FORTY-FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT. 113 



now a practical success in several localities. This may be on a broker- 

 age basis or otherwise. 



Commission sales of winter fruit usually brings the grower the poor- 

 est results. The commission merchant if honest is human and it seems 

 responsibility to the grower does not make him round shouldered. His 

 idea is to keep things moving and his prices slide down hill more easily 

 if he is handling fruit on commission than when he has his own good 

 money tied up at so much per barrel cost. The trouble with commis- 

 sion business is that it never seems to enter the commission merchants 

 head that every barrel of apples costs the grower a certain amount of 

 money to produce and place on the market. Farmers themselves often 

 regard the apple crop as so much money found. We are getting farther 

 from this idea every day for if we harvest a crop of good apples any- 

 more, we have to put good money and labor into it from start to finish. 

 What we need is a more intelligent selling of the apple crop. 



Mr. Lyon: If the buyer complains about the grade, how. do you 

 settle when the price has gone down? 



Answer: There are two classes of buyers — maybe more. One that 

 does not think of such things as taking advantage of the market condi- 

 tions, and the other fellow, who wants to buy at all times, cheaper than 

 he bought originally. If the market conditions are all right, you can 

 telegraph him, "I think you will find on re-inspection, that they are 

 all right; if not, I will revert them to another point." When the mar- 

 ket conditions are against you, it is another proposition. Then it is 

 up to you whether you had better go to another market, or settle with 

 him and meet your loss. I have known men to refuse apples on a de- 

 clining market when they had not broken the seal of the car. Nothing 

 but a lawsuit would settle, and life is too short for that. I never sued 

 a man in my life and I never want to. 



Question: Don't you think an organization would settle such ques- 

 tions to a better advantage than the individual grower can? 



Answer: I certainly do. A person connected with an organization, 

 stands that mucli stronger in opposition to the man who is turning 

 his apples down; in other words, coming up against an organization 

 like that, he will be discredited and will not- be able to buy in that 

 market. I believe in organization. 



Mr. Bush: I do not advise the throwing away of any fruit. I do 

 advise getting every nickel you can, but I want you to get it by packing 

 the right kind of fruit in the right way and then marketing it right. 

 I am the author of the New York Grading Law and that law requires 

 every packer of apples to give his name and address on every bushel 

 sent out, and to give the name and minimum size on the barrel or basket. 

 The law provides very strong penalties, and that law has done more 

 for the apple interest in New York than anything else in fifty years. 

 It compels the marking No. 2 if that is a B grade. It can put even 

 rotten apples in a barrel, l)nt "wliat is in the barrel must be indicated 

 on the outside. 



Chairman: Mr. Dunlap would like to make a little statement before 

 we close this discussion. 

 15 



