Brownsville herald. [volume], April 28, 1929, SOCIETY, Image 15

About Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current

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AUSTIN. April 27.—Phi Beta
Kappa, national honorary scholas
tic fraternity, elected 24 new mem
bers this week from the graduating
class of the University of Texas.
Two of these students so honored
are from the Valley. They are
Ethel Mobly of Weslaco and Ruth
Reed of San Benito.
Both Miss Mobly and Miss Reed
Will receive degrees at the June
commencement exercises.
Phi Beta Kappa is universally
recognized as the highest scholas
tic fraternity of the academic
school. It was founded at Wash
ington and the University of Vir
ginia almost 150 years ago. The
University of Texas chapter was
established in 1904.
Selection of members for the
fraternity, which is based on
scholarship, is limited to one
eighth df the total members of the
graduating class.
• • •
Miss Mary Margaret Glasscock of
Mercedes was elected president of
Cap and Gown for the 1929-30 long
session, at an election Friday of
last week.
Miss Glasscock, who will be a
senior next year, will be president
of her class, and will assume her
office of president of the Cap and
Gown next fall.
She is studying journalism in
the university and is a member of
Zeta Tau Alpha sorority.
• * •
The Little Campus dormitory at
the university entertained Friday
night of last week with an infor
mal dance, the second of the long
session.
Students from the Valley named
In the guest list included Miss
Caroline Brooks of Rio Grande
City, and Edward Baker of Harlin
gen and Bernard Lebowitz of San
I&enito.
Several hundred attended the
. affair.
w • • •
% \ The Acacia fraternity at the
diversity of Texas entertained
^ night of last week with an
" *> «verna* dance, at which several
thetf t! students were present.
comvsfi1^ those named in the guest
M] William Scanlan of
f * £ft7. .\Jwlle, Wayne Gilbert of Mc
Allen, Steve Wray of Donna, and
Jimmie Huffendick of McAllen.
I • • •
j Clay Zachery of McAllen was In
Kerrville last week-end where he
attended a dance at Schreiner In
stitute.
Zachery is a member of Delta
Sigma Phi fraternity, which also
numbers several other Valley stu
dents among its membership.
* • •
Miss Martha Ingersoll of Browns
ville spent the past week-end in
Houston. Miss Ingersoll is a first
^year student in the university and
is prominent in women’s literary
activities.
Bernard Lebowitz of San Benito
visited in Lockhart Sunday and
Monday of this week.
• • •
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Rigler Cf
Mission, students in the university,
were in Houston during the week
end where they visited relatives.
William “Mik” Moyers of Mer
cedes. senior in the department of
mechanical engineering, has been
employed by the Western Electric
* comnany and will report at the end
of the current season of school to
the Hawthorne Works in Chicago.
Moyers, who is also a student as
sistant in the department, has par
ticipated in many student activl
1! “ Mes. During 4925-28 he belonged to
le Varsity Peacock Orchestra: in
28 he was a member of the ad
orv board of the Longhorn band:
is now assistant manager of j
;.e band; he is vice president of
he student body of the collegp of
engineering, and is vice president
of the senior mechanical engineer
ing class for the second semester.
He is a member of the local stu
dent branch of the American So
ciety of Mechanical Engineers, and
is chairman of the student com
mittee of the mechanical engineer
ing department for arrangements
for the power show to be given
soon. He is a member of Theta Xi
fraternity.
• • •
Miss Dalinda Rodriguez of Mis
sion is a member of the staff of
La Novata. yearbook of the Little
■' field Dormitory, freshman girls’
dormitory. Miss Rodriguez is as
sisting in gathering material for
the yearbook.
• • *
J. B. Christner of Weslaco,
graduate student in geology, is
completing his study of Comanche
Peak as the subject for his master
i of science thesis in geology. Com
I anche Peak is in the middle por
£ tion of the Fredericksburg series in
M central Texas.
\u. T. PROFESSOR
j k HEADS SOCIETY
5TIN. April Zl.—f/p)—Dr. W. J.
if-tr^r of classical lan
the University of Texas,
elected president of the
Association of the middle
south, numbering 3.500
rship of the organization
college students and fa
mbers and high school in
interested in classics.
