VOL. 12
Palmer,Alaska
July 29,1949
No. 29
co-op noiES
l-IANS FOR &ltl£ CKOS!
It is the plan of the Co-op manage
ment to make available to all em
ployees the .Blue Cross Hospital
plan. Under this plan an employee
and his dependents are covered.Such
month a deduction will be made from
the paycheck of those who wish to
sign up. The rates are as follows:
Male employee only
Female " only
Employee & spouse
'/hole family
vl.30 per mo.
VI.70 per mo.
..,•3.25 per mo.
v-3,90 per mo,
Blue Cross is a 'Pay as you go”
proposition in that tho individual
makes small regular payments for
hospital care rather than occasion
al large payments. Special rates
are available to the Co-op if 75-/o
of the employees sign up. You will
be contacted soon. In the meantime,
talk v'ith your Department Head for
further information. P'/’Y
I 4 O
PRODUCE DEPT. SETTING SET
FOR BIG RUSH
The Co-op Produce Department is get
ting all s^t for the !,Big Rush”
it's new quarters ready’ to go August
1st, and the new delivery schedules
a be filled. Ve are anxious for
ell growers to keep the produce de
partment informed as to what crops
they \ ill have available as far in
advance as possible.
Harold Stephan will have the job of
trying to keep eleven kinds of vege
1abi.es from fifty different farms . .
coming in sufficient quantities on
the right day to keep five different
Anjjy Posts and numerous other users
happy. To do this he '-.’ill need the
fullest cooperation of all growers.
One of th<^ major headaches in a bus
iness of this type is to get uni
form grades from the producers. In
Cider to standardize grades, a meet
ing has been scheduled for 1:30 pm
the afternoon of August 12 in the
..educe Department. George U. Gasser
emmissionor of agriculture; and
DISCUSS GRADE STRIIDRRDS
FOR RLfiSKRII PRODUCE
A meeting was called this Tuesday
in the farmer Library room to dis
cuss marketing grades and standards
for Alaslcan produce. G.vY. Gasser;
Commissioner of agriculture; Hugh
Johnson, Agricultural Economist;
Clyde G. Sherman, who is jointly
engaged by the University Extension
Department and the ^laska Department
of Agriculture, met with represent
atives from Agriculture groups in
the Valley. Local representatives
included: E.V. Kirsch, Instructor
for On-the-Farm Education for Veter
ans; James W. .'>ilson, General Mana
ger for the M.V.F.C.A.; Harold Ste
phan, Head of Produce Department for
the M.V.F.C.A.; Virgil Eckert and
Charles Schaefer, farmer represent
atives on the M.V.F.C.A. Vegetable
Committee; Mrs. Don 1. Irwin, repre
sentative from the Agricultural Com
mittee; and Parker Lester, Agricul
tural Extension Agent for the Valley
'.'.hat market grades are desirable for
Alaska was the main topic of dis
cussion for the evening. Should
Alaska accept the TJ.S.0.Astandards
as they are? or should they add to
them in some instances. Stat s and
Territories can SQt up additional
standards of quality, but they can
not lower any U.S.D.A. standard.
Percentage and type of blemishes
allowable, siuos and quality etc.
were among the points discussed.The
concensus of opinion favored the
sccapt-ance of U.3.D.A. standards as
th~ are without any additional re
quirements for Alaskan produce.
Cont. from col. 1.
Clyde Gherman till be in attendance
to assist in the program. This will
bo in the nature of a grading school
at which time all' typos of green pro*
duco defects will be discussed. All
produce growers are invited to at
tend. Representatives from the -Array
quartermaster Corps will be invited
to assist in the discussion.
>
The first shipment of Fresh produce
'Cont. on pp. 8