THE NINETEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 75 



empty the cars tliey have taken east with freights of grain or other pro- 

 ducts. Here, I nnderstand, rates are not unreasonable, while at Benton 

 Harbor the boats afford us active, and often severe, competition. 



The best protection for the shippers' interest is that which each can pro- 

 \4de for himself; and he can protect himself if he starts right and con- 

 tinues so. 



ANOTHER GROWEE's EXPERIENCE. 



N. B. Farnsworth of Shelby: When I came to this county eight years 

 ago I knew nothing of such growing of peaches as is now carried on. I 

 was first interested in fruit growing by an article by President Lyon on 

 best location for a peach and plum orchard; I became anxious to possess 

 an orchard, and so came here, selected land, cleared and planted it, and 

 this year had fruit from 412 trees which had borne also each of three pre- 

 ceding years. We must have honest growers — men honest alike to them- 

 selves and to their trees; and to have honest packing, we must have honest 

 peaches to pack. This year, of my Red Cheeks, select fruit, none meas- 

 ured less than 8^ inches and from that to 10; Stumps, 9^ to 10^; Susque- 

 hanna, 9^ to 11. Before sending any fruit to market I named my place 

 Mount Pleasant Fruit Farm, got a stencil of it, notified my merchant of 

 the brand, and and authorized him to open packages and show them to 

 buyers, returning if found unsatisfactory. My first returns were sixty 

 cents per basket, but ran up to $1.50 and $1.60 at the last. Mr. Farns- 

 worth contrasted these results with those that are sure to follow poor culti- 

 vation, insufiicient thinning or none at all, and the marketing of small and 

 imperfect fruit mixed with better grades. Of course, said he, the smaller 

 fruit must be shipped, but pack it uniformly and honestly, and not send a 

 mixture and call it select fruit. 



PRICES AND PRACTICES. 



Mr. Morrill told how his first shipments brought low prices, but bet- 

 ter rates followed when the merchants found his brand was good and his 

 standard kept up. But the fact remains that the majority of growers do 

 not thin their trees, and the trouble is to get at them. They have all 

 sorts and sizes on one tree, and can not keep the big ones from getting on 

 top in the baskets. Some men will adopt a brand, notify their merchants 

 and write a guaranty, but keep up the stuffing process, or resume it after 

 a little, trading upon their reputation. Mr. Farnsworth's fruit went to the 

 best hotels and sold instantly and at any price. But all the lesser grades 

 should be equally uniform. I saw, two years ago, a firm handle 80,000 

 baskets of peaches in a day, and the good ones went very quickly. I heard 

 the inquiry of a buyer, "How many Hinmans have you?" "Over one 

 hundred," was the answer. The pencil was run down the whole lot and 

 they were accepted without examination. [Reference is made to D. W. 

 Hinman, a Saugatuck township fruitgrower.] After such fruit was dis- 

 posed of, at about forty-five cents per basket, the rest was shoved out 

 unceremoniously, at 22 cents toward the last. There may have been some 

 good fruit among it; but if so the shippers of it had established no reputa- 

 tion and prftbably had not tried to get one. Mr. Morrill unreservedly 

 condemned the fifth basket, in part on the ground that the fourth is more 

 profitable, and urged growers to insist on having their baskets smooth 

 inside. 