PHONES ABOUT
READY TO USE
M MATAMOROS
International Service
Opening May 4 As
sured, Says Manager
Of New Exchange
With installation of equipment
about complete and more than 120
subscribers signed, opening of the
Matamoros telephone exchange and
inauguration of connection between
that and the Brownsville exchange
on May 4 now is assured, accord
ing to Francisco Gutierrez, local
manager for the International
Telegraph and Telephone Co., own
ers of the exchange.
The rate of charge for calls be
tween Brownsville and Matamoros
has not yet been decided but will
be fixed in a few days, according to
E. E. Mockabee. manager of the
Brownsville exchange of the Rio
Grande Valley Telephone Co.
Cable for the international con
nection has been laid to the bridge
here by the American company and
work on the cable in Mexico can
be completed within two hours. The
cable will connect 30 pairs of wires
across the Rio Grande, making
available 15 pairs for conversation
from Brownsville to Matamoros
and the same number for calls in
the opposite direction.
Installations are being made in
Matamoros homes and business
houses at present and it is expected
that approximately 200 phones will
be put into operation on the open
ing day.
Ramos Bariera, commercial group
manager, is conducting a campaign
for additional subscribers to be
given service on the opening day.
H. H. Burnell, traffic engineer for
the international firm, who has su
pervised the Matamoros installa
tion, is expected to return from
Mexico City for the opening day
celebration.
The Matamoros equipment, built
in United States factories, is the
most modern obtainable, some of it
being an improvement over equip
ment now in use in Valley ex
changes.
New Creamery Here
Seen as Big Help
To Dairy Industry
A new industry for Brownsville, the Snow Queen Creamery, which
is expected to create new’ interest in the dairying industry in this sec
tion, is to be opened about May 15, according to M. Lovett, proprietor.
The building, erected on West Elizabeth street between the Model
Laundry and the M System store, has been completed by E. G. Holiday,
WOMEN PLAN
JOINT PARLEY
*
Harlingen Invites Sisters
From San Benito to Dis
cuss Beautification
(Special to The Herald.)
HARLINGEN. April 27.—The
movement which has been started
by men of San Benito and Harlingen
to work out the problems of these
two cities pointly is to be carried
on by the women of both cities, it
is indicated in action of the Har
lingen Women's Chamber of Com
merce.
The Harlingen Chamber has is
sued an invitation to all San Be
nito women to be present at the
meeting here at noon Monday, April
29. to discuss matters of beautifi
cation. civic improvement, and oth
er proposition which may be hand
died jointly.
The invitation was issued Mrs. T.
S. Herren, president of the Har
lingen Chamber. Mrs. Herren spe
cially invited members of women’s
civic clubs in San Benito, and any
other women of that city who might
be interested in problems of public
improvements in San Benito and
Harlingen.
The local women's chamber of
commerce members expressed the
belief at their last meeting that
there are a number of matters which
can be handled jointly by the
women of the two cities while the
men are handling other problems of
joint development. They will prob
ably take up beautification work as
their first project, giving special at
tention to the planting of flowers,
shrubs and trees on the highways
connecting the two cities, and on
parks that might be undertaken
jointly.
The meeting Monday will start at
12 o’clock at the Women’s Cham
ber of Commerce building, and will
be in the form of a luncheon.
It will close at 1 o’clock, half an
hour being given over to discussion
of jotat civic problems of San Benito
and Harlingen.
•local contractor, and turned over to
the owner for the installation of
machinery.
Ice cream, pasteurized milk, com
mercial buttermilk and cottage
cheese will be the principal pro
ducts of the factory. These pro
ducts all will be sold under the
Snow Queen brand. A public open
ing at which free ice cream is to
be served is planned by Lovett for
about May 15.
After a campaign which appear
ed about to fail, Lovett announces
he has been a'ble to contract for
about 400 gallons of milk daily, a
sufficient quantity to supply the
need of the plant for a time at
least. Most of this milk is to be
brought from the Combes, Rio
Hondo, Lyford and Raymondville
communities. It will be gathered
up daily by a truck which the
creamery will operate over about a
100 mile route.
Twice the quantity of milk in
sight can be used immediately and
there is no limit to the demand for
milk, Lovett said.
“Since the work has started on
the building for my creamery there
has been a marked increased inter
est in the dairy business,” he said.
