“The Problem of the Mountain Farmers” from the editorial page of the Charlotte
Chronicle, September, 1911
Warehousing for fruit and vegetable products is advocated by
the Carolina Union Farmer. That paper’s remarks are applied particularly to the
farmers of the mountain section. It refers to the scarcity of these products
this season and says:
“Members of the Farmers’ Union in the mountain section, who
have fruit, potatoes, cabbage, etc., for the market can get more than twice as
much for these products as they have been getting if they will built their
shipments to carload lots and ship to the larger towns and cities instead of
dribbling their sales out on local markets whatever the price the local feels
like paying.
The Irish potatoes grown in the mountains have a better
flavor than those grown in the flat and warmer sections and they should always
bring the highest price on the markets. When our mountain brethren are informed
that even now retailers all through the middle section of the State are selling
Irish potatoes at $2 per bushel they will begin to realize the need of a
warehouse system of marketing, to which they can ultimately add the cold storage
system. When they learn to properly pack and grade their products and put into
practice the gradual marketing warehouse plan by co-operation through the
Farmers’ Union and also use these warehouses in their co-operative purchases,
they will soon begin to realize the power of organization through a hundred per
cent increase in their net profits.”
One great difficulty the mountain people encounter is lack
of transportation facilities. The wagon and long hauls are still the main
reliance for getting the truck to the railroad station or to the towns. By reason of this slow, inconvenient and
money-losing method, vast quantities of fruits and vegetables grown in the
mountains never reach the market. The warehouse and cold storage, however,
would seem to give animation to the situation.
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