ 
less  the  information,  when  collected,  is 
immediately  turned  over  to  some  one  with 
ability  and  absolute  authority  to  divert 
cars  and  redistribute  them  and  thus  pre¬ 
vent  too  many  going  to  any  one  or  two 
or  three  markets,  with  resultant  gluts 
aud  broken  prices.  Quick  action  is  ne¬ 
cessary  in  order  to  secure  diversions — it 
must  be  done  by  or  before  midnight.,  and 
it  must  be  done  by  someone  who  thor¬ 
oughly  understands  every  day  market 
conditions  and  railway  rules,  rates  aud 
schedules,  and  it  must  be  handled 
through  one  office.  This  arrangement 
would  give  more  time  for  obtaining  last 
minute  information  and  making  sales. 
Aids  In  Distkiiuition. — There  is  a 
place  for  the  employment  of  every  legiti¬ 
mate  agency  in  the  distribution  of  our 
products,  bur  every  useless  or  inefficient 
man  or  method  must  lie  eliminated,  and 
all  needless  expense  and  duplication  of 
Service  stopped,  for  ill  the  end  the  cost 
of  if  all  must  come  out  of  the  fruit ;  it 
can’t  come  from  any  other  source,  and 
the  producer  ami  consumer  must  pay  the 
lull.  The  railroads  will  be  willing,  1  feel 
sure,  to  cooperate  with  us  to  improve  the 
service  and  adjust  rates,  just  as  soon  as 
we  furnish  them  with  some  evidence  that 
we  know  we  are  alive.  The  Federal  De¬ 
partment  of  Markets,  and  the  State  De¬ 
partment  of  Foods  &  Markets,  and  the 
State  Agricultural  Department  will  each 
be  glad  to  render  every  practical  assist¬ 
ance  in  the  matter  of  organizing  the  lo¬ 
cal  units,  and  the  Eastern  Fruit  &  Pro¬ 
duce  Exchange  is  ready  and  willing  to  do 
its  part  on  a  purely  cooperative,  non¬ 
profit  .basis,  under  the  supervision  of  the 
State  and  National  Departments  of  Mar¬ 
kets.  In  times  of  war  every  soldier  can¬ 
not  be  commander-in-chief,  aud  in  this 
movement  it  will  be  impossible  to  supply 
every  grower  with  an  office  or  a  soft 
job — that  will  be  disappointing  to  some 
I  am  aware,  hut  it  is  well  to  remember 
that  “Too  many  cooks  spoil  the  broth,” 
and  our  purpose  is  not  to  furnish  remun¬ 
erative  jobs  to  members,  -but  rather  to 
sell  and  distribute  their  products  intelli¬ 
gently  and  cheaply.  A  score  of  the  larg¬ 
est.  and  most  progressive  fruit  growers 
of  Western  New  York,  if  they  will  unite 
on  a  clean -cut,  definite  program  for  the 
proper  growing,  packing,  sale  and  dis¬ 
tribution  of  their  products,  and  sticking 
together  consistently  aud  loyally  support 
their  proposition  from  start  to  finish,  can 
accomplish  wonders  for  themselves  and 
their  fellow  fruit  growers  of  this  State. 
These  men  must  be  willing  to  get  behind 
their  organization  and  push,  and  keep 
on  pushing — there  will  be  no  reserved 
seats  for  those  who  will  want  to  climb 
aboard  and  ride. 
Sweet  Clover  and  Fall  Seeding 
Several  people  ask  us  about  the  plan 
of  seeding  Sweet  clover  in  the  wheat  or 
rye  at  the  time  of  seeding  this  grain. 
They  also  want,  to  know  if  if  can  be  suc¬ 
cessfully  used  as  a  cover  crop  in  corn, 
like  A  Dike  or  Red  clover.  It  may  lie  pos¬ 
sible  under  best  conditions  to  carry  the 
Sweet  clover  through  in  this  way.  but 
our  own  experience,  and  the  reports 
which  come  to  us,  are  against  tin*  prac¬ 
tice.  The  Sweet  clover  must  make  a  fair 
growth  during  the  Fall  in  order  to  carry 
through  the  Winter.  Evidently  it  must 
make  a  heavier  growth  than  Alsike  in 
order  to  live  over.  It  is  not  likely  to  do 
this  when  seeded  in  September  or  lute 
August,  as  it  would  be  when  used  as  a 
cover  crop  or  seeded  with  small  grain. 
Most  of  those  who  undertake  to  use  it  in 
that  way  Avill  probably  he  disappointed. 
From  its  growth  on  our  own  farm  we 
judge  that  it  should  be  seeded  before  Au¬ 
gust.  1st.  in  order  to  carry  through  the 
Winter,  or  else  not.  seeded  until  the  fol¬ 
lowing  Spring.  Some  people  have  an 
idea  that  this  clover  is  like  a  weed,  and 
will  grow  anywhere  without  trouble.  We 
do  not  find  it  so.  It  requires  lime,  or  an 
alkaline  Soil  to  do  its  host  and  is  not  as 
hardy  to  pass  the  Winter  in  the  soil  as 
Alsike  or  Crimson  clover.  Many  people 
in  talking  about  cover  crops  seem  to 
have  this  idea  about  the  Sweet  clover. 
