Show REASONS I H I Ul UTAH AU FRUITS COME Ma Many y Are Assigned for Top TopNotch TopNotch TopNotch Notch Prices Paid by Salt LaKers GROWERS' GROWERS COMBINES REGULATE SUPPLY Presence of a Central MarKet MarRet Market Mar- Mar Ket Ret Blamed by Some Stu Students Students dents of Situation Where lies the responsibility for tor the fact tact that tho the consumer in Salt Lake City has haa to pay at this time what aro are probably the highest prices that have ever been demanded for tor fruit and vege vegetables tables indigenous to the soil soU of the state and grown within a a. comparatively few fow miles mlles of ot Salt Lake City The Tho consumer docs does not know Ho He would like to know If the consumer were to learn just jus where the tho re responsibility lies hog he ho would rise nae by thousands and would demand demanda a reform reform reform-ho ho would demand a return to reasonableness in prices of or all farm farmand farmand farmand and garden produce fruits and vege tables The consumer blames the Heis Heis He Ho Hois is the tho only one the consumer tho the aver average av av- av- av er crage e purchaser can reach rench upon whom to place the blame Tho The consumer consume points to the tho fact that fruits berries borrie and ve vegetables are from 10 per cent cen to 00 per cent hi higher her than they were one or two years a ago o. o lIe He sees one or two well fixed grocers who aro are able to take an occasional spin in their automobiles auto mobiles and then Mr Consumer Consume promptly fixes all an the blame bIam on the grocer and points to the aut automobile mobile as WI the bad o of the tho grocers grocer's dishonor But the grocer has a kick comin coming too top Mr Grocer says that the tho commission com corn mission mission on man and wholesaler are to blame He says that the middle man manis manis manis is is getting stettin all aU tho the profit and leaving leavin the grocer only from 1 per cent ont to toper I Iper 5 per cent profit on his hii goods Mr Grocer Grocer Gro Gro- ocr calls attention to the commission mans man's automobile and grunts grants with dis dis- gust He Ho says tho the commission man ii is i making all tho profit I But the commission man says Bays that tha the farmer has got greedy in these days of combinations and trusts Mr Commission Man says that Mr J r. annei has taken takena a dive div into high fina finance ant co and oc q thing r that haf goes gocs tho larm ni the tho thoran ran ranch h o garden sarden a and th tho orchard to the city purchaser Mr Commission Man an says that Mr Fanner Farmer emulated the example of Mr Rockefeller ant anthis and ond his type me and II puts puts a crimp in th the commission man Farmer Fanner Has Haa Many to Blame Mr Farmer says it is tho the laborer labore who raises havoc with prices and adds add to this the charge that there thera is a double combination against him the him tho laborer and the railroads The farmer says say's that in addition to these tho the middle men tho the commission man the wholesaler and tho the grocer each ge get their proportion of the money that tho consumer pays for bis his dozen bunches bunche of onions or his cup of raspberries The Tho greater part of the farm produce that is put on the tho local market fresh frosh from tho the farms and the gardens comes omes from Davis county a a. few miles from Salt Lake City and aDd from Box Elder county which lies hes much nearer to O Og Ogden Ogden Og- Og den than to Salt Lake City Tho Davis county farmer and gar pr pr- donor dener finds but little trouble in bring in lag ing his garden stuff and his orchard produce to market in Salt Lake Cit City two or three times or even oftener each week weak driving to the market with his load and returning when bo ho has hassold hassold hassold sold his hiB load of tru truck k to the wholesaler whole whole- sales saler and commission man or to the grocer Better Bettor Goods for Loss 4 The Box Elder count county farmer fanner 1 4 t. 4 has bas to pack his goods with H HJ 4 4 J greater eater caro and ship them thorn by 4 rail usually in a refrigerator H 4 4 1 car or by express paying high t. 4 i 4 express charges and charges and vet the tho H HI 4 4 I farmers in and about Brigham ham H 4 City can aud and do supply tho the deal- deal dealt H 44 4 t 4 4 ors era in Salt Lake City more moro roa- roa 4 0 1 than do tho the farmers of 4 3 41 4 Davis county 4 3 The Dri Brigham ham City men the Box Bor EIder Eldor Eldor El El- dor der county men 50 say that even though they do get Jet hi higher her prices than they got a few years ago aso thoro there ar reasons aro aro for this But this thi does docs not explain tho the ability of tho the Davis county count farm farmers farmers ers to get et bettor better prices than the tho Box BoxElder BoxElder BoxElder Elder count county farmers For tho the purpose of getting at the base baso of the tho trouble in the tho local market THE rilE TELEGRAM sent bent a man through h Box Elder county and to tho the market market marke in OJ Ogden en a few fow days 85 ago His Ills duty was to learn if possible the actual cause causo of these hi high l prices Hero is is tho the result rosult of that investigation Ten Teu Reasons Assigned Various causes are assigned for th the tho increase in the cost of markot market anc and garden