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Thursday, May 5, 2022

Getting North Carolina's Peach Crop to Market in 1922

Peach Men Arrange Sale of Crop

A committee of the peach growers association has been in almost continuous session for the last two months. In that time they have personally interviewed the principal merchants and commission men that have hitherto handled the fruit, made two trips to New York and one to Georgia and to Florida, and have the specific recommendations and active assistance of The Bureau of Markets, Washington; The Georgia Fruit Exchange; The Florida Citrus Exchange; The Standard Growers Exchange; Gentile Bros.; Robert T. Cochran, Steinhardt and Kelly, Frost and McNab, Samuel A. Townsend, F.C. Spadero, Curtis and Co., The Puritan Fruit Co., and all the rest of our commission men.

As a result, the Association is now ready to handle this year’s crop as it should be handled.

We have engaged an expert fruit salesman, E.M. Zorn, with large experience as a buyer in the jobbing trade and as sales agent. He is to take charge of our selling department and has engaged several assistants to show the fruit to the buyers in the field. He is at present in the North interviewing our agents and principal buyers.

We have engaged agents and brokers in 200 markets east of the Mississippi River, including Canada and Culin, to sell our fruit and send up wire orders, to inspect our cars and report on market conditions. We pay them $20 a car for all sales they make.

We have engaged a first class man to stay at Potomac Yards and inspect and divert our cars there, and sell to the Canadian buyers concentrated at that point. We have arranged for a high class railroad man to handle our transportation and rate problems in our office.

We have hired the best inspector in Georgia to take charge of our inspection service.

We are preparing to spend $5,000 in advertising our brand, to bring in the buyers. This includes personal letters to every house that has ever bought our fruit, a circular to every buyer in Georgia when the fruit moves, as well as those on the list being obtained by Mr. Zorn.

We already have the personal assurance of the largest buyers in the country that they will be here and be glad to buy. There is no question whatever that we can control the widest possible market. That we can get the last penny for the fruit, provided we hold it all together and do not compete with each other, and know just where every car is going. We can set our price in reason if it is all in our hands.

This plan has the unanimous approval of the directors.

Every single director and grower approached to date has signed the contract placing his fruit in the hands of the association to sell without reservation. We ask you to do the same. This is the only possible way to sell peaches. We are your servants. The salesman is your own salesman. The agents are your agents. The committee will, of course, consult the growers all the time, an do its utmost to satisfy everybody. We ask that you place your crop with all the rest so we can control the market and the distribution absolutely.

Fred C. Page, Secretary

From the Moore County News, Carthage, N.C., Thursday, May 4, 1922. Consolidated with the Carthage Blade Jan. 1, 1912; The Blade was established in 1875.

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