“After three months of studying
the situation I am convinced Val
ley farmers are overlooking one of
thiur chief opportunities by not
devoting more time to it. Three or
four cows would increase the in
come of many Valley fahns suffi
ciently to show a good profit in
stead of a loss.
“Of course, I realize it is neces
sary to eradicate the fever tick be
fore it is safe to import valuable
dairy stock, and this should be
done. But a start can be made
now and the earlier this start is
made the better it will be for a
majority of Valley farmers.
“There is a demand for unlimit
ed quantities of sweet cream in
Houston and San Antonio. The
supply for these two cities now is
being shipped from Kansas. There
is no reason why dairy cattle of the
Valley should not supply this de
mand.
“I am not making butter at my
new plant for the simple reason it
would be impossible to secure suf
ficient cream for this purpose. If
the cream was obtainable I could
add that product to my line.
“There are a number of farms in
the vicinity of Brownsville which
are paying dividends largely be
cause of the presence of a few
good cows. Many more farmers
could be achieving this same result.
k
»■---^
Valley Business Designated as
Good by U. S. Chamber Organ
WASHINGTON, April 27.—The
general level of trade and industry
in March and the first quarter of
the year was far above that of a
year ago, with some of the heavy
industries reaching new high
points, says Frank Greene in his
monthly review of business condi
tions in Nation’s Business, publish
ed by the chamber of commerce of
the United States.
“March weather,” he writes, “ran
true to form, beginning with storms
of rain or snow, accompanied in
some areas by low temperatures
and ending with mild days and
promise of an early spring. Re
tailers were thus aided, first, in
the clearing up of stocks of winter
goods and second, in moving spring
wearing apparel in preparation for
Easter. The fact that Easter came
a week earlier this year than in
1928 tended to warp retail trade
statistics for March and April, and
to a lesser extent, for the quarter.
“The tabulated lines of retail
trade exhibited good increases over
a year ago, both for March and
the first three months while whole
sale distribution was apparently
fully equal to or slightly ahead of
that of last year. __
“Among the industries, the lead
was easily taken by steel and
automobiles, which set up new high
records for the month and quarter,
I while pig iron production was close 1
to the peak reached in the sec- i
ond quarter of 1923. Copper pro- ;
ducers were very active with the j
price of that metal advancing to 24j
cents per pound, the highest in a
decade.
“Lead prices and production also
rose and manufacturers of agricul
tural implements and machine
tools were busy, with orders far1
above a year ago. Coal production
BIG STATION
AIDS VALLEY
I
_,
WLW, Crosley Radiophone,
Yielding Good Results
For This Section
DONNA. April 27.—The Lower
Rio Grande Valley is receiving na
tion-wide publicity through nightly
broadcasts from the Crosley radio
station WLW at 42iacinnati, Ohio,
according to J. C. Paxton, general
manager of the Rio Grande Valley
Telephone company and chairman
of the organization board of the
Valley Publicity association.
“We are receiving astonishing re
sults from the radio publicity cam
paign now in progress,” Mr. Pax
ton said, “and we are constantly
receiving inquiries from all sections
of the United States.”
According to the telephone execu
tive, the publicity organization has
been founded for the purpose of
advertising the Lower Rio Grande
Valley to the world. It is indorsed
by a committee of 25 men which
includes some of the most success
ful and prominent men in the Val
ley. The organization is of a non
profit nature and is Valley-wide in
scope. Associated with Mr. Pax
ton as an organizing committee are
J. W. Osborne of Donna, J. A. Phe
lan of Mercedes and D. W. Day of
Harlingen.
Mr. Osborn explained that the
present radio advertising campaign
is covered by a thirteen weeks’
schedule with station WLW. It
commenced on March 1st and will
continue until June 1st. At the
expiration of the radio contract the
Valley Publicity association will
sponsor and direct appropriate ad
vertising through whatever media
it deems advisable. The present
radio programs are comprised of
tifely topics concerning the Valley
in general.
“The board of organization is at
present engaged in welding the
Valley Publicity association into a
permanent organization,” Mr. Os
born said. “It is a non-profit asso
ciation and the strength of the
names on its sponsoring board bear
witness that its aims and objects
(Continued on page two.)
