I 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
86 
about the returns; but here is the 
point: The two Associations are a mile 
and a half apart; the one is a success, 
the other a failure. The one has its 
fruit gathered carefully, looking out 
for clipper cuts, long stems, and bruis¬ 
ing; the other does not. The one has 
perper equipment in its house; the 
other has not. The one was far¬ 
sighted and level-headed enough to 
see that by spending a dollar today, 
they would reap ten tomorrow; the 
other was afraid to spend the dollar, 
because they might not get it back. As 
a result, the one has made a good profit 
on its crop, established a name for its 
fruit that will be worth thousands of 
dollars in the future, and have a repu¬ 
tation for putting out an honest pro¬ 
duct. The other is—well, we will say it 
is dissatisfied. 
Florida fruit is all right. The trou¬ 
ble is with the people who handle it. I 
want to tell you right now, that unless 
there is some such thing as stem-end 
rot, such as Mr. Fawcett is responsible 
for, unless there is some such inherent 
trouble, I would not feel any more hes¬ 
itancy about tackling the sale of it than 
I would the best California produce, 
if it has been handled right, and unless 
you do handle it right, you need not ex¬ 
pect the Florida Citrus Exchange, or any 
other organization, to get the money for 
your fruit. 
Now I am going to drift over into 
the northwest a little. At the begin¬ 
ning of last season, it was generally 
understood that we had a short crop of 
fruit. It was quite as short as we 
thought it would be. We strenuously 
urged our people not to rush their fruit 
in. Most of them did not rush it, but 
the outsiders did rush in their fruit. 
Before the 15th of December, you 
could not put any oranges into Indiana 
or Ohio or the Northwest at over $1.30 
f. o. b. As a matter of fact, it soon 
reached the point where you could not 
sell a car at all in that territory. The 
Californias were earlier than usual, and 
ours, thirty days later. Now, when 
California got her stuff out for Thanks¬ 
giving, she quit until it was time to put 
in the Christmas supply. After she had 
supplied the holiday trade, she quit. 
Then she put out an advertising cam¬ 
paign all over this country. The Cali¬ 
fornia Fruit Growers’ Exchange has 
spent $100,000 this season advertising 
the California oranges. By systematic 
and persistent advertising all over this 
country and Canada, California has 
succeeded in marketing the biggest 
crop she ever grew at profitable prices. 
Suppose she hadn’t advertised? Where 
would she have been? 
What are we going to do? Are we 
going to sit down and let California 
take all that country up there? Are 
we going to let her hold it? If you are 
not, how are you going to stop it? Are 
you going to pat the Exchange on the 
back and say, “Oh, it’s a good thing; a 
bully good thing—but I guess I will 
have to sell my fruit green on the 
trees ?” 
Do you know how the Exchange is 
supported? The general impression is 
