460 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



as miir-h from the failures as from the successes. The benefits of 

 co-operation, or association, as both are one and the same thing, as 

 we will use the term (the New York State Fruit Growers adopted 

 the hitter), have been recognized by mankind at all times and in all 

 places. It has been offered as a cure for all social evils and as a 

 means of producing general prosperity. All associations have had 

 their troubles and ours is no exception. 



The co-operative work in our association has accomplished much 

 and our jjrincipal success has been with the crop reports. In 

 July of each year we send out an inquiry to every member as to 

 the prospect of the future crop of apples, pears, peaches, plums, 

 quinces, grapes, potatoes, beans, and cabbage, asking for their judg- 

 ment of the crop as compared with last year's crop, also compared 

 with a normal crop represented by 100 per cent. These blanks sent 

 out ask us to give our estimate in percentage. It is a very per- 

 plexing matter to adjust. The majority of the members remember 

 better what they had last year and can compare the coming crtq) 

 with last year's crop better than they can compare it with a normal 

 crop. Then in one county of the State they say the crop will be 

 200 pr cent, of last year's crop and that county probably does not 

 furnish 1 per cent of the crop of the State. Another county like 

 Orleans or Niagara will report 50 per cent, of last year's crop, and 

 to strike an average from those figures will give you a misleading 

 report. Again if you get our figures from last year's crop, it is 

 of no use to other states which make their reports from a normal 

 crop. You can see by these examples how difficult it is to get a cor- 

 rect report. Some men will always report their crop below what 

 they know it is going to be, thinking thereby that if the crop is re- 

 ported low they will get more for it, while we always ask for an 

 honest estimate. Some reports we have to discount. By working 

 out these reports and striking a balance we have been able to give to 

 the members the best information obtainable, and these reports are 

 made up about four times each year, July, August, September and 

 October. In the September and October reports, we ask for the 

 prices (if any have been offered), from the different sections. And 

 by these reports the members can form a fair estimate as to what 

 price they ought to obtain for their fruit. Take as an illustration 

 the price of apples. For several years the Apple Shippers Conven- 

 tion have met, and made an agreement to pay about such a price 

 for apples and would cause to be published a statement as to the 

 probable amount of apples, and it is said that in at least two of 

 these conventions they have made up two reports, one for publica- 

 tion and one for private use. Whether this is true or not I cannot 

 say. The dealers congregate and make their headquarters in some 

 city or village centrally located where they can talk and agree on 

 siomething definite as to price, and almost every year (if not every 

 year), since our association was well established, we have forced 

 the dealers to raise their price from twenty-five to fifty cents per 

 barrel above what would have been obtained had we not been or- 

 ganized. 



While at the Buffalo Exposition I met Edward Van Alstine. He 

 had just sold his apples; he told me all the particulars of the sale. 

 Two days later I was at work at hom^ when the buyer drove in 