Mexico Loses 200,000
Lives in 19 Years of
Revolutionary Warfare
MEXICO CITY. April 25.—With
the Aguirre-Escobar-Caraveo-Manzo
revolution, which broke out on the
second of March in the states of
Vera Cruz and Sonora, respectively
and simultaneously, known also as
the Sonora-Vera Cruz military up
rising. which soon dragged at least
four more of the 28 states of the re
public into rebellion against the gov
ernment of Provisional President
Emilio Portes Gil, Mexico has ex
perienced its nineteenth rebellion in
as many years, according to a chro
nological study made of the various
large and small insurrections that
have taken place in the country
since November, 1910, when Fran
cisco I. Madero launched his suc
cessful liberating movement aaginst
the 35-year rule of the “president
emperor.” Porfirio Diaz.
An estimated figure furnished
here places at 200.000 the number
of lives these uprisings have cost
the nation, with one of them, that
launched by the famous bandit
revolutionist, Francisco . (Pancho)
Villa, credited with claiming half of
this toll. In the majority of in
stances. the leaders or principal par
ticipants of these movements, of
which only four have been success
ful in their aim. have met their own
death by some means of violence.
Few of Original Rebels
There are still some few of the
“original revolutionists” who dared
to challenge the might and power
of Porfirio Diaz alive today, but
most of them are dead. Men have
been raised to power over night,
gone to their grave or exiled into
oblivion within an equally short
space of time. Many have fought
in various of these conflicts, on one
side or the other. Foes on one oc
casion, friends on another.
It Is impossible to make an esti
mate of what the financial losses
have been to Mexico as a result of
these civil wars, waged under a
banner of social emancipation, so
that, as President Portes Gil just
stated recently, “Mexico might
reach her definite emancipation.”
One financial authority lately esti
mated the cost of one of these re
bellions, tb i De la Huerta revolt of
1923. as having cost the nation 60,
000,000 pesos or $30,000,000. It was
one of the movements that lasted
| but a few months, while others ran
into years. If it is impossible to esti
' mate the actual cost of these rebel
i (Continued on page two.)
showed the usual seasonal decline
in the latter part of March, but the
output of bituminous and anthra
cite fuels was somewhat higher
than a year ago for the first
quarter.
“The textile industries yielded
rather less cheerful reports. Sales
of cotton goods were large and
prices advanced steadily. Cotton
mills suffered from a novel, for
them, disturbance, when employes
at some centers mainly in the
Carolinas, were reported as striking
against the introduction of new
methods by efficiency experts. Silk
goods sold fairly well, but con
sumption and imports of raw silk
fell below March a year ago and
it is evident that the mills are still
struggling to bring production and
demand into something like har
mony.
“Wool and woolen goods were
rather sluggish and raw wool prices
eased off. Shoe factories did a fair
ly active business, although the
usual seasonal recession following
completion of spring deliveries was
in evidence with women's shoes
doing better than men’s.
“In the jewelry trade staples
were~«aid f bwn poe»««4|M|0fr
whereas cheap novelties moved'In
large volume. Furniture manufac
turing at some centers appeared to
be better than a year ago, but this
was not as general as might be
wished. Cigarette and cigar pro
duction was active, the former
seeming likely to establish another
record this year. As regards this,
by the way, some tobacco concerns
gave a good deal of credit to the
enlarged use of cigarettes by
women.
“Employment, as might be ex
pected from the foregoing list of
active industries showed a gain in
March over the preceding month
and the like month a year ago
when, it may be recalled, unem
ployment was still a topic for con
siderable complaint. The generally
cheerful view taken of the first
quarter’s business is borne out by
the good sWbwing made by statis
tics of failures for the first quar
ter the number of bankruptcies ex
hibiting a decline of 7.5 per cent
from the first three months of last
year and being the lowest for the
period since 1924, while the attend
ant liabilities displayed a drop of
2.5 per cent from 1928 and were the
smallest since 1926.
“Mention should be made of a
number of unfavorable features,
some of them of long standing,
which tended to mar the generally
excellent March business record.
Most prominent of these develop
ments was the sharp rise in money
rates.
