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Show APPEALS TO 1 in: FRUIT GROWER Hl Editor Standard: This morning a H! man came to mo for advice. He had ibeen offered tho fruit of an orchard of 600 Elberta peach trees loaded with fruit for $200 (33 1-3 ccnis per tree, or less than 10 cents per caso for these peaches). There are many fruit growers who Ht are already proclaiming their readi- H nes6 to sell their prospective crop at H almost any price to get a little cash. H To these I would like to say a word. H Thcso growers are hard up and they H have cause, and their condition of mind H and pocket Just now would induce H them to accept almost any offer for H their fruit, If a little cash accompan- H led the offer. I am reforring to grow- era both in and out of the association, H as our interests are Identical. I am H Just as firm a believer in f o. b. sales H as any grower can possibly bo and Hj have not forgotton the last three or H 'four yoars of frosts of one kind or H. another nor tho commission deals, nor Hl the glutted markets resulting in a Hn scale of prices that produce that Hjl "sinking feeling," so graphically do- IH scribed by Lydia PInkham and otheis. H I' these Wall street frosts don't kill H' ' the dollar crop, Utah fruit growers 1 should reap a fair harvest this sea- H ! eon, providing they don't get nervous H (and fall a victim to the wiles of the H t. p. b. btiycr who will be on hand fl early this season to help us out. It's H pretty hard to keep cool and turn H down any kind of a little old offer H' j-when you have been trimmed up for three or four seasons in succession B and the great danger this season Is H that we will take the advice of tho H people who advised us to hold our B peaches last summer for bigger prices 1 -when there was a bumper crop cvery- H -where and who will undoubtedly ad- H .vise us to sell early this season for H -what we can get, for these people n J know that the late freeze put many H of our competitors out of the running H and they will bo on hand very early H to help us out by buying our crop f H o. b. at low prices and, of course, if iwe start low prices before the crop is ready for market, no one will insist on paying us big prices H , It is no trade secret now that H l Georgia (shich slate poured over 7000 H I carloads of peaches into the middle H J west, filling every old lady's bottles B I before Utah was in the market last H ! season) and Texas (many of whose H - I orchards figure into tho hundreds of Hj I acres -each 'and were loaded to the H I ground last year) arc both frozen out H to a tenth of a crop, and Mr J. F. j (Moore, of Colorado, who (wise old man Hj that ho is, and loyal to his growers, H having netted them 48 cents per caBC Hl for all kinds of peaches last season, H while ours, admittedly much superior, H brouglit us barely 32 cents) tolls us H that Colorado has but a fourth crop H of peaches left, and says that a ten- Hj year old boy could sell our poach crop H for a good price this season. H Michigan and the northeastern H states still figure on a full crop, but H they have an immense Eastern mar- H I ket and every peach the west can H produce this season can bo sold at H good prices without going cast of Chi- H j cago, if any effort is made to dis- H i trihute our fruit among the cities H and towns that want It, instead of H piling it into the congested auction H I markets as was done last season H There are some growers who know H j they have been abused and, not know- H ping exactly who to blame, lay all H J their troubles to the Fruit Growers' H i association. The' remind mo of once Immmm' seeing a cowpuncher pull an old long- horn Texas cow out of a mud-hole where she had been stuck until she was' about all In, and when he got her landed safe on solid ground and wont ito get his rope off her horns she went B after him red-eyed, treating him to Hi something more than a good Imitation of a wild-eyed adventure For three H or four years the Utah fruit grower H has experienced all kinds of frosts, B natural and artificial, and has, ale- H sorlcally speaking, been stuck tight H In the mud and, if the kind-hearted H cowpuncher or Fruit Growers' as- H Boclation docs manage to get him on H his feet it will be just as well to 1 keep one toe in the stirrup, for he H can't tell friend from foe until he H has had time to wink the mud out of H his eyes. H Here are a few points, Mr. Fruit H Grower, that you know, but of which H I want to remind you. First, that no H "buyer will put up a big cash forfeit H -unless he is satisfied he Is buying H your stuff for 25 cents per case less H than it will sell on the market; sec- H ond, that his knowledge of the game H is worth more than yours and your H chance of fooling him is a very long H and hopeless chance, third, that you H aro absolutely bound to let him have H your fruit at the prico named, no mat- 1 ter how high the price may soar, but H that he has many ways to queer the' H contract, such as unsatisfactory pack M lack of boxes, inability to produce H the balance due, etc., and unless tho M forfeit up Is a very large one. you M have sold for a low price If the H market goes up and have not sold at H all if It goes down. B Apples last season were a drug on the market and any one who averaged aver-aged $1.00 por bushel for his output did well, yet If he had had storage room and held hlG good w,nter apples until now ho could cash them in read lly for double that amount Tho pawnbroker's one per cent Is pretty good interest for a four to six months' wait, Of course, a peach must bo marketed when ready for tho market but soiling your peaches way ahead of the market is like crowding your ap- j pics on the market tho day you pick them and is one cause of low prices If there is a good market this season, sea-son, the grower deserves his share of it and can got It. If thoro Is not a good market, don't decclvo yourself into thinking you will out-wit the dealer deal-er by rushing him into a deal, and don't establish a precedent of low prices at this timo for it Is absolutely absolute-ly uncalled for with tho prospects ahead of us. And now Just a few words about the Fruit Growers' association. We aro not trying to pay dividends, but arc running Just as economically as wo can, with tho object In view of serving serv-ing every best Interest of the grower, to maintain a high "standard of quality and pack; to furnish boxes, baskets, ladders, spraying material, In fact, everything needed by the grower, of best quality and at lowest prices pos-slblo, pos-slblo, and to find tho very best market mar-ket possible for all his fruit and produce. pro-duce. If any grower knows where or how we can better servo him I, as manager of this association, ask that he will, instoad of becoming disgrunt-lod, disgrunt-lod, come In and show me where I can -improve tho service and I will surely take the advantage of any pointers and will be thankful for such help, and In behalf of the association I extend the invitation to every grower grow-er who is not now a member to join with us, even though you take but one share of stock, as we wish to assist and bo assisted by every fruit grower C. M. CUAY |