Our  advice  is  to  give  up  the  thought  ex¬ 
cept  as  an  experiment.  Alsike  will  be 
much  more  profitable  for  cover-cropping 
than  the  Sweet. 
Coal  Mine  Waste 
Anyone  who  has  ever  passed  by  a  coal 
mine  will  recall  the  great  piles  of  waste 
which  have  gathered  around  the  mouth  of 
the  mine.  This  is  chiefly  waste  coal, 
usually  small  pieces  of  dust  which  sift 
out  as  the  coal  is  brought-  up  for  shin-  I 
merit.  Some  men  regard  it  as  a  waste 
product,  a  nuisance  because  it  gets  in  the 
way.  In  late  years  a  business  has  de¬ 
veloped  in  pressing  this  waste  into 
briquettes  which  are  used  as  fuel.  I.ast 
year  this  business  amounted  to  $1,055,- 
710,  and  is-  only  in  its  infancy.  This 
waste  is  generally  of  low-grade  material, 
but  there  are  many  places  where  it  can 
he  used.  The  briquettes  are  made  by 
mixing  the  coal  wastes  with  pitch  or 
similar  substances  and  pressing  them  to¬ 
gether  in  the  form  of  brick.  Then  they 
are  easily  handled,  both  for  shipping  and 
use  as  fuel.  Wo  have  no  doubt  that 
witlSn  a  few  years  this  business  will  be 
greatly  developed  and  the  great  piles  of 
waste  around  the  mines  will  thus  become 
available  as  fuel.  Another  suggested  way 
of  utilizing  this  waste  is  to  burn  it  at 
the  mouth  of  the  mine  so  as  to  form  a 
gns  which  may  be  piped  about  the  coun¬ 
try  for  use  in  manufacturing  or  domestic 
purposes. 
Vertical  Drainage 
We  have  on  back  end  of  our  farm  a  flat, 
level  lot  of  about  15  acres  inclined  to  be  a  1 
little  wet.  II  is  no  lower  than  neighbor¬ 
ing  and  adjoining  farms,  but  a  little  lower 
than  our  fields  adjoining.  There  is  no 
drainage  ditch  nearby  .and  it  would  mean 
quite  a  job  and  expense  to  drain  this  lot. 
The  soil  D  a  gravelly  loam,  good,  bill  not 
fertilized  for  some  time,  therefore  not  a 
good  producer  at  all,  although  it  had  a 
fair  stand  of  hay  last  season,  which  is 
now  run  out.  Would  vertical  drainage  be 
of  value  on  this  piece?  w.  k. 
Jordan,  N.  Y. 
This  seems  to  be  a  place  where  vertical 
drainage  might  be  well  worth  trying.  The 
theory  of  this  is  (o  dig  down  at  the  lower 
part  of  this  field  until  you  come  to  an 
open  stratum  of  sand  or  gravel,  through 
which  the  water  will  work  off  below.  If 
upon  examination  you  find  such  a  forma¬ 
tion  under  this  field,  it  is  quite  likely  that 
the  plan  can  be  worked  out.  It  does  not 
operate  well  under  all  conditions,  hut 
there  are  cases  where  the  ground  is  in  a 
saucer  formation  with  an  open  vein  lie- 
low  the  surface,  where  the  water  will 
work  off  in  this  way.  Our  advice  would 
be  to  consult  your  county  agent,  whose 
address  is  8.  A.  Martin,  112  Court  House, 
Syracuse,  N.  Y.  Ask  him  about  it,  aud 
he  will  undoubtedly  come  and  look  the 
matter  over. 
Since  four  of  every  five  new  cars  come 
equipped  with  Champions,  our  plugs 
are  constantly  on  test  with  SO',  q  of 
the  owners  of  new  cars. 
No  other  spark  plug- is  undergoing  such 
a  gigantic  final  consumer  test. 
And  on  the  outcome  is  staked  the  very 
life  of  our  business. 
But  the  consumer  verdict  in  favor  of 
Champions  has  enabled  ns  to  double 
o  ur  b  usi  ness  every  ycarof  itsexistence. 
Such  a  test — such  a  verdict — establish 
Championdependability  as  known — ■ 
proven,  indisputable  fact  to  be 
remembered  when  you  replace  the 
spark  plugs  in  your  car. 
Dealers  everywhere  are  prepared  to  satisfy  the  insistent  consumer  deraandfor 
Champions. 
They  know  which  Champion  is  designed  to  serve  eacli  different  motor. 
See  that  the  name  Champion  is  on  the  porcelain — not  merely  on  the  box. 
Notify  us  immediately  if  you  have  any  trouble  getting  Champions  and  we 
will  see  that  you  are  supplied. 
Champion  Spark  Plug  Co.,  511  Avondale  Ave.,  Toledo,  Ohio 
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