TWENTIETH ANNUAL MEETING. lOB 



loads in order to supply his customers in the northwest until the close of 

 the season; and so it goes all along the line. 



Some will say it is the same old story of the big fish eating the little 

 ones; but such is not necessarily the case, as the smaller growers in certain 

 localities have organized unions or exchanges by which they secure all the 

 advantages that the largest shippers get; but in every case they select one 

 of their best men to do the business for all. One of these unions is located 

 in the state of New York and is managed by a Mr. Fay. I have never 

 seen any man connected with the organization, but am familiar with the 

 Chicago end of the deal and think the business must have been very 

 satisfactory all around, as at least half a dozen of the largest commission 

 houses on South Water street are regular purchasers from Mr. Fay, and 

 always in car lots, the lowest price paid being 22 cents in the car for eighth 

 baskets, and the freight is about two cents per basket. The buyers order 

 in car lots, by telegraph, with perfect confidence, for, although they were 

 packed by different men, they were always in a certain package, honestly 

 packed, with a high standard. Pears and currants were handled from the 

 same locality in the same manner. This is no more than can be done at 

 any fruit-shipping point in Michigan, if our people have enterprise enough 

 to make a start and are honest enough to hold the trade when once we get 

 it, for it is a stubborn fact that no state in the Union produces finer flavored 

 fruit than Michigan, and few, if any, produce more of it. But our conveni- 

 ent shipping facilities and good markets have caused us to fall behind in 

 the business of marketing. Other localities, so situated that they could 

 not market to advantage without combination, have combined and are 

 today far in advance of us. 



Of the benefits of co-operation our Kalamazoo friends can no doubt tell 

 us something, as they have applied it with great success to their immense 

 crops of celery, and the fame of their beautiful city has been spread the 

 length and breadth of the country by the enterprise of their celery- 

 growers and dealers, more than by all other agencies combined. I have 

 been very much surprised to find that Kalamazoo celery appears on the 

 bill of fare of all the leading eating-houses and hotels of the southwest, 

 even to the borders of old Mexico, and I do not know how much further; 

 and it appears on their tables as fresh and crisp as at home — thanks to the 

 skill of the packer and shipper at Kalamazoo. Now, does any one present 

 think that if the celery-growers here had followed the example of the 

 Michigan fruitgrowers they could have ever attained such prominence or 

 made the money they have? It is certain that had they followed such a 

 course the business would have died out long ago. 



Look again at the immense fruit interests of California. See how they 

 are handled — shipping agencies established at various points handling 

 immense quantities of green and evaporated fruits, which enables them to 

 get low rates of transportation, and they enter all our markets with choice 

 fruits put up right, selling on their merits, and winning every time. 



The orange-growers of Florida are taking care of themselves in a similar 

 manner. 



We have so far indulged in this random manner of writing, for the 

 benefit of such of our people as do not know what our competitors are 

 doing all over this broad land, in order that we may know just the basis 

 upon which to make our calculations for the future. 



As a preface, I would say that it generally falls to the lot of some good- 

 natured fellow at these meetings to point out some disagreeable facts con- 



