ALL FRUIT TREES.

Hokitika Guardian, 1 October 1921, Page 4

ALL FRUIT TREES.

CO-OPERATION FOR THE GROWER SAN ERANt'TSCO, July Hi ! Imagine a motor trip through an immense territory planted with ten million fruit trees. This was a memorable experience I enjoyed the other afternoon in the famous Santa Clara Valley, about 50 miles from San Francisco, and a fitting climax it was to these days of farewell to bonutitnl Northern California. For miles and

miles we travelled, an automobile party conducted )>v Mr A. B. Brewer, hnnneial editor of the Sail Francisco ‘'Bulletin,” and everywhere, right up to the broad, smooth highway of asphalt, there were fruit trees, with the orchards completely open to the road m ,t a fence to he seen, excepting; those marking one man’s selection from his neighbour's. •|low do you ilia unite about orchnid thieves:-” I queried. "There are none,” replied the gro.‘or. "And even if there were the loss id' the fruit they’d lake Mould matno impression upon this crop. Everywhere, also, the soil was kept well moved. Brown earth was beneath

the trees, and practically no trace weeds. Over this far-flung valley, then the fruit crops grow in tremendous p :■ fusion. What a picture it must . sent in March, with its vast show " blossoms. It is, they tell me a stgb which brings travellers from Tar ami near, who, gazing at it from the surrounding bills, are entranced bv t.i amazing wealth of colour glowing in the morning sun. More than _ H) ( h nl) 1 people travel out from San I‘raneisco and the other towns round the Golden Gate to the Blossom Festival. Ibis is an entertainment which lias been held annually in the Santa Clara Valiev tor the past 2:t years. The multitudes gather to view the rich array ol ble~sonis and to listen to a choir ot ■«> > voices singing oratorio in the o|ien an. A CO-OPERATIVE ENTERPRISE. But, however, picturesque all 'bis mav be. the chief point of interest ol Santa Clara Valley to Australian • ■lowers is not comprised in the seencry. What they want to know is. How is all this fruit marketed ? r l he answer to this question is in itself a n malice. The Santa Clara Valley is rimmed to be the world's hugest prune pi mincing centre. Yet lor L long years tin* priim’-firowors wciv unable to more than a mere pittance for their n un. Tlicv were virtually working lor the benefit" of middeliuen. Thoy smut

tin'll of tliis iirnuiKiMiU'iit,_ hut i> s *' K ‘ v „erc not men of hflsiness it took t ni-in a 100- time to SCO tin- remedy. At 111 si io I !I1 7 they 01-00 n i soil, es(o l.lislicd o cu-opc fit tilt- company of tlit-ir own, mill resnlvud to soil (licit crops direct in tin- "pen nnirket to mo w hnlesalers instcinl of thron-h other coiiipnnies. Once started, tins tocp -i adve oi-panisntinn L'l'ew with amazin- rapidity. To-day. llunt-h only lour years old. it has a niondicr.sldp ol i, .-n- ilit,,i lI.IMHI -rowers. it owns anti i:p rates thirty prune and apricot pa -kill- plants] runs a limlier mill ol it, own in Otej'on. where it mnnufaelures its parkin- cases, and it ivtutns to i la- -rower from -Ml to (lit per cent; 1111,1 oven ,0 cents of the consumer's dollar, instead of I'd cents, which lie I e-nrd: 1 1 a - a lucky \id I in the old daxs. i:|(; MONKY SOU AI)YKISI ISI Ml. -Viol the a-soitatioti does all this, its piolliotcis say. without pruiiin- a pi olii itself It simply takes the p, ones and apricots Iroin its iiieinii.-rs. -oils this fruit in the mtirkels of the ton Id, and lellliiis to the -roweis all i!, - :. oolpts except actual workin- ex- . 1,, 11 ... . Trill X a pieal aehievcitieu I i I co oporat i-ut. din sttcco-s his uudoiilitedly meant hard work, and it lias, local,l pill'll, iiy as well. This year, lor i list a iii --. the association will spend Mill.(lint dnllats. nr nearly I: IHI P.l HK>, in. advertisin- the virtues of the ('.ili- 1 lornian prune in the newspapers and, tiia-aziues uf the (Tiited Stales, lint ; hn- in i men ai its head reckon 1 ri-iitlv that »liis money will lirin- in a fullr-fold telurn. To-day the annual j sales el this prune aniount to nearly ] •_>'i.l It til.l >1 It I dollars, and the aerra-r is | prowin- with tilie renewed eonlidein e j the producers have received lliron-h. the ,11h• ia l inns of their own "i-a ui sa - j (ion. 1 M M i-'.NsK (HOI’S OK UAISIXS. I In liavellin- through Santa (lataj \ ,d!ev, lie it rememliereil. one sees j

