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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 31, 1930)
MEDFOIiD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD, OREOOX. WEDNESDAY, DECEMUKR HI, IffilO PAOE REVTOJ t PROSPEROUS FUTURE FOR FRUIT INDUSM; PROBLEMS ANALYZED Scherer Declares Troubles of Past Year Due to World Wide Depression Standardization of Product De sirableLow Producing Orchards Being Uprooted Prices Next Year Should Show Increase Valley Growers Have Ability to Preserve Leadership. FINAL 1930 CROP STATISTICS. Compiled by Rogue Klver Valley Truffle association, with co operation of Pacific Fruit Express and Southern Pacific Company. S1UPMKNTS. C. Urt. 1. Ilrt. 111. LI'mc. A'J'u Com. Nells Mix. Tl. App. August 301 CSy UK 62 17 !5 1225 Sept 31 364 21 Gfi2 784 212 22 US 21 93 Oct "U 7 50 52 IS UU 34 390 4S2 Total .. 331 1116 96 774 Total 1930 crop, apples and pears Total 1929 crop, apples and pears 1 1 3 0 Increase" over last season SOU carloads (The total storage capacity at Medford Is now 796 carloads, according to statistics recently compiled.) The past year witnessed a good pear crop for uouthem Oregon but prices were 'held to a relatively low pi-iec. due to a largo extent, in the opinion of Paul Scherer of the Southern Oregon Sales company, to the so-called depression, in pro duction and employment. "The problem which confronts the fruit industry here is not par ticularly related to pears." said -Mr. Scherer in a recent Interview, "but is rather one of world wide economic and social upheaval, the result of a complete Industrial rev olution which will probably have more far reaching Influences upon future civilization than did even the great -war. The war was the final stimulation to the industrial or machine era which has in itself brought our problem to a head. You can not glance at tho dally newspapers without seeing some reference to overproduction of all commodities. To Many Factories "An article by Stewart Chase, appearing recently, shows there were factories in this country suf ficient to supply three times the number of shoes tho nation can use.'' Mr. 'Scherer continued. "The same application can bo carried upon petroleum products, textile, lumber, coal, cement and virtually all agricultural commodities. This over-production in all fields is the result of the Increased knowledge i and use of power. "(no man today finds himself able to accomplish tho work of several men as of even a few years j ago. This In Itself has brought! about the most serious problem "t all which is, over-supply ,of Inbor. In other words. It there is a satur ation point for most of the neces sities and luxuries which the ln- UlVIOllILl Call Ulll.e, It iiui , lake much Dvrnmidlng of the work done ier man to pass saturation iin.l rniieh nvemi'OllllCtion. It W3S formerly a rather current public I opinion that production In llselt meant wealth. Demand riven Wealth "The entire country is forced to realize that nt the present time production is only wealth when It l also in demand. When produc tion is in excess of demand, this very excess .removes the value of production. The problem which we face is ill a very large way. therefore, a national unit interna tional situation. "The relatively low price of our peai-s." Mr. Scherer pointed out. as compared with past seasons, and we trust 1he future. Is to a large extent the result of lack of buying power. Lack of buying power is the result of unemploy ment resulting from overproduc tion. Tho overproduction of auto mobiles, steel, anil such allied pro ducts is directly responsible for the decreased price In our pears In such markets as Detroit and IMtts liuiKh. Our principal markets arc fundamentally Industrial markets. Production Imifflseil "Agriculture, as Is very clearly shown by Professor Louis llernard Schmidt in tho current issue of 'Science,' has applied power and ueneral industrial procedure to farming with enormous Increase In! .reduction per man. For this reason It Is no longer adequate to consider the total production of pears and the consumption which can be developed In tho particular markets. "To a greutcr or lesser extent I nil fruits arc In competition with I ..in- nrmluct. The disaster In the fnllfornla vincyardist's business of this vear was also the misfortune .,f the Koguc Itlver valley pear -rower. When Hose pears were i-elllnft at retail in New York for one-half to one-third or tne inuesij levels they have heretofore reach-j .d these pears were nunuiri"" two to three times as expensive for the housewife a. the best 'all irn;a Tokay grapes. We must tn.t that the same geniu which hrnuirht Into being in till country th" industrial em can now solve I he prolm of adjusting our labor 1-vcls to those of foreign countries and If possible -without reducing the present purchasing power of the laborer. O StamlnnllMilion Needed "Standatdilh'.g our product so that the housewife shall receive a near of unquestionable desrt iii.il ity U the first step in the popu larity of our product." Mr. Scherer rontlnued. "We are making rapid ly increasing progress in this re. (aid. Th work done hv Profes sor llenry llurtnun under jie aus S53 230 , 181 