ardon stuff In tbd first place tho the farmer do dares that labor is toda today almost exactly ex ex- twice an as costly as it t was seven soven years n ago o. o rho second reason given ivon hron is is that while whilo tho the population is manifold greater ater than it was a few years ago the acreage under cultivation has not kept pace paco with tho bo ho increase and the resul is a n greater demand than tho thi thu local arms can supply 4 TWY third reason given is 4 44 4 4 1 that the tho railroads handling tho the 4 41 j- j 1 4 produce charge o almost half as v 4 of 44 4 10 44 4 much as tho the wholesale price in transport- transport 4 r 4 the tho goods handled in in the these goods less than a no 4 r 4 l ing so 4 i. hundred miles 4 Tho The fourth reason is that tho th goods through too many hands and thero thoro pass are too many ninny who must get a share sharD of profit from tho the handling of the tho goods each ultimately tack tacking in that profit to tho consumers consumer's price have havo The rho fifth is that tho the farmers formed combinations to keep prices up Make Study of or Market Markot 4 Tho The sixth ith is that commission 4 wholesale men mea make mako a 4 4 1 m men n and aud 4 close study of the tho market tho the v 4 when the tho farm farm- 4 v and aud 1 lay day before market place 4 i ers era lino hue UP in the tho the goods that the 4 bu all of 4 buy 4 market markel is short of and boost J 4 the they 4 4 the up as far as Continued on page ii 2 i REASONS WHY J 1 Continued from page 1 i K wi wish h. h the or as railroad men melt r r t U say r as as high as the traffic will 1 m r rv 1 t v rf f bear 4 The seventh is that the Elkins law Ihas hae so 80 completely changed the methods methods' of handling fruit and ande vegetables e that the cost of transportation has In Increased increased in in- creased immeasurably Th The ei eighth reason given Riven for the high prices this season the hot dry season has be been n a a serious drawback and that crops have not matured properly property prope prop prop- e erty erly I not filled out as they should have done The ninth reason given given aven is is that there is ie less less honesty amon among business men than there was a few years ears a ago o. o r Ir I And the tho tenth reason given is is 4 i 4 probably 1 r the most salient the 4 4 14 vr most fearless the m mot st honest 4 t fj- fj of any It is is is- that the tho consumer 01 J i. i 14 has no way of ot regulating the ther r i 14 price rice and the question is frank- frank frankJ 4 J ly y as sailed dt What what is he be going 4 t tv 4 to do about do-about about it itt v A 4 4 t These ten tea reasons for the prevailing high prices are gathered from every every s source urco from representative men in each of th the classes clashes that bandies tho goods b before fore they reach the ultimate consumer What Some of Them Say No Ho effort will be made here td to segregate seg seg- regate regato re ato these sources of information or to classify them but they will be given in vin the order in which the they were received received re reo re- re by the writer during a stud study of the situation for two days on the farm in the tho commission houses bouses and in inthe inthe inthe the retail market No effort is made in this statement to color olor any statement ment for any purpose or to prove pro any contention The state state- ments will be given as they were received received re re- re and then the consumer can judge pudge for himself where li lies g tho the fault for tho the high prices that today make many thin things that t hould be necessities tho the of the tho workingman's mans man's and the wage earners earner's table James Knudson of Bri Brigham hant City Cibis isa is isa is isa a business man who has had bad a wi wide do experience e in the farming and mercantile tile the business He has b been on farmer fanner and commission man principally Ho He is a n good business man the kind who reasons and thinks for himself who studies conditions and arrives at his own conclusions only after a careful cardul t study tudy of the conditions from all view view- points Mr Knudson was asked b by THE TELEGRAM to give Irl his explanation of the prevailing pre lri high h prices for farm farmand farmand farmand and orchard products Following is what ha hn said Berries an Example Let iLet A us consider the strawberry mar L ket t for few moments Now we wo can can- r c- c not get et strawberries picked for less Jess than 35 cents a case We have bave paid this season as as 40 cents a caso case for the picking of the berries borries It It costs cost's us liS 40 cents a case for pick picking picking picking ing raspberries We sell fiell raspberries at 1 the case That gives Jives the grower 60 cents a case for his berries or only 50 per cent more mor than the laborer gets We get et three fifths and he gets ets two fifths Our three fifths fifth represents oar interest on the investment for farm farmlands farmlands farmlands 1 lands improvements water rights and anil 1 everything else that goes oes into the expense ex pense pence of the business for farming is isa I a business as aswell well as anything else U The The grower groer has not all nil clover in his pasture there are arc some thistles Take for example the tho additional e ex expense