“Building apparently has suffer
ed most acutely from the upward
movement of money rates, although
it may be questioned whether some
cities have not built in the years
since the war individual homes,
(Continued on page two)
VALLEY SEEKS
TO HEP NAME
CITRUSCHIEF
Melden of Exchange,
Asks Washington to
Pick Commissioner
Who Knows Section
(Special to The Herald)
MISSION. April 27.—Citrus grow
ers of the Valley should be consult
ed. as well as those of Florida and
California, before any selection is
made of a commissioner to foster
exports of citrus fruit from the
United States to Europe. T. M. Mel
den, manager of the Texas Citrus
Fruit Growers Exchange suggests in
a letter to O. P. Hopkins at Wash
ington.
Hopkins, who as acting director of
the bureau of foreign and domestic
commerce, department of agricul
ture, has been empowered by con
gress to select a citrus commission
er, had announced that representa
tives of his department had visited
Florida and California to consult
with leaders in the citrus Industry
in tho'A states in regard to the se
lection of the man for the place.
An appropriation of $15,000 be
comes available on July 1 for the
work of encouraging exports of
I citrus fruit. Hopkins announced
that great care would be used in the
selection of a man who was familiar
with the needs of these two states.
Mr. Melden points out that the
man selected also should be familiar
with the needs of the Valley and
with the great development of the
industry in this section.
Melden’s letter follows:
“It has been called to our atten
tion that there has been appro
priated, by congress, the sum of
$15,000 for the purpose of maintain
ing a foreign agent for the study
and development of the export cit
rus business, and that in a recent
agricultural article, as having come
from your office, the impression was
gained that the selection of this
representative would be given very
careful consideration, and that the
fruit districts of California and
Florida would be given an oppor
. tunity to pass on the qualifications
! of the party selected: and would be
■ permitted to offer suggestions as to
•ttnmqBfMfiDations, and would have
the privilege of recommending
someone for this appointment.
“We did not notice that Texas
(Continued on Page 2)
--—- ■ ' HF*
Announce Dates
For A. M. College
Summer Session
COLLEGE STATION, *r«x., April
27.—(jp)—Dates for the summ*r ses_
sion at A. Ss M. college have been
announced by C. H. Winkler, <fcon
of the school of vocational teach
ing and director of the summer \
session, as June 10 to Aug. 31. The
first term will close July 20 and
the second term will open July 22.
The summer session, as in the past,
will be 6pen to men and women.
Work of the summer session will
be given in five divisions, the col
lege, including the grammar school
and the three weeks course for vo
cational teachers; summer school
of cotton, short course for gradu
ate veterans, short course for pub
lic utility men and shore course for
cottonseed oil mill operators.
The summer school of cotton will
be held June 10 to July 20. The
object of this school is to prepare
young men for cotton buying and
the managing of cotton warehouses
and to offer to farmers the oppor
tunity of increasing their knowl
edge of the leading farm products
of Texas.
The sixth annual conference of
county school superintendents will
be held at the college July 29 to
Aug. 3.
C. I. A. TO HAVE 60
SUMMER SESSION PROFS
DENTON, April 27.——About
sixty members of the regular fa
culty of the College of Industrial
Arts will remain at the college for
the summer session, according to
E. V. White, dean of the college.
The same courses that are offered
in regular session will be included
in the curriculum in the following
departments: Biology, business ad
ministration, chemistry, economics
and government, English, fine and
applied arts, foreign languages, his
tory, home economics, journalism,
library, science, mathematics, music,
philosophy, and education, physical
education, physics, rural arts, socio
logy and speech.
SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY
MEET NEXT MONTH
ALPINE, Tex., April 27.—(JP)—
The annual meeting of the West
Texas Historical and Scientific So
ciety. which was to have been held
in February, will be held next
month as a compliment to visiting
women writers who will be here for
the state convention of the Texas
Woman’s Press association, accord
ing to Henry Fletcher, president of
the society.
The meeting will be held at the
Sul Ross Teachers college.
Harlingen to Have
One of Finest High
Schools in Valley
• n ■ ..
HARLINGEN. April 17.—This city is to have one of the finest high
school buildings in South Texas with the erection of a quarter million
dollar structure here, bids for which have been called for May 7.
