on G. Haight, president and manager of the Haight Fruit Company, and one of the sons of Ira C. Haight, a sketch of whose life appears in another column, came to Riverside in 1875, and engaged, with the other members of the family, in orange growing. In 1882 he came to what is now Redlands and took charge of the Brockton ranch, which he superintended until 1889. During this period the horticultural interests of Redlands had been developing, and in the fall of that year the Haight Fruit Company was organized, Lon G. Haight being its manager from the commencement. Their pack of oranges the first year was about 40 cars, this being the larger portion of the crop grown in Redlands and its immediate vicinity.

During the season of 1890 to '91 the Haight Fruit Company took up the business of the Redlands Orange Growers' Association and packed and marketed the fruit of that association for the succeeding six years. The pack of this house in 1896 was 279 cars in Redlands. Last year, owing to the fact that the crop was short, the pack was not quite as large as the year before, but aggregated 225 cars. Last September Carroll B. Smith, a nephew of Mrs. G. S. Bowers, came into the company as secretary and treasurer. The company has branch establishments at Riverside and Ontario. Besides citrus fruits it handles a great deal of fancy dried fruits, and will sell this year a large proportion of the crop grown about Redlands and at Moreno. The brands of oranges which the company are now introducing are the Poppy, the Chief and the Moon. The first will represent extra fancy fruit, the second a grade lower, and the third will be standard.

This company ships Redlands oranges and lemons to all the principal cities of the United States and to points in Canada. It handles oranges mostly on the f.o.b. plan, which is practically buying on the market and means cash to the grower. It does not do a commission business. No fruit is sold on consignment. It goes forward at an agreed price f.o.b. California, and sales are make for spot cash or subject to drafts at fifteen days.

This method of selling is a result of several years of effort on the part of Redlands growers and packers, in which effort the Haight Fruit Company has been a pioneer. The Haight Fruit Company was the first firm to pack oranges under the name of Redlands and found it difficult the first season to sell at Riverside prices. In fact, it was necessary to consign some of the fruit to introduce it, but as soon as the good qualities of the fruit became known to eastern consumers, it began to be given the preference, at the Riverside price. The second year the Redlands fruit commanded an advance of ten cents a box, and since then it has always taken the lead in the matter of price.

The results of this system and of a constant attention to quality and to skill and attractiveness in packing, have been to give the Redlands oranges a reputation all through the East for being the finest oranges grown in California; and the returns for the past few seasons to growers, who have been patrons of this company, have been in the highest degree satisfactory to all. These facts speak for themselves and insure a continued period of prosperity to the Haight Fruit Company. Acquainted with every detail of the citrus fruit growing, packing and selling in Redlands, and having a very wide acquaintance and a high reputation among jobbers and dealers in the East, this company is in a position, as it has been heretofore, to do business on the best lines that have made success in the past and to maintain its very high standard among firms interested in the great citrus fruit industry of Southern California.

(Source: Illustrated Redlands, 1897, p. 84)