227 3S08 4S2 4S67 carloads 4 061 carloads pices of the "Winter Pear commit tee is proving invaluable in this regard, l'recoollng, cold storage, prompt harvesting, better packing, are important. "A revision must be made in present railroad car refrigeration in order to obtain the benefits to which those improvements clearly entitle the growers of this valley. The car lines and carriers are non making studies which they trust will cure this defect. After this first step is taken, advertising will be of great benefit. Last year's work in Detroit clearly demon strates this fact. "Wider distribution will be a point of importance. Our immed iate problem is to take full ad vantage of tho markets which are already developed. There are sev eral things which can and should he done by the local industry to assure tile success to which this valley is entitled. Must Prove A'ulue "l'"lrst, we must prove to the public that we have a necessary article of diet. Peers have been regarded as a luxury. We have made no studies to determine tile actual fuod value and vitamin con tout of .our pears. The citrus in dustry of California has specialized in this type of -work and as a re sult that particular industry is crowding httirly all other fruits further and further out of the principal mnkcts. "It is entirely probable thnt pears contain essential and neces sary ingredients for diet. This work should be done at once. One difficulty In the sale of our fruit this season has been the effort of the American housewife to make ,T record of economy. In going through her "shopping list" sho has cut out all items regarded as unnecessary. Kilt Fewer Pears "With our present lack of Infor mation, undoubtedly pears have been among the first Items to be crossed off. This is partially prov en by the decrease in volume of Ttosc pears eaten In New York this season as compared with last year and In spile of the shrinkage' of retail value of from to 70 1 per cent. I "Anulher step must be taken b the pear growers In this valley in j order to enable us to compete villi, other districts and other fruits is that of lowering the cost of pro-) dllcllou of the finWicd box 'of fruit. ' Mr. Scherer said. "Profes sor ltaliih S. ISessc his gone Into this matter thoroughly in i:xii- iment Station I'.ulletln No. SB7.I published during the past year. covering the actual cost of opera-) lion of some fifty-eight farms over a three-year period, lie points mil. that the most profitable farms actually had expenses of $ 1 7 per! acre more than the average and; still produced fruit nt 28 cents less per box. Among other economy Items he clearly shows that ex penditures for fertilizer and blight control were 'essential economies.' Itecovery In ProspiHt "We must not dwell nt too great length upon the poor prices of this season. We should remember that this valley Is and has been ono of the most profitable agricultural communities on the entire Pacific coast. We must look with pride to our total Increased production during the past decade and also our production per acre. Mr. 10. W. Carlton has recently presented this very clearly. We must take proper satisfaction In tho contin ually decreasing price of product lion. 'Orchards of below average pro duction are being weeded out as has lieen tile can; with our unpro fitable apple acreage. It would rfeem that our Industry Is suffer ing only I's pro rata of the gen eral 'hard times' through which all business has been passing. Wr may" fairly expect to recover wlth equal rapidity. It would seem thntj prices next year should show aj material Increase. "Tills past season was one or unusually large tonnage of all com peting fruits and it does not seem in the cards to double the same situation." Mr. Scherer explained. "The acuteness of the blight losses in the Sacramento Valley !a-l year may relieve ome of the pressure of oversupply on the llarlett mar ket. Coordinated effort as sug gested liy the California Pear Grow ers association to eliminate unde sirable rrndes and fiwvi from the nun Kef will nvit'M lullv reduce vol- ume. Our district should certain ly do Its full share In this regard. Must Cut AiiiiM'tUUm "Thorn must be elimination of some of the extreme competition between buyers and shippers. to have from threw to four times the number of such agencies a would seem desirable. Keonomy In pack ing and selling go hand in hand with volume and we must concen trate our flow of fruit to obtain maximum economy. This district Is fortunate not principally in hav ing soils und etimato Ideally suited for the production of pears but rather in that the growers and business men of thU community represent the highest intelligence and ability. "It Is fortunate that wo have 1!)2G to look back upon,' said Mr. Scherer In conclusion, "Wo can 'not noon forget the position of leadership which this valley took in the solution of the spray resi due problem and which was entire ly the result of complete unity of effort on the part of tho fruit grower, packers, bankers and busi nessmen. What we have done in the past we can certainly do again in the future. For this reason 1 have no hesitancy in forecasting a bright and prosperous future and not