Funds for the new high school building were secured from a $400,
000 bond issue voted more than att
year ago. More than $100,000 was
spent in the construction of two
grade school buildings and a tem
porary frame structure on the school
buildings and a temporary frame
structure on the school grounds. The
remainder of the bond issue,
amounting to more than $250,000,
was not issued at the time, and was
saved to issue for the construction
of the new high school building.
Announcement was made by Pres
ident O. N. Joyner of the local
school board that bids will be op
ened May 7, and the new building
will be started immediately after
the contract is let, in hopes of hav
ing it ready for use by the fall of
this year. The school condition here
was such last fall that, in spite of
the new grade school buildings, a
tempoarry building had to be erect
ed to serve during the present ses
sion. If the new high school is
completed by the opening of the
September term it will not be nec
essary to use this frame building.
The new building is to be large
enough to care for 750 pupils. It
will be filled to capacity by Septem
ber 1, 1938, in the opinion of school
authorities here.
School cafeterias, laboratories,
locker rooms, etc., are to be pro
vided, large enough to care for more
than 1,200 pupils.
A site at the east end of Van
Buren street has been secured for
the building.
DeWitt and Washburn of Dallas
designed the building, which is to
be of Spanish—Gothic architecture,
of semi-fireproof construction, hav
ing a reinforced concrete skeleton
frame with brick and tile construc
tion.
The assembly room, which is to
be used as an auditorium, will be
one of the big features of the struc
ture. The auditorium will have a
seating capacity of 800, and will
have a stage suitable for use at
meetings, class plays, graduation ex
ercises, etc. The auditorium is to
be provided with a projection room,
so that moving pictures can be
shown at times when educational
films are secured.
Two patios, on each side of the
auditorium, will be additional fea
tures, one being designecr for girls,
and one for boys.
A large room for the school li
brary, showers, locker rooms, ad
ministration offices, class rooms, art
room, music rooms, heating and
cooking plants, etc., make up the
remainder of the large plant, which
will be one of the most modern and
efficient of its size in the state, in
the opinion of members of the school
board here.
t
HOOVER WANTS
STONE FOR JOB
Thought President Seeking
Associate Justice For Law
Commission
(Special to The Herald)
WASHINGTON, D. C„ April 27.—
President Hoover has not relaxed
his keen interest in the nation-wide
activity for better homes which has
developed under his guidance, for
he continues to serve in an honorary
capacity with Better Homes in
America, the organization which he
actively headed as president from its
incorporation until shortly before
taking up his duties in the White
House. Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur,
Secretary of the Interior, has now
assumed the active presidency of
the Retter Homes movement.
In one of his pre-natural address
es, President Hoover gave his con
ception of the United States, not
as a country of 110.000,000 people,
but one of 23,000,000 families living
in 23,000,000 homes, and declared
“I pledge my services to these
homes.”
Under the presidency of Herbert
Hoover and the active direction of
Dr. James Ford, the Better Homes
movement grew fro:.-' an idea for
providin the homemaker of modest
means with the best available as
sistance in solving every home-mak
ing problem into its realization. For
more '\an five thousand American
communities are taking an active
part in the annual campaigns and
giving millions of American fam
ilies the opportunity to profit from
these efforts.
The organization was founded in
1922 by Mrs. William Brown Mel
oney and conducted at the expense
of a private enterprise for two years,
when the movement reached such
proportions that it was reorganized
as an educational movement devoted
exclusively to public service having
the active backing of scores of
powerful nation-wide associations of
men and women, and of bureaus
and departments of the Federal
government.
Through Volunteer Committees
The culmination of the work each
year is in “Better Homes Week”,
which will be held this year from
April 21 to 27, inclusive. The pro
(Continued on page ten.)
*■
PLANTING IS 1
PROMOTED BY
WATERS’
Marketing Special i s t
Urges Organization
Uf Association By
Grovers
WASHINGTON, April 27.—Un
wise expansion of truck-crop Acre
ages. aggravate* by "wild (fat”
[plantings of promt*ion agencies, is
responsible for the most serious ,
over-production problems of the !
fruit and vegetable industry, ac
cording to A. W. McK*y of the
United States Department of Ag
riculture.
McKay, who is a cooperative 1
marketing specialist of the Bureau
of Agricultural Economics, urges
the organization of strong co
operative associations by growers, 1
and inter-regional cooperation 1
among these groups, to prevent 1
such unwise expansion and to dis- :
courage promotional schemes which
in many sections have resulted in j
large plantings of fruit and vege- |
table crops and long periods of low |
i prices."
