The Fruit Growers' Dilemma

The announcement of Food Director Herbert G. Hoover and Secretary of Agriculture Houston that fruit is to be recognized as a food and given preferential consideration by the government in the movement of freights, relieves the fruit growers of the Northwest of great anxiety. The fruit grower can now go ahead with plans for growing and harvesting his crop knowing that he is not working to ruin. And yet the grower should not rest on his oars in the belief that the war and the government have solved all his problems. Demands on shipping facilities during the harvest season are going to be far greater than ever before and even the government cannot increase the maximum capacity of the country's carriers. In normal times, especially last year, the distribution of the apple crop was delayed and retarded by a shortage of cars. With the press of war business on the railroads the shortage may be even more acute than last year. Because of the shortage of vessels little export trade in fruit can be expected. It can hardly be expected that our home markets are going to readily absorb the fresh fruit tonnage in its entirety. Provisions must yet be made for evaporating and drying as much of the fruit as possible and for building frost-proof storages to guard against the uncertainties of an already overburdened transportation system. In this respect this valley seems to valley seems to be lagging behind other fruit growing districts. Plans are already under way for building evaporators in Yakima, Wenatchee, Walla Walla, Spokane and other fruit districts of the state and the Northwest. As yet no such plans have matured here nor have steps been taken for the storage of more than a very small percentage of the valley's apple crop.