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Show II IP . I . ' The Cost of a Car of Peaches from the 111 Tree to the Chicago Auction BSock 111 The Leeches Who' Bleed the l Farmers of Their Hard-Earned I Wealth A Couple of Stories I J Wo r t h R e a d i n g I ill iy i ii t - I jl One of our leading" bankers said, the other day, that he thought I j the fruit grower of Weber county had an independent fortune in l sight." Well, we met our friend John Hall, of North Ogden, who I 8 came to this office to pay his subscription for the daily paper, andrtve I H told him what the banker had told us. I I Well, Mr. Hall is-an Englishmanand he repeated the words "in-I "in-I B dependent fortune in sight," and said, "you know I cant appreciate I R some of the American humor, but I suppose that would sound funny I J even to an Englishman, if he weije existing under different circum- I I I stances than I am at the presemVtinie. ' ' I jl This is the story he told: It Mr. Hall and about all his neighbors had an inviting offer to Iji let the McGriff Canning Oommission company handle the tomato and III peaoh output of North Ogden and the "independent fortune in l sight." North Ogden, "innocence abroad," packed down to the Kj McGriff oompany, incorporated, in round numbers, $16,000 worth Ijj of tomatoes and peaches of the crop of 1910, and up to date there l is just that much "independent fortune in sight." Mr. Hall and I I therest of those independent fruit growers are now looking for some lj bank to loan them enough money to live on until the nest crop ar-Ijj ar-Ijj Tives, willing to give 'a mortgage on the '"independent fortune in lj sight." Now, wo are unable to say if the McGriff company, incor- I I porated, just simply confiscated that $9,000 or $10,000 worth of to-l to-l matoea and peaches of the North Ogden orchards and fields, or II whether the railway ohargos exceeded the net income of the ship-If ship-If ments made, or whether the auctioneer at Chicago or New York III took the excess above freight rates to pay the selling expenses. At If any rate, the last we saw of Mr. Hall he was looking- tor an attorney I -to tell him how much it would cost to find out just what did be-Ij be-Ij oome of the NbrthX)gden peaches and tomatoes. It The above is written while the writer is in good humor because If one of the grocery combine had sent him a pineapple. But really, II reader, don't you think it is pretty tough on Ihe North Ogden fruit II grower to see $10,-000 "in sight" for ever? Yet the story is true. II Here is another true story of a carload of peaches shipped to II Chicago. The car sold for an even '$400. Sounds good, doesn't it? Well, the fruit grower got a telegram announcing the fact and he was tickled over it, but when the returns came in they read like this: Freight on car, Ogden to Chicago $250.00 Association expenses, 4 per cent t 16.00 Expenses of commision merchant, 7 1-2 per cent 30.00 Total expenses .' $296.00 Check enclosed for car of peaches , 104.00 Total accounted for $400.00 "Total acoounted for, $400." Sounds good. What did the fruit grower get? One hundred four dollars for one whole car of peaches. Was that for peaches on the tree? No, dear roader; before be-fore the farmer received his $104 for a car of peaches, he had to pick the peaches carefully so they would not bruise, haul them to the packing shed, buy boxes and paper, wrap each peach, sort the peijhes into sizes, buy nails and nail the boxes, then convoy them in 5. spring wagon to the car. What did all this cost? Let us start in by saying, the tax assessor never taxes the fruit farm, the trees plant therasolves, the Lord irrigates the orchard, the trees bear the first year, and there is no pruning or anything else to do until the fruit is ripe. Admitting, just for the sake of argument, all this is true, we will begin with the picking of the fruit. What does it oost the fruit farmer to put his ripe fruit in the car7 Several men, who say they know what they are talking about and know from personal I experience what the cost per box is from the picking to the car, including in-cluding the cost of the box, sorting, wrapping, packing and paper, costs anywhere from 9 cents to 11 1-2 cents per box, counting all labor and everything paid for. It takes, in round numbers, just 1,200 boxes of peaches, to fill a car, and that, at 10 cents a box, would make $120 per car as the cost of peaches from the tree to the car. Our friend who had his peaches sold in Chicago for $400 per car, lost exactly $16 on the deal. He received $104 and it cost him $120. If the farmer were lucky enough to have a lot of boys and girls at home to do the work for their board, the farmer had a chance to receive re-ceive a few dollars (not profit) on the car. But, dear reader, suppose wc now take into consideration the cost of the farm land, the taxes, interest on money invested, the fact that trees do not bear for four years, the labor to be hired to irrigate, irri-gate, plow, prune, the service of the farmer, etc., etc , how much does the farmer make on a car of fruit? That is as big a puzzle as "How old is Ann?" What is the remedy? Let us see who gets the lion's share of the $400? The railroad receives over 60 per cent of the total. Therefore There-fore railroads must give up a share of the freight charges. Will they do it? We will look it up. John Hall of North Ogden shipped 540 boxes of fine first-class cherries to Chicago through the Pioneer Fruit company. Each box of cherries weighed 10 pounds The cherries sold in Chicago for 60 cents a box, but he received only 39 cenrC gross, per box? and paid 30 cents per box for commission, picking, packing, boxing and shipping, ship-ping, netting him 9 cents per box, or almost one cent per pound. Who would like to raise cherries at one cent per pound? Why should the railroad get more for hauling the fruit to the market than the producer receives? Who will answer? |