REPORT OF STATE HORTICULTURIST. 6'] 



In Nova Scotia the dealers were usually associated with some 

 strong English firm who made advances on the apples in their 

 possession and who eventually built warehouses at the points 

 of production in order to secure a better hold upon the fruit. 

 Not content with this, certain dealers sometimes secured con- 

 trol of the transportation facilities, so that rival shippers and 

 independent growers had some difficulty in moving their fruit. 

 Some of the shrewdest men among those growers, too, were 

 employed to act as soliciting agents, and by these devices the 

 dealers secured almost absolute control of the trade. 



In Ontario, apple orchards were not so concentrated, and it 

 was somewhat more difficult to secure such control. However, 

 the distance from the markets and the inability of the English 

 firms to become acquainted with the local conditions, enabled a 

 comparatively few men to pose as exporters. There grew up a 

 large army of local buyers more or less under the control of 

 the exporters, and at times the competition among these kept 

 prices fairW well up to a point corresponding with the price in 

 the foreign market. In later years the competition between 

 dififerent buyers became merely nominal and the business in 

 Ontario was so shrewdly organized that the apple grower got 

 just a little more for his fruit than his actual expenses. For 

 this reason there was no incentive to increase the orchard area. 

 In fact, after this regime had more or less complete control, the 

 orchard area began to fall off most seriously, and it was no 

 uncommon thing in the decade beginning 1890 to see splendid 

 orchards chopped down for firewood. It was under these 

 circumstances that the cooperative movement began. It was 

 adopted by Ontario as a sort of last resort. In this it follows 

 the history of cooperation in every land and in connection with 

 every industry. It is seldom indeed that it has been adopted 

 during good times or while industries were flourishing. But 

 though adopted with little hope it has never failed to improve 

 conditions. 



The development of the apple trade in Nova Scotia is similar 

 to that in Ontario and it began about the same time. About 

 1870, shipments from Nova Scotia to London were in large 

 enough cargoes to attract attention. Many of these apples were 

 sent in sailing vessels from local ports and, as might be expected, 

 the condition on arrival was variable. There was no provision 