: Citing the acreage increases in ,
lettuce and strawberries as exam- .
pies of unwise expansion, McKay v
said "the lettuce acreage in the J
Imperial Valley of California was
expanded from 20,000 acres in 1924
to 34,400 acres in 1927. Production
was increased 41 per cent. The net
result to growers was that in 1927
they received $4 796,000 whereas for
the smaher 1924 crop they had re- i
ceived $6,327,000.
Big Crop Cuts Worth
"Missouri in 1925.” he says, “had
11,960 acres of strawberries. The [
average yield was 2,100 quarts per ,
acre, the average price paid to
gowers 19 cents per quart, and the
total farm value of the crop was ijl
$4,772,000. In 1928. acreage in Mis- 1
souri was increased to 26,490 acres J
and yields were only approximately I
half those in 1925, or 1,065 quarts J
per acre. However, total produc- i]
tion increased: the average price to l
growers as a result declined to 11
cents per quart and the total farm !
value was $3,103,000.”
Increased plantings of over 57,000 ■
acres in 1928 in the United States '
as compared with 1925 increased
the total farm value of strawber- j
ries only approximately $4.oo0,00o- !
although acreage was increased ap
proximately 40 per cent, the farm i
value of the total crop increased
only slightly more than 9 per cent
Oftentimes, McKay declares,
when acreages are unduly expand
ed, prices are reduced to such a
degree that a portion of the crop
is never harvested. Last year, for
example, more than 16,000 car
loads of California grapes were ’
left on the vines. Many thousands
of acres of potatoes were not har
vested because prices did not jus
tify the expense of digging and
shipping the crop. In the case of
the 1928 potato crop, large yields
and expanded acreage combined to
produce a burdensome surplus.
Need Large Cooperative*
"These large wastes benefit no
one,” Mr. McKay says. "The con
sumer, as a rule, obtains little ad
vantage from low prices to pro
ducers. It Is financial suicide to
continue planting more and more
acres to grapes, lettuce, peaches or
potatoes, if it is apparent that the
limit of consumptive demand has
already been exceeded.
“A greater degree of coopera
tion than is in evidence at the
present time—cooperation which is
inter-regional, which will discour
age ‘wild-cat’ plantings on sub
marginal land and by submarginal
producers, and which will bring to
the individual growers a clearer
conception of their place in the
general production program—is re
quired to prevent unmarketable
supplms. There Is need, first, for
eV£ 0pment °f large, efficient
?™fr™VeS,Wlthin P^ucing reg
functions of such asso
ketinp ™U d eltend beyond mar
. Jb?y sh°uld operate as
SmeSd!SeSS organizations attf
dl ^I(®,of the quality and.
of nrnriMPfPMSib °’ of the Quantity
of products produced bv their
members. This does not imblv con
but thatPrtS1vCtl?,n ?y “bwihB
tive Sh°Uld take » P«l*
towa^thP a passive attitude
Uon Problem of overproduce
^ Need Joint Program
As a second step, cooneratives
‘S various Producin^S
shcmlci agree upon a Joint pr«0
with reference to production 0
marketing questions. With feJ 0
ceptions, the success with « a
the crop of one region is moJl , 1
nVof'S by ‘he euecess™^!
ure of other regions produrin., 11
same crop.” proaucipg |B
The need for inter-refrin*«-i 11
operation especially with II
potatoes is TmiSJ TSgJ«
are marketed coopSffiL
400 growers’ associating by S0I8
are a half-dozen Tfc®
keting organizations8^?*?0"®*! I
hundreds of miles apart 22* all
is doing its own job with
erence to the others, it is
that an effective nrocram f^Ueve4
hetlng the total SSTtaJj" 1»*fl
the “sStlSI
in all important regions. 0n|
tioT movements have been foil
tifu dvfTntly t0 put a Program^!
anh taud on Po^toes into efferi
Slough neither of these SI
ments has been develotteri lI
growers’ organizations, t9
National Potato Institute, w hHfl
set up on a national scale and inll
eludes growers, dealers, cooMrahSl
associations and representative;/!!
tContinued on page two.) JUB