indy a prill of the fruit Imrilmy of . lid", icrl'le St at i . What ol the equally | Moll San Joaquin \ alley, the vineyards! of California A 'i c, i-.ii-.iiis are sun- | ill io,| by the iiiilliuus ol lids : ill I fact. !Ml per cent ■ f the A hum ic.m j crop, it is said, is glow n within :i -* ; mile radius of the town of Fresno. Sun! Joaijimi is an area devoted to small: Inrin-s, helped In a system ol gravity irritation, which supplies water to more than two million and a half acres a -y >.• cm which is claimed, by the way, to lie llie cheapest and most extensive in Die vv mld Even lb,mgl, lilth- rain mav fall in the summer mmiibs. the orowei is lissiired ni a water supply, and the genial sunshine lie legards, j llierelore. as one of bis mosl valued gilts. 'Pile sou I her 11 part of the valley is pi act ieaily one great vineyard tor i than JIKI square miles. Last year the vine crops vv ere va lueil at i IJ.OfM I,(K l<) j dollars, and inoro than hall of t his was f,.r raisins. ('it rus fruits, olives. | pearlies, tigs, almonds, walnuts, and' all vaiieties of vegetables are also grown in this valley. When Ameiiea weal over to piubi'a- j lion, the ruin of tlm grape industry in j n.lii'ai'iiia was declared to be iuevit- j able. This predict ion has been com-: plctcly falsified. The growers, as a| matter of fact, I am told, ate making I more money than ever. I it.'.. arc pro-; diieiug grapes for raisins instead of for .wine, and tlieii ret it ills arc so good. beeaii'C of I lie dcinauil for 11 n■ si• rai sins from all partis of America, U tlicv aie not in the least concerned about the Volstead Act, or its consequences. GREAT MARKETING SCHEME. The example which the Caliuu ni ■ a f I'll i t-grovvci s have given ol Die benefits; to be derived fr,.m in ga nis.it ion should; be of great interest in Australian , fruit-producing districts. In Galitornia j the gmvvcfs. tliroiigh the existence n! . their own co-operative concert), arc practically independent. They aiej nol util to tleeco the public; but 1..C.V certainly demand a lea onable profit foi their fruit. The other day, when lliev discovered that the price they: asked would lint he paid, the orelinid-, ists of Santa Clara \ alley sent, to a j shop which they opened ill .Marketstreet, Sail !''rnncisco. and there it was | sold direct to I lie public at so much a hex. Thoio was a gnat rush for this lb nil : from early morning projilo oamo in aii t nlmihi los and eairieil olf hig or- . dors, amt heforc the dav was mil Iraiitii messages had In lie soul 1 ., p orchards fur fresh supplies. It may he that the success el tinexp -rimcni lias hastened a s ( lienm which is being organised as this article is written vvherehv a great r ntral itmrkc; is to he estahlished for the sale to iie consumer of the output I rum the orchards of no fewer than six of the Pacific Coast States ('alifornia Washington, Idaho. Montana, tie 1 ami Oregon. Plans lor this market were formulated this week at a eoiilerome in Portland, Oregon, at which th > growers of all these States were represented. The object, it was declared,

was to eliminate tho middleman altogether, and to bring the producer and consumer together, so that, while the grower obtained the best rate possible, supplies should be cheapened to G consumer. For, it may be observed, the price of some lines of fruit in San Francisco is not so low as one me 1, expect. This is certainly an impictniu enterprise, and it will he watched, n: t only in Ameiiea, but beyon 1 it, wR the greatest interest.