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www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER DECEMBER 2014 73 APPLE • PEAR • CHERRY • PLUM • APRICOT Our pollen is viability tested to assure quality. Exclusive distributor of SCUMBY PUFFERS®. Accurate on any planting. 800-322-8852 www.firmanpollen.com 301 N. 1st Avenue • Yakima, Washington 98902 509-452-8063, fax 509-453-6838 Quality Firman Pollen Improves: Fruit Set Bee Efficiency Pollination Timing Quality Pollination Improves: Yield Consistency Fruit Quality Fruit Storability Trust Quality Firman Pollen Viability And Virus Tested Compatibility Matched Leaders in Application Technology j j j j j j j j j Since 1933 FIRMAN Pollen Co. QUALITY & VALUE you can TRUST WASHINGTON: CALIFORNIA: AREA REPRESENTATIVES: Columbia Basin and Yakima Valley Randy Bunce 509-452-8063 randy@firmanpollen.com Wenatchee/ Okanogan area Tom, Kyle & Linda Batch 509-687-9670 Bleyhl Farm Service Grandview 509-882-1225 Zillah 509-829-6922 Linden John DeMartini 209-484-8502 Tulare & Kern Counties Bob Cademartori 209-601-0754 Fred's brother Dick (who was 20 years his senior) took over the helm of the business when John retired. After graduating in 1965 with a business degree from Oregon State University and then serving in Germany as a U.S. Army officer, Fred inquired about a job at the family business. Judging by the meager salary offered him, Fred decided he was not really needed and went to Corvallis to work for a company that made fruit pellets as food ingredients. In 1971, Dick called Fred and said they really needed him now. Duckwall had merged with Pooley Fruit Company, almost doubling the size of the company. Fred started out as a trainee, ordering supplies and overseeing quality control. Economies of scale enabled Duckwall-Pooley to mod- ernize its plant. "It just moved us to a more competitive level," Fred said. In 1978, after neighboring packer Diamond Fruit Growers installed a dry presize line for pears, Duckwall installed one too, giving it the flexibility to pack certain sizes as needed. They are the only two Northwest packers with pear presize lines. Duckwall was one of the first pear packers to make a total transition to plastic bins. The next change Fred expects to see is electronic defect sorting, though engi- neers are still perfecting a way to rotate pears so they can be photographed from all angles. They don't roll as well as apples. After Dick retired in 1993, Fred became president of the company. He decided to pack more fresh Bartlett pears instead of sending them for processing. "The canner side of the industry got increasingly non- competitive, so we moved into a fresh packing program," 'XFNZDOO)UXLW&RPSDQ\LVXQXVXDOLQSDFNLQJSHDUVDQGQR RWKHUIUXLWVVD\VSUHVLGHQW)UHG'XFNZDOO