ox- ox pense pence in growing groinE raspberries and other berries and fruits today Must Fight Pests ests I In the tho past last years vears years we were never bothered with blight ht with aphis an another and other pests Toda Today we are arc W W We e dont don't know the reason f for r the coming coning of the these p ppe pe pests ts but they aTe are here and wo we must face conditions as they are not as they thov were ten fen or twenty years a ago o. o nor noras noras noras as as the they will be in the millennium but as they their areTo are To To combat the blight and the aphis we must fight We must prepare our soil oil especially and we wo must spray Not only th the cost of the materials enters into this but the ever e present problem of labor and its cost The expense is far greater reater than it used to be bet but we wo must meet that expense or be Wip wiped 1 outLet outLet outLet out Let us revert to a 0 consideration of the tho strawberry problem We pa pay 35 and 40 cents a case ease for picking Strawberry Strawberry Strawberry Straw Straw- berry plants plant die dic quickly There Thero has his been some Ome change e in to the soil Ion and the plants themselves do not not- Ii live lire as long longas as they did formerly We have hae to contend contend con con- tend with the crown bore and the wire worm These eat into the crown of the plant pl and destroy it completely The life of-a of strawberry plant toda today is is only one half as al lon long as 39 it was eight or orten orten orten ten years n ago o. o We are now compelled by reason of these blights to plow up our strawberry fields every fifth or sixth sixt year rear The Tho year Jear of planting the fields yield nothing The following year we get t a two two thirds t crop For the succeeding three e v years an wo WG get full crops and then w we plow a again ain we got get ct three and two thirds c crops ops in in five five years veara II If If we e allow the blight to get a Rood good cod foothold tho the fields look as though they were wore burned with a n fire or a 8 dro drought II Another matter to DO be DO considered is the increase in the cost of labor This Thi increase has hns been nearly doubled in in the th thelast last seven soven years years This is is no small man item Another problem is is to get the labor when W we need it Has Compensations Too II But But on the tho other band hand the grower has his compensations Tho The market is far greater reater than it has ever been before be before fore for and our oar market is comparatively close at hand The crops are greater reater and we get a more ready f tale sale le for our products But we have to nay nav so much more for the handling handlin of our products that the profits are cut to the bone Take cherries for example Farm crand get 5 cents a pound for the four standard grades rades of sweet cherries the cherries the winslow napoleon blackheart black black- heart and th the republican These are the tho four big bit sellers ellers Of Ot this 5 cents cent's II we we weare are required to pa pay 2 cents a pound or 40 p per r cent of the gross oss wholesale I price to the pickers This is ig just Gust a sample Si all the thu other fruits and the tho b ber berries ies run a close av a average average av- av to this Forty per cent to the immediate labor of getting the fruit from the trees and 60 per per percent cent of f the grogs grogs' proceeds for the running expense of the tho rest of the year yearl for deterioration tion of land lan for repairs taxes water rental rectal wear tar and tear and all the other othe expenses thug enter into farm life and to pay payin in iii interest on the investment in Why Raspberries Are High J J. J C. C Knudson a a a brother of James Tames Knudson there Knudson-there there are five livee of the Knudson Knud Knud- ton son brothers all associated in in the the farm farm farm- lug and produce bu business the tho real e estate es- es tate and brokerage e business and ii it il other enterprises was enterprises was was' was referred d to as asan asan an authority al on conditions He made the following statements Raspberries are high this year I will con concede edo he said Let me tell teU you wb why We Wc have been compelled in past pat years to dump our raspberries on the homo home market nt at 65 and 70 cents the crate We worked with the railroad for five years ears to get a refrigerator line and last year we wo got ot it In order to nuke muke the shipment we h had d to pay 80 to the Pacific Express company to transport ort the h berries to Ogden En and then pit pay the r regular express rate tb de destination destination desti desti- ti nation b by the Wells Fargo express routes 4 This Thi year we got tho the carsin cars 4 44 4 4 in good style and on time We 4 44 4 4 4 put out three cars of raspberries 44 4 4 4 Ir from m this little town tow and 2nd the tho 4 44 4 4 vicinity thus keeping keepin them off 4 or 1 the local market That is one 44 4 4 reason why they were high this 44 4 4 season 4 II The The grower gets eb 50 per cent more for Ms his is raspberries than before but that he is is entitled to Tho grower has bas received this season a minimum minimum price rice e of 15 and tho the maximum has been 17 pr or a l cas case caso rl Figures uros on Cherries Consider tho the cherry |