134 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
or other fruit of this class, requires prep¬ 
aration of soil, time, and an outlay of 
money for several years. The amount of 
this cost cannot be exactly determined be¬ 
cause of local conditions, and of the fact 
that machinery has never been considera¬ 
bly used, and from the nature of the case, 
we believe never can be. Let us say six 
years of continuous outlay has been in¬ 
volved and nothing marketable has been 
produced. From the time the product is 
ready for market a new expense account 
is opened, and one that contains many 
items, such as those for spraying, prun¬ 
ing, cultivating and general care of the 
grove. To all of these are added picking, 
hauling, packing, selling and other 
charges. Thus the cost of production to 
the grower is and always must be fixed. 
FURTHER REASONS FOR RETENTION OF 
DUTY. 
The safety of the consumer requires 
competitive venders. This condition we 
have and always have had to an admitted 
degree. The reduction of tariff would not 
reduce the price to consumer. The geog¬ 
raphy of the country is such that citrus 
growers on the Atlantic Coast and citrus 
growers on the Pacific Coast have not, 
and cannot, successfully combine, and the 
strongest kind of competition obtains be¬ 
tween them. Certain territory on account 
of distance is more economically served 
by California, and on account of similar 
reasons, other territory better served by 
Florida. Foreign fruit has not been ex¬ 
cluded by the tariff, but by the low prices 
at which jobbers are able to buy the home 
grown oranges. The supply generally 
equals and often exceeds the demand. 
DISTRIBUTION. 
In order to show the wide distribution 
of oranges, the records of Chase & Com¬ 
pany show that during the season of 
1911-12, its car load shipments of or¬ 
anges were disposed of in 147 different 
markets in 32 different States. During 
the present shipping season of 1912-13, 
which is from a third to half past, our or¬ 
ange shipments have reached 144 different 
markets in 32 different States. Here 
again in the entire course of the orange 
industry labor enters into the account, as 
railroad expenses are largely labor. The 
wide distribution of oranges shows that 
oranges are not prohibitive or high, that 
Florida orange growers are only holding 
their own, and not getting rich, proves 
that nothing should be done to injure the 
industry or even take a chance of doing 
it harm. Supply and demand regulates 
itself. 
When the United States has large 
crops, growers must sell cheap; when 
light crops, their prices rule high. Im¬ 
porters can afford to bring in foreign or¬ 
anges and keep prices reasonable. This 
makes it impossible for the American 
grower to manipulate and sustain extreme 
high prices. 
Owing to the heavy cost of labor in 
Florida and high transportation charges, 
the Florida growers cannot reach foreign 
markets, whereas, the American markets 
are at all times open and available to the 
foreign producer. 
In closing, permit us to quote an extract 
