ALASKAN ECONOMIST REPORTS STUDY
OF CANADIAN MARKETING METHODS
The following review of
Hugh Johnson's “Notes on Mar
keting Perishables from Fringe
Areas of Western Canada”, re
cently completed and available
in very limited numbers, was
written by Richard Blue, agri
cultural agent for the Univer
sity of Alaska Extension, ser
vice.
* * * *
In any discussion concerning
Alaskan Agricultural problems,
the subject of marketing is sure
to be a front line topic.
The Alaska Experiment Sta
tion started to work on this prob
lem two years ago. A project
aimed at analyzing Canadian
marketing methods and compar
ing them with Alaskan condi
tions was set up by Hugh John
son. economist. Mr. Johnson made
an extensive trip through Cana
da last summer, selecting areas
that compared with Alaska re
garding population, climate, soils
and agricultural development. A
summary of his investigations
gives the Alaskan farmer and Co
op member food for thought.
The Canadian cooperatives and
other formal organizations gen
erally prefer that perishable veg
etables be marketed by the indi
vidual grower. Too much risk,
shrinkage and poor quality is in
volved in the small volumes to
be moved. They prefer to handle
produce like potatoes, carrots,
turnips and cabbage that keeps
better and doesn’t have to be
dumped on the market at one
time.
Some other recommended Ca
nadian Co-op practices are:
1— Limit the number of varie
ties to a bare minimum. This
makes for a uniform product
which aids marketing.
2— Encourage uniform cultural
practices such as kinds and am
ounts of fertilizer applied. This
also helps to standardize the pro
duct.
3— Harvest when crop is ready.
Large size generally is undesir
able.
4— Have adequate storage fa
cilities on farms and at the Co
op. Harvested crops must get io j
market on time.
5—Make producer responsible
for grade. Canadian farmers gen
erally do their own grading. If
their grade is not to standard, the j
Co-op regrades at ihe farmer's j
i rcjria c%nr
charge against all members
6— Get the best managers avail- j
able tb: run the business.
7— Pay wages sufficient to get
and keep competent help.
8— Require that “specialists"
keep busy, largely by floating
around during their slack seasons
to other departments that need
help. Several successful plants do
their repairing, remodeling, new j
construction, loading and unload
ing of freight cars, etc. with reg
ular help recruited from other de
partments. This has the double
value of reducing overhead costs
and keeping trained staff on hand
from year to year.
9— Keep their overhead and
handling charges low. One Co-op
was operating on a 5% overall
margin. A vegetable Co-op was
operating on a 10% margin and
building up some surpluses. This
low margin occurs partly because
they handle only commodities
that will store. Perishables such
as lettuce or celery would in
crease their overhead appreci
ably.
It was observed in many cases
that good Co-ops usually owe
their success to a few interested
members. The rest go along for
the ride.
Mr. Johnson also met with a
group of independent agricultural
workers in Canada to get their
ideas on how their experiences
might apply to Alaskan condi
tions. They listed several similar
ideas advanced by the Co-op man
agers and added a few of their
own. Their 8 points were:
1— .Insist on production of a
minimum number of adapted va
rieties of each crop.
2— Have a uniform high quali
ty of pack.
3— Have adequate storage and
warehousing. Possibly enter the
wholesale business to supply Im
ported stocks when not available
[ locally. Alaskans should examine
the possibility of a subsidy by the
Armed Forces since that is their
major market currently.
4— Encourage an increasing a
creage of small fruits and berries
adapted to the arae. They require
relatively small acreages of ex
| pensive land and meet a good
! market demand.
5— wGet clearing subsidized on
the basis of its value to society—
i.e., everyone in the States as well
as Alaska. If food production is
a part of national defense, the
high costs of getting production
should be a charge against the
defense effort and not against the
productivity of the land. If this
principle could be carried out,
carrying charges and interest on
investment in land would be in
line with productivity and at rates
farmers could afford.
6— Enforce strict grading and
inspection of all produce reach
ing market. This is essential. A
grade just sufficient to get by is
not good enough.
7— Work toward greater con
trol over the volume and quality
of food stocks being imported in
to the Territory. This is largely
a matter of inspection and grad
ing to meet marketing standards.
8— Encourage possible produc
tion of seed stocks as soon as they
become available. Northern
grown seeds are relatively cheap
to ship and meet an active de
mand in southern markets.
Alaskan farmers will not find
all Canadian practices applicable
to their conditions but should at
least consider and evaluate what
practices might help Alaska farm
ers to gain a secure market for
their products.
SNOW CAUSES POWER
FAILURE WEST OF
EXPERIMENT STATION
MEA consumers from the Mat
anuska Experiment Station west
through the homestead area were
without electricity for several
hours early Monday morning
when a power failure was caused
bv too much snow on the wires.
Electric clocks bore witness to
the fact that they were cut off
from power about 1:30 a.m. MEA
linemen were on the job prompt
ly at eight o’clock, and power had
been restored within an hour.
CONSERVATION
NOTES
By LEW HANKS
I see the Co-op is asking for
your seed and fertilizer orders for
next year. You had better sit
j down with your paper and pencil
and get to figuring.
There was a lot of brome grass
seeded last year. If you want to
I §et your money's worth out of it
j you’ve got to fertilize and give it
plenty. The Experiment Station
says you need 300 to 400 pounds
of ammonium phosphate plus one
or two hundred pounds of ammo
nium nitrate per acre. They are
correct, too. That’s a lot of fer
tilizer, but it makes a lot of grass.
