Palestine’s Citrus Industry: Need of Arab-jewish Co-operation Urged by Mr. Tolkowsky President of Ja

A plea for co-operation between all Palestine fruit growers and shippers is made by Mr. S. Tolkowsky, Managing Director of the Jaffa Fruit Company, in an article “Make the Citrus Industry Safe”, which has appeared simultaneously in the Arabic “Felestin”, and the English “Palestine Bulletin”, and is referred to in most of the other Palestine newspapers, both Hebrew and Arab.

No vested interests, no racial prejudices, no political rivalries or personal ambitions ought to be allowed to impede our progress, Mr. Tolkowsky urges, showing that because of their better shipping organisation and propaganda, American shippers are getting for their fruit on the English market just twice the price fetched by the Jaffa fruit. Just before Christmas, he points out, Jaffa oranges were being sold in the United Kingdom at 14 to 16 shillings a box, while California oranges were fetching 32 to 34 shillings a case. Florida grapefruit was at the same time selling at 18 to 25 shillings, and Jaffa grapefruit at 10 to 12 shillings. Early in January the current prices were 9 to 12 shillings for Jaffa oranges and 22 to 24 shillings for Californian oranges, 10 to 12 shillings for Jaffa grapefruit and 16 to 27 shillings for Florida grapefruit.

Why are we, the growers and shippers of Jaffa oranges and grapefruit, Mr. Tolkowsky asks, unable to obtain more than about half the price which the public readily pays for California or Florida fruit, in spite of the fact, acknowledged by all American experts who have seen and tasted our fruit, either in Palestine or abroad, that the Jaffa orange and the Jaffa grapefruit are not in any way inferior to the best fruit grown in the United States? The answer is that the Californian and Florida citrus fruits are better graded, better distributed and better advertised than ours. We could do this as well as our American colleagues, or, to begin with, nearly as well, if the growers and shippers of this country, would only make up our minds to drop politics where our business life is concerned and to combine for common action, because only by the cooperation of all can we hope to make the future safe for each one of us individually.

With regard to the grading of the fruit, some improvement has lately taken place, partly due to the voluntary efforts of a number of responsible shippers, partly under the influence of the Fruit Inspection Service set up by the Government. But there is no doubt that the extremely unsatisfactory conditions of stowage and ventilation which are unfortunately still the rule on all but a few of the steamers engaged in carrying Jaffa oranges, are acting as one of the most important obstacles to the adoption of better grading methods.