only a successful New Year but rather a new era of prosperity for Medford and tho valley." BIG GROWTH IN MEDFORD A V Field Manager Hall of P. A. T. Reports Year of Development On Coast Plane Route Night Fly-j ing a Feature of Progress- A your of outtaudinff pros; row. ; That Is the way Sooly V. Hall, j Medford field manager fur Pacific Air Transport, rtharat'tovixos the j company's development of tho Se attle - Medford- San Die-no mail, I passonKcr a n d j oxpre.sa airway I during 1930. Kastt-r service, owrnlKht mnilh bound schedules, improved a i r port and tennln al facilities, nlv way lirslHinK, ra dio tele phono installation and 1 n e r eased vol ume of passen ger a n d mail t i' a M- i c have combined to make the past year an important chapter in Pacific Air Transport's history. IiiRtnllatlun of 5L'.ri-horMepower Hornet onKincs on the four-pan-.onser Hoeing mall planes made possible faster schedule. The ships now eruiw at an averaKC speed of 108 miles per hour. In auKuration of the dusk-to-dawn southbound wrvice took place In August, following the completion of airway lighting by the depart ment of commerce. New Schedule. On the new .southbound sched ule. plane leaving Seattle at 7 p. m. and Medford at 11:05 p. m.. arrive in Oakland at 2:40 a. m Los Aimeb-s at 6:3:i a. m. and Sin liirgo at S : 1 0 n. m. Thus M'd fnrd's airmail to California -Itl-s is eurried without lorfs of business hours. The reMilt.s of the lmroved 5 c h e ilulcs arc apparnt In the following e s 1 1 m a t e d figures for P. A. T.'s 1 !3u operations, f Hioted by Hall: SMi.OiMi in I 1 e flown: rtO.oiHi pounds of mail transported; and 3. SOU passengers carried. These figures represent sub stantial in creases over the iai'9 oieratJonrt. An add ltion of ll't miles was madn to the air way this year when the southern ter.-ninal was x tended from I-os Ang"les to San IieK with the au thorization f the potof fice de partment. The route is now lofi miles in length. Seventy per cent of the company's mlb';ie over thl.s line is flown at nluht. Ill-hilt Itmlin. An important a,-pei t of th com pany ' pnitjress durhm 1 ::pi w as the instalfttion of radio telephone stations at Medford anil other cities along the alrwi.y, and the equip ment of the plan-s with ihe neces sary apparatus to permit two-way voice communication bntween the planes and 1 he ground stations. pHcific Air Transport has found that thin feature ha added greatly to the wifely and efficiency of the operations over the eoat airway. P icifie Air Trans pur t Is a unit of lioeing Syten which nl In ehidert Hoeing Air Transport, op erator of the Sii n Krnncii'i'o-Od k latld 'h Icji yo I II. pussenufi' (Ml'l expresi airway. P. !. .lohnson is preKl(l-nt of -t he I Joeing System in;iil-pf ener lines. 1'ilots flyinw the Medford-Port-!and -Seatt Ie division i1 Hutil f'unnintrhn m. Mebr Miller and Cfi-ovrr Tyler, with ')ui rb Sulli van as vel.ff pilot. Ori th M1 in. : -i in I; l.i ii'l dvi-ion it re Mai t y randll. Halph Vlrden il Al Olihousc-n. In a recent month tlJT.onn n-orth of cod liver ot i ii j.hippeil from Norway to Ihe 1'nl'i.d. iimiirtt 1 1 ' Rogue River Valley Fruit tfr I 9 Typical Itogiic Itivci Valley ign-khiy: plant, IikiiiiiI at Mcdfoiit, fruits are prfKiml fur llio iiiarkcls of the world. Penis and apples, In tho Orient as well lis hi American cities. A device installed at the Unl- j The record for the longest un- A Chicago vaudeville house that j Cambridge, homo of the fam vcrsity of Texas cuts igneous broken tenancy in Franco Is ' planned to serve patrons with oils Knglish university, ha.s a rocks In transparent slices one- I claimed by the Potichin family, j food and drink abandoned the Idea i "Creator Cambridge'' plan, and halt millimeter thick, aiding ml-I which has occupied a farm near j when nearby restaurants protest- wishes to annex several nearby v" eroscopic study. I Isigny. France, for Us yenrs. oil. lages. M KOg Organs Devoted to the Welfare of the GROWERS and SHIPPERS we Valley Frait Rogue River Valley Traffic Association Sgobel & Day American Fruit Growers, Inc. C. & E. Fruit Co., Inc. Simon & French Kimball & Company Bear Cseek Orchards Big 7 Fruit Distributors Finds World-Wide Market 1 re " W't'l1 In such modern plants as this, grown near Mtill'oi'd, flml nuirkcts 31 MEMBERS . It ' 'f M jt;;, world famuli Itoguc ItUcr Valley In Knglnnd, mi the Coiitiiiciit uml zatioe Rogue River Company Palmer Corporation Snoboy Pacific Distributors Pinnacle Packing Co. Knight Packing Co. Medford Fruit Company Newbry & Sons Greater Earnings Forecast for 1931 . In American Trade . i NKW YOHK M') Hero is the opinion of n statistician on business prospects for 193 it "Profit of leading Ameri can business concerns,'' says Laurence If. Sloan, vice pres ident of Standard Statistics. Inc., "should bo larger in in ill than In 1930. "On the same physical vol ume of business that was transacted in 1030, theso earnings should show an in crease of somewhere around 5 to S percent in 1931. "On a somewhat larger vol ume of business, and assum ing an upward trend during the latter part of tho year, the increase should amount to 10 to 1G percent and might readily exceed that figure." of St.-