You pay your Co-op a lot of
money for fertilizer, your cows
give a lot of milk, and the Co-op
gives you your money back plus
a lot of interest. If you put your
manure back on your fields next
spring you can save those two
sacks of ammonium nitrate per
acre. See how easy it is to make
money in Alaska!
In case you don’t like cows, the
same deal works with potatoes.
The main difference is that you
should figure a year or two ahead.
Count on taking two years to pre
pare your potato ground. The first
year seed a green manure crop
of oats. Give it a heavy applica
tion of treble superphosphate and
a hundred or so pounds of am
monium nitrate. Work the green
manure crop into the ground be
fore the end of July. Do a trashy
job of working it in. Then reseed
a light crop of grain to give win
ter protection. Cow manure is apt
to cause scab. The use of a green
manure crop is the best way to
get humus into the ground. You
have got to have humus to make
your fertilizer work efficiently.
The second spring, work your
ground. Drill in 300 to 400 pounds
; of 10-20-10 plus 100 pounds of
treble superphosphate. Plant and
raise your spuds and watch the
money roll in.
If you don’t have the Experi
ment Station fertilizer recom
mendations you can secure one
from the Extension Service.
Better get to ordering that fer
tilizer.
Listen To—
"This Is Your FBI"
Every Friday 7:30 p.m.
Station KENI
The Equitable Life Assurance
Society of the United States
John J. O'Shea, Representative
Box 906, Ph. 47482, Anchorage
All Alaskan Directory
Planned for
February Completion
Paul Rossiter, sales supervisor
for the General Telephone Direc
tory Company, Long Beach Cali
fornia was a visitor in Palmer
last week, preparing the Palmer
area section of an all Alaskan!
telephone directory now in pro-1
cess preparation.
Rossiter stated the directory [
will cover more area than any I
single telephone directory in the j
world. It is expected to be ready j
for delivery the latter part of
February. Everyone in Alaska
who owns a telephone will be
listed in the directory and will
receive a free copy from the com
pany. A large section will be de
voted to classified listings plus
two pages of Alaska Communica
tion Service listings.
The directory company publish
telephone books in 27 states, serv
ing over 4,000 cities and towns
and plan to distribute the Alas
kan directory to more than 6,000
telephone companies in the
States.
C. Ivan Branton, agricultural
engineer for the Alaska Experi
ment Station, left by plane Tues
day for Chicago, where he will
attend the American Society of
Engineers meetings.
1
HEAR
A. V. Richey, B.A., B.D., M.R.E.
Pastor
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
(Meeting in Carpenters' Hall)
Sunday School, 10 A.M.
Sermon. 11 A.M.
“The Meaning of Christmas"
Training Union, 6:30 P.M.
Sermon, 7:15 P.M.
“Procrastination"
IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE
WHAT YOU BELIEVE.
3
!
i
s
If HUNDREDS OF NEW TOYS TO CHOOSE FROM Iff
t Electric Trains and Accessories—Rocking Horses
Drums — Doll Beds — Dish Sets — Microscope Sets
Doll Chairs — Childrens' TV Chairs and
Thayer's New Musical Rockers
H CHRISTMAS DECORATING MADE EASY &
Candelabra — Illuminated Tree Tops — Santas
Angels — Outdoor Lights -— Wreaths
Tree Stands — Ornaments
ractctetetgtctctetctctctc*
if BROWSE THROUGH OUR GIFT SECTION ^
Boxed Hankies — Lamp Shades — Waffle Irons
Jantzen Sweaters for Men and Women
Schick and Sunbeam Electric Razors
& WE GIFT WRAP £
M. V. F. C. A.
Trading Post
R. M. Bicknell Talks to
AAAS on Eklutna Project
E. M. Bicknell addressed mem
bers of the Cook Inlet Chapter of
the American Association for the
Advancement of Science in An
chorage last Friday evening with j
a talk about the Eklutna Project, i
Other local members attending j
the meeting were Hugh Johnson, I
the new president, and Dr. Don- j
aid Coe.
The name of Lew Hanks was j
added to the Board of Directors j
of the Cook Inlet Chapter at the j
Friday meeting. '
Glee Clubs of
Palmer School to be
Heard at Assembly
Miss Lois Thompson will pre
sent the combined Girls’ and
Boys’ Glee Clubs Friday. Decem
ber 14 at a High School assembly
in the Palmer School gymna
sium.
About 32 voices will be heard
in the combined chorus. Any
one who cares to hear the pro
gram may drop in at the gymna
sium about 1:30 pm.. Superin
tendent William T. Zahradnicek
said.
Bar.'} let cold-weather hauling
freeze out profits
What winter can do shouldn’t happen to
a truck—especially yours.
And it won’t... if you bring your truck
in to us and let us protect you against
sluggish starting, bearing wear, winter
troubles in general. Our 3-way winter
conditioning includes cleaning of cooling
system, change-over to winter-grade lu
bricants, and engine check-tip.
Our winter treatment of your truck will
pay for itself many times over in added
efficiency find convenience. See us early
before winter begins taxing your patience
and your pocketbook.
Co-op Garage
PALMER, ALASKA
Foodi$ our most powerful weapon !
CONSERVE FOOD! PREVENT WASTE!
WITH A GENUINE
Deepfreeze Home Freezer
** ttAftlfcjUK MO U. 1 fAl MV.
Only the genuine Deepfreete
Horn* Freezer offer* you all
the food-saving, time-saving,
features developed by the
first, the original monufocturer
of home freezers I
AfcxfeJ C13 $. _4.15:95
Holds mere thee 450 tbe, ef
assorted frozen food.
A. H. STAGY CO.
PALMER. ALASKA